South Africa has paused the rollout of the AZ vaccine

I’m sure that the Astra Zeneca vaccine was not ‘cobbled together’.
I’m also sure that it was vigorously tested. The speed of approval was unusually fast because everything was thrown at it and every step prioritised.
Due to mutations, work will be ongoing and boosters will be required when our fantastic scientists have a handle on the next mutation and the one after that.
It is incumbent on every one of us to have the vaccine and to continue to stick to the rules, hands, face, space.

Because of it Dottynan.
One man's meat is another man's poison----which is very true.

In one person it caused blood clots. Nobody but nobody knows what goes on inside the body of each individual person.
These vaccinations are done on a " one size fits all" turnout and this isn't always going to be the case.

If we have a certain medication to treat a certain symptom and there are side-effects, we change that medication because we can. No choice with a vaccine.

Clinical trial nerds are always welcome, I'd say

I liked the mean, mode, median post!

No more vaccinations for me I'm afraid.

GrannyGravy13

Alegrias1 I agree, I do wish the media would only report factual news as opposed to maybe/might be. It can lead to misunderstandings and scares folks unnecessarily.

But to be fair to the media (?) governments and pharmaceutical companies have all been playing the early release game. Some of the reporting by some media is excellent of course but no one can stop the utter prats on all forms of social media and certain rubbish ‘journalists’ in print and on air

Alegrias I was wary of being vaccinated to start with, I'm more so now. One's enough for me.

suziewoozie yes I can understand the rush to be the first to land the scoop . I do wonder if all the conflicting news reports are fuelling the conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers, which in turn can lead to confusion for some folks.

I agree that ‘clinical trial nerds’ are welcome on threads like this.
Facts are so important.

GrannyGravy13

suziewoozie yes I can understand the rush to be the first to land the scoop . I do wonder if all the conflicting news reports are fuelling the conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers, which in turn can lead to confusion for some folks.

Agree entirely - I think the irresponsibility of many reporting research findings is appalling and that includes some politicians

I'm so sorry to read that EV, I know you were reluctant. But what a shame if you don't take the second dose, what has changed your mind?

Ellanvannin I will gladly have any vaccination if it helps towards the U.K. and the world being able to function alongside Covid-19 and its variants/mutations. (I’ve had the Pfizer one and The Husband had Astra Zeneca)

We have been shut away for 320 days, I haven’t been outside my postcode like many millions of others. This is not living its house arrest, it’s not a healthy existence mentally or physically for any age group.

Washerwoman

If it prevents serious illness or death that will do for me.Honestly the news last night.The BBC can't wait to give us bad news.

Same here Washerwoman!

BlueSky

Washerwoman

If it prevents serious illness or death that will do for me.Honestly the news last night.The BBC can't wait to give us bad news.

Same here Washerwoman!

I don't quite understand what you are saying here. Atm there is no evidence ie there is an absence of evidence as to how well AZ works against the SA variant. The SA authorities are being responsible in reacting as they have atm - they have paused their roll out until more information is available. As the SA variant is in the UK what was the BBC supposed to do? Not report anything? All that matters is that they reported it accurately ( don’t know if they did because didn’t watch it).

The furthest I've been in a year was to the medical centre for my vax, which was out of area.
The furthest I'd be going at any time given decent weather later would be to the local park and seaside 10 minutes away so not exactly in the line of fire of any virus lurking.

"House arrest " is no bad thing anyway during the winter or inclement weather. I don't go out of my way to be out in it.
I've continued to go to local shops---maskless, for nearly a year and thankfully haven't had the misfortune to suffer a cold.

Withdrawing before I say something I regret

I've had all kinds of vaccinations.
2 in 1957 for Asian 'flu.
Smallpox
T.B.
Hepatitis A.
Typhoid and Yellow Fever.
Pneumonia.
Shingles.
Yearly 'flu.
Present day.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be reported.But it was the lead story delivered in doom laden tone.
The SA variant is not most prevalent here.If course its an ongoing situation,and scientists have already said vaccines may need adjusting .However for any anti vaxxers or anyone sitting in the fence let's have reporting with a sense of proportion surely ?If the worst case scenario is it is somewhat less effective but prevents severe and hospitalised cases,and given the efficiency of the vaccination rollout there is surely still some cause for optimism?

