Do you have friends who have declined to be vaccinated.........h ow do you deal with this (stay polite!)

My daughter and her b/friend are both Anti-Vaxxers - well HE is and she just goes along with whatever he says.

They've been on demonstrations all over South Lancashire and Manchester - which is where the new variant is spreading the fastest - without wearing masks.

Hundreds of their 'friends' all protesting for their 'Right NOT to be vaccinated' ......................... they just 'don't get it!' As far as they're concerned 'It's just the Flu!' and we're all being manipulated by the Government.

I'm absolutely at my wits end with her! She insists that she 'had something that was the flu' in December/January 2019/2020 and that it was what, has since, became known as 'Covid-19'.

I've barely seen her since all this began - due to her working as a Carer ........................... which I find ludicrous. I can't understand how her employers aren't insisting that she should go for vaccination.

I have had high temperatures and headaches and been very weak for some time after both injections. I have ME and within the ME community many people are having very bad relapses, some lasting several months now. Still they are having the vax and second vax. My daughter who has ME has been in bed for a week now post vax and is very scared of a downturn as she was bedridden for a decade and is afraid she cannot sustain her relationship if she becomes as ill as that again. I think they should be commended for their courage. I can understand people who may feel they cannot have the vax and would not judge anyone without knowing their medical history.

My brother in Australia has a multitude of health issues including heart and lung problems. He won’t have the vaccine atm because he is concerned it was developed too quickly and hasn’t been tested enough.

My husband and I have not gone for the vaccine and neither have several of our friends. A true vaccine protects you for like and doesn't need regular boosters - not the case with Covid 19 sacs

My brother in law died from clots after the Astra Zenica one.

I’m so pleased this has been brought up...
My childhood friend age 72 refuses to be vaccinated..
She Managed to get a flight out to Africa 4 days ago..for a holiday..I’m so concerned for her..I tried to advise her to be vaccinated..but in the end it was causing us to squabble so I’m just left hoping she stays well...

If they’re ranting, I wouldn’t be around to listen. People who think they’re right and shout about it, don’t want a discussion, just chance to reiterate how right they are and how everyone else is wrong.
If they asked me what I thought, I’d tell them. If the subject didn’t come up, I wouldn’t ask.
All my family bar one have been double vaccinated, the teens because of health issues. The unvaccinated GC isn’t a teenager yet.

whose not who’s
I’m being a pendant, but don’t like the mistake. Apologies.

I totally agree with the OP. It would be difficult to have a meaningful relationship with a friend who’s views were so different than mine. I think I’d simply let the friendship fizzle out. If I’m vaccinated (I am) and my friend is vaccinated then the risk to us both is so low as to be nonexistent.

I wonder if any of those refusing the vaccine expect the medical staff who may end up treating them to have had the covid vaccine? Would my friend be angry if she caught covid in hospital while having treatment for something else?

I’ve been double jabbed as have most of my colleagues (HCPs) as far as I know although some were not allowed it. I don’t ask if they have been but most have had the first one at work so easy to tell. I won’t be asking anyone if they have, if they want to share that’s up to them.
My patients do not have to tell me if they are vaccinated just as they don’t have to tell me if they have, for example, HIV. It’s up to me to keep myself safe and I have every confidence in the vaccine to do just that. It is extremely unlikely I will get COVID again.

Doodledog

welbeck

i would not associate with anyone who rejected having the jab.

But how would you know?

i don't mix much anyway.
most people talk about having it/wanting it/praising it.
those who don't want it tend to be quite outspoken, ranting about the govt taking us over etc.
there is a cabal of them near here, probably so in many areas, they are out and out anti-vaxxers.
i try to avoid them, but they tend to berate people who are wearing masks etc.
the few people i do associate with have all had both doses.

That is often the best way, particularly when we are not in a position to do anything about it (whatever ‘it’ happens to be).

I have decided, after reading this thread, that the best approach to this topic is don't ask/don't tell. Their status is none of my business, mine is none of theirs.

We have a friend who has declined the vaccination, he is relying on those who are vaccinated to keep him safe . Hope he is never disappointed! It is regrettable that some people have been quite ill after vaccination, but if they had caught Covid they could well have been very very ill indeed!!
What do the decliners think would happen if we all thought like them - does'nt bear thinking about!!!!

Out of all my friends and acquaintances I know only one who has refused and I knew she would She is totally antiestablishment in every way she can be, she also won’t wear a mask she reluctantly pulls some kind of flimsy scarf up if totally necessary but otherwise doesn’t believe in all ‘that old rubbish’
She is against virtually anything and everything ordinary people happily conform to including ‘I would never send my children to a school where they have to wear a uniform blah blah blah my children never wore a uniform….. except, one of them had a considerable jail sentence for importing drugs so I guess he did wear a uniform (she doesn’t know I know but it was in the local paper)
Anyway up to her I only see her once a month but she does irritate me, not only over this but all her ‘anti’ raves

I don't ask friends if they've been vaccinated but it is a conversation piece at present. I have 2 friends who are refusing the jab. One of them is an old school friend who had cancer 10 years ago and for this reason she's opted not to have it. The other is vegan and opposed to all medication. I'm still friends with them. It's not up to me to tell them what to do. I have had my 2 and it appears the take up in the UK is high.

