Reluctance of the young to be vaccinated?

I'm amazed this seems to be linked to veganism (anecdotally on Gransnet)!

Is this to do with horseshoe crabs?

All NHS staff had to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B it was a condition of their contract, why can't it be made a condition of NHS and care home staff to be vaccinated against Covid? Whatever their age.
We all followed the party line and had our children vaccinated with whatever was going.
Why can't they see the benefits? I think a previous poster hit on it when she said they have never seen the devastation of polio or measles etc. maybe if a film was put on social media of people in Iron lungs then they would take notice and get vaccinated when their time came my DD can't wait for her children to be vaccinated. She has had both doses of the Moderna and was quite poorly with both but it did not stop her.

NotSpaghetti

I'm amazed this seems to be linked to veganism (anecdotally on Gransnet)!

Is it the (compulsory) animal testing?

I’m still not convinced that the young are more reluctant to be vaccinated, and it’s no longer the case that healthcare staff are lagging behind the rest of the population, in Wales anyway. If you look at this graph, the uptake is good across all age groups, and 18-29s are over 50% uptake already. I think the media hype is not the reality.
ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1632/idt2/idt2/bd513936-9f3c-4b56-b694-ad8893f0e189/image/816

In hindsight it's probably right for the young to be cautious of the astrazenica jab. Turns out there is a slight design flaw in it that causes bits of the spike protein to break off and can (fortunately rarely) cause clots. It's not worth the young who don't tend to get covid badly taking that risk. Now they know the risks they have started offering the young the other type of vaccine, which appears to be safe unless you have epipen-requiring type allergies.

My younger son aged 37 was called for his vaccine. He had a wait of three weeks before there was a free date and time. He went yesterday at 5pm only to be told he had been missed off the list and no Pfizer vaccine was available for him. He was given the choice of having the AstraZeneca or go to the back of the queue and wait as they had received another small delivery of Pfizer. No guarantee there would be any spare by the time he got to the front of the queue. He had already queued for an hour and a half in pain as he damaged his back at work just over a week ago. He is working again with pain relief from his doctor. He chose to have the AstraZeneca vaccine. He said he's not far from forty so decided to go ahead, had he have been a bit younger he would have rebooked. I'm just hoping he will be fine and so pleased he's had a vaccination, he is too. I wonder how many under thirties are accepting AstraZeneca when no Pfizer is available?

Apart from protecting others I think the game changer for the young is the real chance of getting Long Covid. Some of the symptoms of Long Covid are life changing and last a long time.
My children both will take up the vaccine, my son has already had his first dose. They want to get back to as normal as possible a life as they can. As well as not be a danger to other people if they were to pass it on. If you want to be a part of the community you have to do what is best for the whole and not the individual unless you have real medical reasons for not taking the jab. Imagine that we still had no vaccine, where on earth would we be then, forever on lockdown.

My three 18, 21 & 23 have all been vaccinated at least once and absolutely no doubt in their minds it’s the right decision. Same with all their friends. Very thankful they seem able to distinguish between scientific fact and nonsense fiction that’s being peddled online.

Just to add to ReadyMeals's post, I understand that as long as they don't have a specific allergy to a component of the vaccine, even those who have carry an epi pen can be vaccinated with any of the covid vaccines but they might keep you back for up to 30 minutes after the first one with the Pfizer one.

All my three have had at least one shot. The youngest was given Pfizer, but wouldn’t have hesitated for a moment if he’d been offered the AZ. But then we know someone in her early thirties who was dangerously ill with the virus last year and is still suffering debilitating long Covid symptoms that affect her ability to work. I’m sure she wishes she’d had the opportunity to protect herself.

My 40 year old had the vaccination as soon as he could but my 37 year old is reluctant although he says he’ll probably end up having it. He had COVID in November and says he can’t see the point of the vaccination for him as he wasn’t very ill. I told him he may not be as lucky next time.

I'm sure if they couldn't go to clubs, pubs, hols, etc unless they had jabs they would join the queue with the rest of us. I know it's been rushed out, but to stop myself getting Covid and maybe passing it onto others I'll be getting my 2nd jab as planned on Friday. My friends kids in their 30s have all got their first jabs, it actually their husbands who are nearly 60 haven't bothered!

To say its been rushed out implies it is somehow experimental and risky.

It's been done in record time, that's a whole different thing.

