Dangers of Volunteering for COVID vaccine trial!

Paranoid and rather selfish. Good thing not everyone shares her view or we would never get a vaccine. Thank you for at least trying.

I think you're brilliant.

Why selfish? She should have been very proud of you! Thank you Cindersdad.

Thank goodness for people like you Cindersdad

I know someone of 80 who is part of the Oxford trial, he is doing fine and is glad he volunteered. Well done Cindersdad.

DH is part of the Oxford trial, 77, obese, high blood pressure and diabetes in remission. i volunteered but was not selected. We obviously do not know whether he got the COVID vaccination or the control one, he remains as fit and healthy as ever - and he has had two jabs in the last 3 months vaccine trials .

I do not think your wife is paranoid, but there are so many unsubstaniated to deliberately untrue rumours being circulated about the safety or otherwise of these of vaccines in general and COVID in particular. Perhaps your DW has heard a some of the misleading conspiracy theories and is concerned that you may become ill. I can understand that.

She may also think that being part of these trials means that you will be exposed to the virus itself. You will not. The challenge aspect of the trials, where people are vaccinated then exposed to the virus islimited to healthy people under 35 and they are taken into hospital for the whole experiment.

Why not ask her why she thinks as she does. Let her talk without interruption and then do not scoff at her concerns but address each one with facts and a cup of tea or coffee, even some nice biscuits.

You sound like a lovely person, Cindersdad, but I don't think your wife is paranoid. If you were infected (however unlikely that is) her health would be at risk, so who's to blame her for reacting in the way she did?

Good on you to volunteer, but your wife is certainly not paranoid. No matter how small the risk is, it is still risk. You could catch the virus and become very ill turning her world and yours upside down. You could be fine but pass the virus to your who gets very ill. Your wife, understandably, wants to avoid these scenarios.

The question to put it crudely, is who do you love more your wife or Joe Public?

Is like to ask Nottooold and Zink1 Why they think there is more risk of catching the virus if you are on a trial? That's not how it works. "M0nica* explained in her post.

I'm grateful to anyone like the OP for volunteering for these trials.

Is your wife one of those people who mistakenly believe that it’s possible to catch flu from the flu vaccine?

Surprisingly this belief still persists so maybe that’s why your wife has reacted in the way she did.

If you are taking part in the challenge trials (due to start in January I believe) then her fears could be justified, but otherwise she should be very proud and supportive of you.

Thank you M0nica you explained it clearly and please thank your DH. It’s only with the help of people like him that a successful vaccine will be found.

Zink1, I am afraid you misunderstand what *Cindersdad is talking about. he is talking about the vaccine, not the challenge trials.

There is no live virus in the vaccine, so you cannot get COVID from the vaccine. This is the trial he wanted to volunteer for. The next stage is when someone is given the vaccine and then given the virus, and, as I described above, and he would not be being considered for that stage anyway.

Just wanted to say thanks Cindersdad for volunteering and to all those who volunteer for these things

I am aware that it is not possible to get Covid from the vaccine but Cindersdad would presumably be mixing with other people who may already be infected, either at the trial venue or travelling to the trial venue. Mrs Cindersdad has a point.

Thank you for the explanation NotTooOld.

Thank you for your replies. It is a vaccine trial though I don't know which vaccine it is; the trial is to check the vaccine for any side effects. I would not consider a trial which involved being infected to see if the vaccine worked. We both have the flu vaccine and have never suffered any consequences. Due to my wife's fears rational or not I have reluctantly cancelled my involvement. We shall both get the Covid vaccine if and when it becomes available.

When shielding was relaxed she went out and had a fall giving her a badly broken arm so she needs to visit clinics for physio. Both of us visit the eye clinic as needed. I thought that anything which could boost my or her immunity would be welcomed , but no and it resulted in the most awful row. We live in a Tier-3 area but that in practice is not that different from Tier-2 or even Tier-1. The clinics are part of the hospital which treats Covid patients thuogh precautions are paramount. The Synexus clinic is very close to our home and not near the hospital.

Hello Cindersdad,
I do understand your desire to help but don't understand why you didn't discuss this with your wife before you put yourself forward. Obviously if you were to suffer side-effects it won't necessarily only affect you.

I'm sure I'd never commit to be part of a trial without discussing it with my husband and would expect him to discuss his potential involvement in one with me if he was thinking about signing up.

If by some dreadful misfortune one of us was to suffer ongoing ill health because of involvement in a trial, I'd want to believe we made that kind of choice together. It's quite diferent to the ordinary risks we take in life, crossing roads, changing lightbulbs etc. I'd want to feel we were both on board with it.

I would be very upset if my husband sprang this on me. I'd be happy to discuss it if it didn't feel like a "done deal".

To me, the added worry for your wife is that you are her support as you say you are fit and she is shielding. What would happen to your wife if you were one of the (rare) people who were seriously incapacitated by this?

Notspaghetti, DH mentioned in passing that he had volunteered for the vaccine trials, I had too, quite separately. We both made our decisions quite independemtly and felt no need to discuss it. These are phase 3 trials and by the time these trials take place, it has already been through 2 phases of human testing on young fit people to test for side effects etc and the reason that the trials are then rolled out to large cross section of the population in several countries, is because these are the last full scale trials before the challenge trials when they test whether the vaccine works when someone is exposed to the virus.

You say It's quite diferent to the ordinary risks we take in life, crossing roads, changing lightbulbs etc., actually it isn't, you are probably in greater danger doing all the things you mention compared with being a volunteer in the Phase 3 trials.

Oops, sorry my bad

your bad what ?

M0nica, Synexus is carrying out both phase 2 and phase 3 trials currently and the OP doesn't say which one he has volunteered for.

Secondly, it is very different to ordinary risks we take - in that this is an additional risk where the odds are in your favour but the risk is on top of risks you normally need to take to function. If the worst happened then that does have an impact on nearest and dearest.

I'm not hostile to people volunteering for the trials, quite the contrary, but unlike you, I would like to talk about it with my husband first.

The risks within the Phase 3 trials is so low as to be completely lost within the all the other risks we face constantly, even doing something as unchallenging as getting out of bed.

Were it not for those taking part in these Phase 3 trials enabling the safety of the vaccine to be confirmed, how many more people would be condemned to death, disability or a long period of ill health from the disease. I know which risk I would choose to take.

Barry Norris Unimpressed by AstraZeneca Announcement

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/23/oxford-vaccine-works-half-dose-regime-surprised-scientists/

I quote The Fund Manager Barry Norris, who’s been tracking the vaccine trials very closely informing his clients:-

Based on this data, the FDA is unlikely to approve the Astra vaccine (though undoubtedly the UK Government will) as:

* The trial protocol has been violated to data mine a more positive outcome.

* The duration of the efficacy is questionable.

* The overall efficacy is much lower than peers and it likely won’t work at all in the vulnerable (82 year-olds with comorbidities.) The US has mRNA.

* There’s no claim that it prevents virus transmission.

* They will want to monitor possible auto-immune side effects.

I can see both sides.

This would be a decision to be made as a couple