Does the Astra Zeneca vaccine work?

I have had AZ as had my husband and son who is in his thirties. None of us had terrible side effects. My daughter had Pizser but she would have had whatever was offered to her incidentally she is the only one of us who has caught Covid

The joy of current vaccines is that the way hey are made means that they can very quickly be tweaked if s new variant is vaccine resistant. Look how quickly new flu vaccines are developed each year to protect from the newest variant.

On choice I would say lots of choice and continuously consulted, but when do authorities ever take any notice of what is chosen?

If choice worked the first recent new housing development in this village would not have been the only one of 6 sites where villagers said, please do not build here, access is not good - and it isn't, as the new house owners have found out.

The risk of blood clots with AZ vaccine is tiny - you have far more chance of getting blood clots from taking the contraceptive pill, that millions of women in the UK are taking at any given time. However it was decided that the risk/benefit equation for under 30s was leaning slightly towards risk, given their low chances of having serious covid. Therefore they will be offered the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. I am so tired of all the bad press and fake news about the AZ vaccine - they are the ONLY company that are providing their vaccine at cost, which will make Covax money donated go that much further. By the way, we have donated more money to Covax than any other country other than the USA! All three vaccines currently licenced in the UK provide 90%+ protection against serious illness, even higher for hospitalisation and death.

Well said Saetana.

I'm reminded of the Stealers Wheels song "Stuck in the middle with you" (Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right!)

On the one hand, there are those urging everybody to throw all caution to the wind and reminding everybody that everything in life carries risk. On the other hand, there are those being ultra-cautious over a miniscule risk. The aim of both extremes seems to be the same.

Yes it does. I have had both jabs and am fit and healthy in spite of having direct contact with my Granddaughter who was unfortunate enough to contract Covid recently.

My best friends young son, a married man with a new baby was one of the first volunteers when they were developing this drug. I think we owe a lot to the wonderful scientists who discovered it, developed it and have kept us all safe with it and to volunteers like John who stepped up to be a guinea pig at the very beginning.

MawBe

^Giving people choice is often just an illusion. How can your ordinary person in the street really make the decision about whether the AZ or Pfizer (or any other vaccine) is the best for them?^

Tge illusion of choice is one of our society’s great scams.
We are invited to participate in polls such as Yougov, to submit opinions on any subject under discussion , even to choose our own consultant or course of medical action - so that when it all goes tits up nobody can say we did not have a choice
I wonder if it is part of the “ Sue when things go wrong mentality* . I would prefer to trust the professionals whether it is to service my car, fix my gas boiler or vaccinate me against Covid.
At least until I complete my apprenticeship/medical degree.

Same here MawBe. That doesn't mean I don't question medical decisions, but at least I hope my questions are informed ones. In the days when we were able to see a regular GP, mine got used to me and gave me the information I requested without fudging. I was always happy to accept it.

Railman
Have you ever used your Smart phone in Germany?
It’s abysmal. It’s almost like the old days of dial up on your computer.

growstuff

Well said Saetana.

I'm reminded of the Stealers Wheels song "Stuck in the middle with you" (Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right!)

On the one hand, there are those urging everybody to throw all caution to the wind and reminding everybody that everything in life carries risk. On the other hand, there are those being ultra-cautious over a miniscule risk. The aim of both extremes seems to be the same.

One of the 2 members of Stealers Wheel was Gerry Rafferty.

His final album was "Life Goes On"

Just sayin'

The other member was Joe Egan. I knew two of his brothers, one perhaps better than the other!

ohh er!

Alegrias1

growstuff

Well said Saetana.

I'm reminded of the Stealers Wheels song "Stuck in the middle with you" (Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right!)

On the one hand, there are those urging everybody to throw all caution to the wind and reminding everybody that everything in life carries risk. On the other hand, there are those being ultra-cautious over a miniscule risk. The aim of both extremes seems to be the same.

