Here's what I observed through all this:
Vaccinating was the one sure-fire way to say "yup, you most likely won't pass this fast spreading virus on to others, if you do it shouldn't be full strength, and you won't die if the vaccine doesn't train your body well enough/your body doesn't respond as well as hoped.“ I know what's a really intelligent idea, lets make doctors appointments during a pandemic that killed people, taking up space to "just see if my immune system is strong enough after being sick with covid." Hell, none of my vaccines for covid was done at a doctors office, they were all done at the local pharmacies.
Not vaccinating would mean individual testing for absolutely every person who had covid to see how their immune system is. My father argued this with me as well and for him, his antibodies had a higher score than average which is good, however, my mom and older brother's results most likely would not be the same as there is so many other variables, such as how much they were exposed, how their body will fight it, whats the lasting antibodies and lastly, how long they will last.
Seeing how both of you are responding now, is proving the point as to why the direction went the way it did. Most people will go "oh, so if I just get the virus on purpose, i don't need to be vaccinated!" I thought we were smarter than that, but we clearly are not. Suddenly this time around apparently vaccinations are looked at as scary like we're a bunch of toddlers, or it's unsafe like we haven't had vaccines before. And before anyone says this was government taking control or corporations doing the same thing, polio vaccinations were done in school without parents consent, it was in the name of public health safety and guess what, it worked.
[side quest]I am downright disgusted how through this, my family went from trusting doctors and vaccines as a source of well-being improvement because, newsflash, doctors are fucking professionals in their field of work, to saying they're all quacks and what can be researched online is much better.[/side quest]
My father was nearly hospitalized because he chose to continue going to work and thinking this was "just a flu" to which he infected my mother. My older brother worked with my dad at the time so he got sick with it as well, but is too proud to say it. My brother and my father drove to work together and worked in close proximity, there's no fucking way he didn't get it, even with his lifelong asthma.
In the end, were some people's immune systems just as good as getting vaccinated? Probably, should we just get out on a platform and say that, thinking everyone will "do the right thing" whatever that may be? Fuck no, we all still look both ways down a one way street.