Oxford Vaccine - looking good!

Just because two things happen at the same time does not prove that one was causative of the other.

I am having the flu jab for the first time this year. I have never had a flu, not even in epidemic years when I lived or worked in crowded conditions where it was prevalent, neither has any member of my immediate family, so generally I do not bother.

However, I have read that although the flu jab is no protection against covid, the body's reaction to the jab leads to a strengthing of the natural immune system and under current circumstances, that is a very good reason for having it. So I will.

I assume there will be some kind of consent form for the patient to sign. How much detail will be offered on the risks, contra indications and side effects?

mumofmadboys : thank-you for your post 11.49 and for that information.

All I have to say is that yes I had that flu jab and two days later went down with the worse bout of winter cold oe whatever it was and then had pneumonia.
I prefer to take my doctors explanation that I must have been incubating a cold or virus, and the jab reacted in my system.
Either way I have never felt so ill in my life and took weeks to recover.

Whitewavemark2 We do not know whether DH received the COVID vaccine or the alternate vaccine, meningitis, I believe,.

The challenge tests, where volunteers are given the vaccine and are then exposed to the disease, have not yet started, although they are due to start soon.

All the volunteers for that have to be healthy, with no underlying problems and between 18-35. During the challenge tests they are admitted to hospital so that they can be monitored 24/7

3nanny6. The flu vaccine cannot give you flu. A dead virus is used in the vaccine to stimulate an immune response. There is no live virus in it.

People who refuse the vaccine will need to rely on others to have the vaccine in order to be more protected themselves. That’s how vaccines work, they protect the person who receives the vaccine, and in turn they protect other people as the virus will be unable to find as many hosts.

I too volunteered for the trial, and never heard any further until two days ago, when I received another letter thanking me for my offer and a promise to keep in touch. I am now in a quandary, as if I go for the trial I have a 50% chance of being given the placebo whilst everyone else will be offered a vaccine in the next few months, if all goes well, and I would certainly want to take early advantage of that. So perhaps I don't want to be chosen after all?

growstuff

In the UK, much is still up in the air. Nobody is yet sure what a vaccine will achieve, nor who will be in the priority group. The NHS has been asked to make plans to deliver a vaccine, but it's not at all certain when that will be.

This was published in the Lancet by Kate Bingham, the Chair of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, on 27 October:

www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(20)32175-9.pdf

Excellent articles growstuff, thank you for posting those.

I am by nature pessimistic but the news I see about vaccines is starting to make me more optimistic. I don't think we'll have a magic bullet, but I think we will start to see a range of vaccines and treatments in 2021 and that we will start to see things moving in the right direction.

I read today that the German vaccine manufactured by Phizer may be ready before Christmas for the elderly and vulnerable in the first instance. DH and I are happy to have it asap.

mumofmadboys : Thank-you for the post. I think the vaccine is still a long way off and so who knows when it could be ready. Like I wrote in an earlier post the doctor who was on the programme yesterday knew all about the vaccines that are still in ongoing trials, and she spoke of not having full knowledge of everyones reaction to the vaccine.

It is my personal choice that I will not have the vaccine and that is how I feel. I have a 40 year old daughter and she also
is against having any vaccine and even though I have said nothing about my own decision she does not want the vaccine either.

One of my main reasons being : 8 years ago I had the flu jab
after two days I got a bad throat which then brought on the worst flu I have ever had which lasted about 3 weeks and then I had pneumonia. I have never felt so ill in all my life.
My doctor told me I must have been incubating a cold and that is why I had such a reaction to the jab as there was probably some germs already there.

I have never had the flu jab since that time and every winter I take herbal supplements for my immune system. I have had no colds or chest infections and only once had a sore throat for about two days. I will continue to look after myself in best way I can but am not having jabs and vaccines
as I know I am prone to having reactions.

Thank you mumofmadboys for saying it as it is. I would like to refuse the vaccine for a very good reason, but it is my duty as a citizen of this country to have it and to put the needs of millions of others, including my family, above my own.