Alioop - you say ^I'm sure if they couldn't go to clubs, pubs, hols, etc unless they had jabs they would join the queue with the rest of us." Well no. You are just wrong here.
Maybe some think like this, but as I said above, plenty are prepared to just not go abroad at all if necessary.

Oopsadaisy1

It’s difficult, if it does in fact cause infertility as some have suggested we won’t know for sure for a long time, so there is no way to persuade the young people that it will all be ok.
I’m not sure what my GD will do when she is offered it, she has a heart problem, so if she catches Covid she could be very badly affected, or not, who knows ?

Please stop perpetuating misinformation. It is putting people at risk. If ‘some’, whoever ‘some’ are have suggested the vaccine can cause infertility, they are wrong. It can’t.

My 2 youngest (medical problems) have had both jabs now and coulnt wait! They are 18& 22. My eldest GD was asking why she had not been called already as she has asthma (that was at least a couple of months ago, and she is now 22 also) I texted her as soon as i got a msg saying all over 18's who qualify can go get vaccine. In my BBC news emails it said that the take up of the vaccine is 'quite high' in younger people- so clearly not many of them are listening to the 'scaremongering' on social media!?

Biscuitmuncher

ExD haven't you heard, flu has been wiped out. No one has caught it! And am I getting the flu jab? No I've never had one

Flu has been wiped out because of Covid restrictions! It will be back, almost certainly, when restrictions ease. I have enjoyed not catching colds throughout lockdown too. But the vaccines are allowing us to come out of lockdown despite some increases in cases. I’ve had both jabs bow and the sense of relief is incredible. I was terrified of catching Covid, convinced that I would be seriously ill with it because I am in my fifties and overweight. It’s your choice but I think it’s rather a silly one. You are at infinitely higher risk of catching the disease than suffering an extremely rare side effect from the vaccine.

I wish the news wouldn’t show blanket statements like that.
I’m sure some young folk are reluctant, the same way as some older folk are, but all my teenage GC have had 2 jabs now because their asthma made them vulnerable.

My middle son 31 has not been offered it yet, though he works on public transport- i thought they'd at least have had one by now.He can't wait to get a vaccine! I dont know how the 'younger people' not knowing about all those other diseases would have anything to do with it? The reason they haven't had experience of those is probably because their parents made sure they were vaccinated against them when they were babies/children- it doesn't mean they haven't heard of them- I've told my kids as they've grown up what they've been vaccinated against, (everything i was offered!) And/or daughters usually ask their own mums anyway what they themselves either had or were vaccinated against when they have or consider having a family! The reason most haven't had experience of a certain disease is probably because they were vaccinated! So surely that would persuade them to be vaccinated now??

My granddaughter aged 28 and her boyfriend 29 have had their first vaccine

I don't think I could say the vaccine 'certainly does not cause infertility' because one of those articles says there is 'no evidence' or 'theoretical reason' that it does. Perhaps more honestly it should say there is 'no evidence so far'. Just thinking about the thalidomide problem some years ago. We only know what we know at the time. There's a quote somewhere that says 'if only hindsight could be foresight'.

Both my DDs, in their 30's, couldn't wait to get their vaccines; in fact the younger one was below the age limit for that week but was contacted by her medical practice when they had 3 doses left at the end of a day. She rang a friend and they both dashed to the health centre to get jabbed!
My elder daughter works for the company that set up the protocols and analysed the data for the AZ trials. She explained to me why they were able to test it in a shorter time than usual and it wasn't because it was 'rushed through'. The techniques they have learned from this will be able to be used in future to get treatments trialed, tested and approved sooner.
If given the choice she would rather have had the AZ vaccine, given all that she knew about how rigorously it had been tested.

My eldest has shown some reluctance, but she also didnt bother with the flu vax i dont think- but i nagged her about that- i also am going to 'nag' about the covid vax too, because ive got a few medical problems (including a clotting one) and have survived ok with now both jabs! Plus if when i was so very ill 2 xmases ago it was indeed undiagnosed covid (our G.Ps nurse believes so) then she knows how bad i was- and goodness knows i wasnt as bad as some poor beggars have been!) So surely she wouldnt want to risk that herself, nor any of her family! (Her sister is also going to persuade her, as she says shes got no time for 'anti-vaxers'!?

My eldest is not one those- but i think she's reluctant, maybe till she sees we are indeed all ok, those of us who have had it??