Washerwoman

I'm not saying it shouldn't be reported.But it was the lead story delivered in doom laden tone.
The SA variant is not most prevalent here.If course its an ongoing situation,and scientists have already said vaccines may need adjusting .However for any anti vaxxers or anyone sitting in the fence let's have reporting with a sense of proportion surely ?If the worst case scenario is it is somewhat less effective but prevents severe and hospitalised cases,and given the efficiency of the vaccination rollout there is surely still some cause for optimism?

Yes I know the SA variant isn’t prevalent here - yet. It’s really important we keep it that way. The SA research tells us nothing atm about the AZ efficacy with severe outcomes on the SA variant. As I keep saying - absence of evidence. Obviously I don’t know how the BBC reported it - I gave up watching BBC TV news years ago. I do know how it’s being reported/ commented on all over the place today and apart from a few exceptions, much of the reporting is dire either rubbishing the research or doom laden as you say. All I’m commenting on is the facts of the research and trying to explain what absence of evidence means compared with evidence of absence. In reality, I’m sure many of us are just carrying on as we were before being vaccinated - that’s all we can do. If there were evidence of its efficacy against severe illness, I still wouldn’t change my behaviour. The most important factors for me are the % of the population that has been vaccinated and the number of daily cases.

Yes, we are quite upset about the whole "non-explanation". My DH went the week before me and received the AZ. When I went I received the Pfizer. So we are now concerned about his second jab, but there does not seem to be anyone who cares enough to tell us anything.

Riversidegirl

Yes, we are quite upset about the whole "non-explanation". My DH went the week before me and received the AZ. When I went I received the Pfizer. So we are now concerned about his second jab, but there does not seem to be anyone who cares enough to tell us anything.

There’s really nothing to tell at the moment imo. I had the AZ and had always wanted Pfizer.When I heard this latest news, I just thought that there’s nothing I can do about it now except go for my second jab and then the booster in the autumn if that’s on offer.

Suzie I had the Oxford AZ which I preferred and still do. What I mean is if it ‘just’ prevents serious illness and death, I’m happy with it, and I’ll gratefully have the second.

GrannyGravy13

suziewoozie I have not got a science background, I rely on a wide range of experts, if they are sloppy with words and explanations who do folks like me turn to for information?

I hope you don’t mind me having a go at this question sooziewoozie. GG13 I wouldn't rely on any of them that appear on any of the news programs or in the papers. There is one Public Health expert that appears a lot here in Scotland that never says anything that we couldn't have worked out for ourselves. I never knew we had so many epidemiologists in this country and it seems to me they all want to be on the news. That said, Prof Sarah Gilbert seems to me to be very even handed and careful in what she says. Stephen Reicher from St Andrews is good too.

I heard Hancock call Prof. Whitty one of our “greatest living scientists” the other day. Sorry, no, he’s a good man, very committed, but our greatest living scientists are people we’ve never heard of, working away and getting things done.
We all get drawn into discussions about whether a certain vaccine is 90% effective, or 50% effective, or how best to roll it out, or whether 3 weeks or 12 weeks are best, and whoever appears on the news to talk about it has their own perspective.

ellenvannin if you don’t want any more vaccinations that’s your decisions I don’t really understand why you had one at all I believe the Norway deaths were very old folks with underlying problems
So why have one then not want the additions you should have left it for someone else ...a waste

We knew from the get go that none of the vaccines would stop us getting it, just stop it causing us severe illness or death, and that still seems to be the case
Whats actually changed?
Anyway that’s totally good enough for me

I didn't realise the study, conducted by South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford, has not yet been peer-reviewed. I think others have said it involved a relatively small sample pool of a few thousand people, with the median age of 31.

That makes me think it is premature to draw any conclusions from the study (positive or negative), until we get further information.

We should always work on a worst case scenario situation. If we’d done that at the start of the pandemic we wouldn’t now have a pandemic. If measures had to taken to contain the Kent variant several months ago the infection rate wouldn’t have gone through the roof. I voiced concerns about the S African variant at the start of February but it was poo poo’d. Even now people are flooding into the country and not being quarantined. The government still haven’t sorted out contracts with the hotels involved. As ever it’s too little too late.we’ve got to stay ahead of this virus, not constantly playing catch-up.