I understand the sentiment of what you are saying, but a vegetarian isn’t putting anyone else at risk by their choice. I agree with the rest of what you say.
True, but I meant that (as someone said they would do upthread) explaining the reasons why people should have the vaccine is as intrusive (and probably pointless) as telling vegetarians that humans are designed to eat meat, or asking them about their leather shoes.

As long as the law does not insist on vaccination, it is up to the individual, however misguided you or I might think they are. They will have heard all the arguments anyway, and have chosen their path - what we have to say is most unlikely to make a difference.

3nanny6 Some of the claims you have made need putting in context.

Currently, the Delta variant is the predominant one. Secondly, nearly 60% of cases are in young people from 10-29. It stands to reason that most of the new cases will be of the Delta variant. The two facts are not independent of each other.

The majority of people under 29 have not yet vaccinated, so it's not surprising that the majority of cases are in this group. On the face of it, it seems to indicate that the vaccine is working in those who have had it.

Nobody has ever claimed that any of the vaccines would be 100% effective, although the statistics do seem to show that they are having a positive effect. I don't know who these professionals and heads of medicine are. I happen to know two very senior scientists very well, both of whom have been working on Covid over the last year. Both of them would disagree with the views you've cited. I prefer to read properly published data and articles rather than believe the views of unknown "health doctors".

A friend I used to see a lot but haven’t bothered with for years. We went to the same schools and lived in the same road. He refuses to be vaccinated as it’s a waste of government money. Now I know why I stopped bothering with him he is an idiot.

Doodledog

I would (controversially, I know) back a system under which refuseniks (not those who are unable to have the vaccine, or who have not yet been offered it) were banned from going to gatherings of more than a few people, from going abroad, from using public transport etc.

But as that hasn't happened, and is unlikely to happen, I accept that it is none of my business if a friend or colleague chooses not to have it. I would never try to persuade people to do things that are against their principles - that seems to me impertinent, and akin to cross-questioning a vegetarian about their choices. Also, if someone chooses not to tell others about their vaccine status, or lies about it, how would one 'deal with' that situation?

I don't see myself as some sort of unofficial law-enforcer. I disapprove of those who refuse, and think the attitude that those who have had the vaccine should act as lab rats so that others can wait to see if we suffer side effects before getting theirs is arrogant and selfish, but as long as that is legal there is nothing I can do.

I understand the sentiment of what you are saying, but a vegetarian isn’t putting anyone else at risk by their choice. I agree with the rest of what you say.

welbeck

i would not associate with anyone who rejected having the jab.

But how would you know?

No vaccine is a miracle cure, it’s been identified from the beginning that some vaccinated people would still become ill with the virus. It’s important that on Gransnet we don’t put inaccurate information out there though.

3nanny6 I don’t think they have said that of the people who have had two doses of the vaccine who had to be admitted to hospital that they had the Astra Zeneca vaccine specifically?

As far as I know they also haven’t said how ill those people have been with COVID, or whether their admission was for something else and they were found incidentally to have it, or how soon after those people were vaccinated with the second dose they became infected with COVID, or how old, frail or immune compromised they were.

I would never dream of asking anyone even close friends whether they had been vaccinated or not. It really is none of my business. I certainly would not be so judgemental as to either try to persuade them to have it or to stop any further contact with them.

I see that several posters have said that the delta variant is more prevalent in those not vaccinated including the young.
I think that the vaccine roll out has been brilliant and has been successful.
I have watched many documentaries on the pandemic and am always interested in what the professional doctors and head of medicines have to say and after listening to two professionals only two days ago they said they had some concerns over the delta variant as several of the hospitalized
people had actually had 2 doses of the Astrazenica vaccine
but had still got Covid 19. This must show that no vaccine is 100 per cent wiping out Covid.
Another health doctor spoke of the use of the vaccine on the 12 to 18 year old group and said that he thinks it is not worthwhile vaccinating this group at all, he even said he would not vaccinate his own children of that age.
(I think they are still trialing that age group anyway ) and am sure they said it would be another 2 years for it to get finished.
I know someone that is not vaccinated and it is the persons own choice to decide what they put into their body.

Everything in life is a risk, we walk down the road, we run the risk of getting in an accident or falling over. We all have to make decisions about how much risk we are willing to take, I’ve been jabbed twice, I understand there’s just as much risk of blood clots from everyday over the counter medication like paracetamol and the pill. I don’t get how people do not want to get the jab, the delta variant is more prevalent in those not jabbed including the young. If we want to get back to normal in the near future there is no doubt this helps. I log on the Zoe covid app daily and their information and analysis is worth taking a look at ?