One of the 2 members of Stealers Wheel was Gerry Rafferty.

His final album was "Life Goes On"

Just sayin'

I guess you know that Gerry Rafferty's life didn't go on and he died as a result of self-harm.

Aw thanks growstuff, I can always rely on you to assume nobody else knows what they're talking about. Organ failure due to his long term alcoholism, in fact. I suppose you could characterise that as self harm.

Totally love the Stealers Wheel song - Stuck in the Middle With You. So one of them died of self harm - hardly unusual in the music industry. Anyone heard of the 27 Club?

Er? I didn't assume nobody knows what they're talking about (if you mean "you"). I just thought it's somewhat ironic that Gerry Rafferty's life didn't go on. As you say, it was cut tragically short by liver damage as a result of long term alcoholism. As nobody forced him to drink, I would say that alcoholism is a form of self harm.

I suppose I could have gone further and continued the analogy by comparing people who won't be vaccinated or try and keep themselves safe as a form of self harm, but I hadn't thought of that at the time and it would probably be controversial.

I love the song too. Whenever I feel overwhelmed by conflicting arguments which don't add up, my "go to" solution is to do yoga and think of the lyrics of that song. It works to calm my mind. I guess others have other ways of coping. The lyrics themselves are kind of crazy.

Sometimes it’s better to be kind than right all the time. Just sayin.

BlueBelle

nanna8 yes of course it works I m afraid the scaremongering has been because for once in our life U.K. got something right
Not much we do get right but this one we did and of course other scientists and other countries need a reason and something to blame as to why they are behind
Have it with good will it will protect you

To be fair we aren't giving the AZ to young people now because some of the concerns were right. Not because it doesn't work but because of side effects.

Other countries highlighted the issues and I am grateful as young members of my family got the vaccine considered safer for them.

But there have been no similar concerns about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Greeneyedgirl

Sometimes it’s better to be kind than right all the time. Just sayin.

If that's directed at me ...

Sometimes being "kind" isn't right if myths and nonsense are perpetuated.

Well we're united in one thing growstuff because I thought it was aimed at me

Sometimes it's better to say what one thinks and avoid confusion

No not to you at all growstuff. Often I am in agreement with you. It’s more of a personal reflection really. I am opinionated and always keen to win an argument at all costs, but the current debate it is not straightforward. There are valid points on both sides, and it doesn’t hurt to concede this sometimes. That’s all.

But, that would take all the fun out of it……

growstuff

But there have been no similar concerns about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The latest safety report from Medsafe, the New Zealand Medicines Safety Authority (between Feb 20 - June 5 2021) confirmed there have been 4521 reports of adverse events following immunisation out of a total 744,883 vaccinations.

Of these, 4341 were not serious, while 180 were serious.

Many of the serious reports included allergic reactions, while other issues include reactogenicity reactions (flu-like symptoms), stroke, pulmonary embolism, thrombosis, reduced vision, seizure, facial paralysis and haemorrhage, according to Medsafe.

This information relates to the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only COVID-19 vaccine currently available in New Zealand.

MaggieMaybe, any medication or vaccine has its risks. Anyone who says otherwise is not realistic. When it comes to adverse event reporting, it can be uncertain what to make of it. Mild and expected side effects can be reported and would be counted. Yet there is often under reporting of adverse events too. Of course, Covid infection is also not risk free and we don't know the long term effects of that either! I'm very cautious about taking anything unless it's really necessary but weighed it up and decided to take the vaccine. Reluctantly, but I did it.

CafeAuLait in your summary you missed out the reporting of adverse incidents which would have happened anyway, i.e. which were attributed to the vaccine but were an unrelated event.

Casdon

CafeAuLait in your summary you missed out the reporting of adverse incidents which would have happened anyway, i.e. which were attributed to the vaccine but were an unrelated event.

True that :-) I could have reported today's headache but it could have been a coincidence. Probably was. Generally with this kind of data they do collect anything and everything.