One problem is there really is some risk with the vaccine. At a population level its best if everyone takes the vaccine - there are huge benefits, but unfortunately a small minority gets hurt. Its best if everyone else gets vaccinated except for me. Of course when everyone wants to be that exception the vaccination doesn't stop community spread so people get sick.
The problem is the hard truth of "take the risk because society benefits" doesn't work in an American me-first mentality.
That is a sweeping generalisation. Covid19 targets a very select group disproportionately, being young and healthy changes the risk dynamics significantly.
As a hockey fan what I see is that at least 4 NHL players have had their careers badly harmed or ended by COVID-19, that's not a very big pool of people, of which only some small proportion have been infected - that has changed my perception of the risk dynamics significantly.
The calculus is different for tens of millions people who acquired natural immunity from previous infections before the vaccines even existed. I am one of them. There is no good reason for me to take the risk with the vaccines because it will only increase my immunity marginally.
I think the evidence available today contradicts this position. Vaccine immunity is much better than naturally acquired immunity, and natural immunity plus vaccine immunity is much better still.
I am sorry to say, but you’re mistaken. That might have been the case before the Delta variant but not anymore. Natural immunity is definitely better against the Delta variant.
The problem is the hard truth of "take the risk because society benefits" doesn't work in an American me-first mentality.