If an effective vaccine is produced it will be our duty to have it 3 nanny6. Especially if you are older you are at risk of serious complications or death if you get Covid. Unless you are prepared to look after yourself if you become ill it is not fair to expect doctors, nurses and other hospital staff to look after you in hospital and put their lives at risk ( or your family/ friends if you stay home) if you haven't done what you can to protect yourself. Please think very carefully before you refuse to protect yourself.

The future of AstraZeneca in the UK is also an issue:

yorkshirebylines.co.uk/astrazeneca-and-brexit-the-hardest-pill-to-swallow/

You're welcome. I can't help feeling that a vaccine is being used as a "bread or circus" to chuck at the plebs with all the promises and misunderstandings.

The reality is that nobody is even 100% sure if any vaccine will work, whether it will provide immunity or just mean symptoms are less, whether it will need to be repeated like the flu vaccine or when it's likely to be available for the public.

I saw another interview with Kate Bingham, who said she was hoping that there would be positive news in 2021, but she was thinking more of 2022 before there would be normality.

This article, which gives a balanced view of the current situation, was published yesterday in the German press:

www.dw.com/en/covid-19-difficult-trade-offs-in-astrazeneca-vaccine-development/a-55421164

growstuff

In the UK, much is still up in the air. Nobody is yet sure what a vaccine will achieve, nor who will be in the priority group. The NHS has been asked to make plans to deliver a vaccine, but it's not at all certain when that will be.

This was published in the Lancet by Kate Bingham, the Chair of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, on 27 October:

www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(20)32175-9.pdf

Thank you for posting this. It should be required reading for every journalist. The Vaccine Taskforce seems to be an absolute model of how to plan and coordinate.

I'm so impressed by all these volunteers. Willing to take take a risk to help while knowing it could be dangerous. Hats off to them.

M0nica

hondagirl the Oxford vaccine has definitely been tested on older volunteers. DH, 77, obese, with high blood pressure and diabetes in remission is one of the 20,000 people of all ages, in 5 countries who have volunteered and have received a vaccine as part of the Part 3 testing phase of that vaccine.

Other vaccines may not have reached that stage, but the Oxford vaccine has certainly been trialed on older people with the usual medical problems of old age.

Monica, does your DH have to now be exposed to an active covid strain?

hondagirl the Oxford vaccine has definitely been tested on older volunteers. DH, 77, obese, with high blood pressure and diabetes in remission is one of the 20,000 people of all ages, in 5 countries who have volunteered and have received a vaccine as part of the Part 3 testing phase of that vaccine.

Other vaccines may not have reached that stage, but the Oxford vaccine has certainly been trialed on older people with the usual medical problems of old age.

In the UK, much is still up in the air. Nobody is yet sure what a vaccine will achieve, nor who will be in the priority group. The NHS has been asked to make plans to deliver a vaccine, but it's not at all certain when that will be.

This was published in the Lancet by Kate Bingham, the Chair of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, on 27 October:

www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(20)32175-9.pdf

I read this today. Not good news
Older Australians are the most vulnerable to coronavirus death and would receive priority if or when a vaccine was made available.

That was the advice of Department of Health secretary Brendan Murphy.

But they may be pushed to the back of the queue, as the vaccines have not yet been tested on older people.

“Most of the vaccines have not been trialled in the over-65s and it’s quite likely that the first registrations of some vaccines will exclude them being used in over-65s,” Dr Murphy told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday.

Alegrias and GagaJo and anyone else who’s waiting anxiously for the vaccine, I echo Me Too!

Exciting news!
I am so proud of our brilliant Scientists and all the volunteers taking part in the trials.
I volunteered but they didn't want me either Monica.

I only have one answer for people that refuse to have vaccines. Smallpox.

Alegrias2, me too.

DH has been part of the Oxford Vaccine trials. We do not know whether he received the COVID vaccine or the alternative, but he has kept well and done umpteen COVID tests as part of the project.

DD daughter was one of those doing the tests for the antibody measuring trials, whose results were announced this morning. I volunteered for both sets of tests, but neither wanted me, humpf.