We are all participants in the great uncontrolled experiment of Life, which includes many smaller experiments that may or may not be meaningfully controlled.

For most of us, the vaccination campaign is like those scratch-and-win discount coupons they sometimes hand out at big department stores and supermarkets -- scratch the panel to find out if you get 10, 15, 25, 50 percent off, or the big bonanza of Everything Is Free. We know that the vaccine will help, just not precisely how much. We also don't know how likely we are to experience an "adverse reaction" (love that phrase), but so far most of us believe that it won't be much worse than a sore arm and maybe feeling crappy for a day or two.

Since doing nothing seems likely to leave me more vulnerable than I would be with the jab, I'll go with the jab. There is no perfect information. That's my best guess.

Incidentally, Nigel, "hinky" means "strange verging on suspicious".