The vaccines actually prevented spread phenomenally until the rise of the Delta and Omicron variants. You can see the transmission studies pre-Delta:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e3.htm?s_cid=mm7013e3_w
New Hampshire and other places with relatively high vaccination had very little community transmission before the Delta variant. I'd argue some places achieved herd immunity as a result before those more transmissible, immune-evasive variants.
And even amidst Omicron, the vaccines reduce the risk of infection, particularly if you are boosted:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7118a4.htm
In any case we all know he and other anti-vaxxers wouldn't get vaccinated regardless. This is concern trolling. I don't know what he's talking about here. We have non-vaccine treatments like antivirals and antibody treatments. Updated vaccines for Omicron are on their way in the coming weeks and nasal-based vaccines are in trials.
As far as side effects, the FDA and CDC have had countless meetings on vaccine side effects. The J&J vaccine was temporarily removed from the market in the spring 2020 over Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome after a side effect signal of a few events per million. Vaccine-related myocarditis has been monitored from the beginning and is a rare self-limiting side effect with great long-term prognosis resolving in a few months.
