Covid Vaccanation Anxiety

NannieN I can only say that you have been very unfortunate if you know two people who have died as a result of blood clots after the AZ vaccination.

Up to and including 30 June 2021, there had been 71 reported deaths from blood clots with low platelets following either AZ or Pfizer vaccination. There were 7 in the 18-29 group.

I'm not underestimating the tragedy of those deaths, but the fact is that they are extremely rare.

This is the latest report:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting

Hi everyone

Thank you everyone for your comments, words of encouragement and different perspectives regarding having the vaccination. It is an emotive subject and people's opinions differ but are very much valid. The information regarding the blood clots was very useful to help put in to perspective the differences.
I had recently being refused HRT due to risk of blood clots (if I would have actually used HRT is a different matter), I think this was on my mind plus 2 past work colleagues passed away from blood clot related deaths within 2 weeks of having AZ vaccination. One of them was a young lad of 30, plus a general fear of vaccination. All played apart in my reluctance to having the vaccination.
It would have been nice if my friends and family would have appreciated my concerns and supported me in going about things in my own way in my own time. However, have now had 1st dose and as suggested on this thread will take it one step at a time and will think about the next dose when due

I think the fact that we are living through a pandemic is possibly the reason. Everything is heightened, people are under great stress, so decision making is impacted by that in a way decision making about routine childhood vaccinations wasnt. In addition we live in an age where social media impacts public discourse, I wonder what the MMR debate would have been like today.

EthelJ I absolutely agree with you, but when it comes to weighing up the risks and benefits, very few people do this when getting their children all the childhood vaccinations, or getting themselves vaccinated against flu or shingles, but so many agonise so long and then refuse when faced with a vaccination for a pandemic disease that is far more likely to kill them or do them serious harm than any of the other diseases we are vaccinated against.

This is the conundrum to which I have yet to see an explanation.

I was very happy to have the vaccine because the risk of harm from it is much lower than the risk of harm from Covid which can also cause life threatening blood clots. Every medical intervention has risks. But it's a matter of weighing up the risks against the benefits.

If people decide not to be vaccinated it’s up to them, but weighing up the risks has never been more important than it is at the moment because there’s a higher chance than ever of catching the virus at the moment, which is why so many of the reluctant older people are now being vaccinated. All we can do is wish you good luck Biscuitmuncher.

Biscuitmuncher Has it occurred to you that if someone reacts badly to the vaccination, it could be a sign that that person will be exceedingly ill if they catch the disease.

I have asked you this question before, and you didn't answer it, so I will ask it again for you not to answer it again. (why are anti-vaxxers so scared of questions)

Can you name a single vaccination that is 100% safe, 100% free of side effects, and 100% effective?

Peasblossom, I can understand where you are coming from with people working in the NHS. They are more protected if people are vaccinated.

Probably the majority of young people who don't get the vaccine are right that they will do well getting through Covid infections. You just never know though and some will be surprised.

Bless you Nannie, you have bitten the bullet, so to speak.

I went quite happily to get my first vaccine, but I fear I didn’t think it through property (two weeks before I had become eligible for my first flu vaccine and had been to the chemist for that). If I had given it more thought then I definitely would have left a much longer gap between the two inoculations.

The first Covid jab was at the end of February, and I left a good four months before the second jab. At this point I was being phoned , emailed and texted every day by the surgery to get the second one.

When I felt COMPLETELY well in myself I went for the second.

My experience of the second jab was utterly different from the first- no side effects at all!

However the side effects from the first COVID jab following on so quickly from my first ever flu jab were horrendous, and took about two months to clear.

Yes I suppose if someone thinks Covid isn’t all that bad and they probably won’t get it anyway, they won’t bother with the vaccine. I had a friend who thought like that about illness so I do know it’s a way of thinking that some people have.

Obviously, having had family in the front line and catching Covid from the people they treated,I see things differently. Just like you want to protect your family, I wish that I could protect mine from having to care for people who’ve deliberately put them at risk.

Peasblossom

But would you expect health workers to look after the unvaccinated members of your family? Because the health workers have had the vaccine that your family refused so they’ll be all right?

I don’t follow the thinking,

I suppose I would go for medical help if necessary, the same way I went for medical help when the home delivery of a child didn't go well. I didn't go into that thinking I would likely need outside help.

I don't think people who refuse the vaccine are really thinking like that they? That the NHS will look after them when they are sick. Aren't they thinking that they are unlikely to have serious problems with Covid, so they won't need outside care from the NHS?

I don't work for the NHS but have worked in a situation where I could have been very exposed, and probably would be if my circumstances allowed me to work at the moment. In that position, I would get vaccinated with the expectation I'd be at risk and it was the best I could do. Fair? Maybe not. But realistic.

I have one person in my home currently declining vaccination. I also have a vulnerable person in my home. The vulnerable person has got vaccinated, we respect the right of the other to make their own decision.

But would you expect health workers to look after the unvaccinated members of your family? Because the health workers have had the vaccine that your family refused so they’ll be all right?

I don’t follow the thinking,

I understand where you are coming from NannieN. I felt very similar to you initially. However, my very dear friend contracted Covid in January and was seriously ill, he eventually was discharged but within 2 weeks was back in hospital. He is home now but not the man he was. He struggles daily, and was so active previously. It is heartbreaking.
I decided to have the vaccination after putting it off for weeks, I had no side effects, just very tired the next day. I then heard about blood clots and this put me off again for the second one. However, after talking to the my RA consultant I just put all thoughts out of my mind and went for the second one. I have been fine.
I think it is very difficult when we feel such fear about these things but you have done well with your first one and hope you feel confident to go for the second one.
Take care and good luck

"I know you’ve decided to have the vaccine. But what would you say to those still working with Covid patients?"

I would assume they have had the vaccine if they are working with Covid patients, to give themselves the best protection.

And no, the NHS will not be picking up the slack for me if I can't do what I do now. But it could actually cost the country hundreds of thousands.

I will not be risking my health for others. Others are free to get the vaccine to protect themselves. I do not have to do something that might put myself or my family at risk so someone else can feel more comfortable. I also don't expect anyone to get vaccinated for me.

The world won’t come and pick up the slack for you Cafeaulait, but you know what, my family who are in the NHS will. Just like they have been doing for the past eighteen months.

You’ve made your decision for you and you family. there are some people who have thought beyond that and have have risked their own health and that of their families to show care for others.

So would you expect them to go on treating those who have refused the vaccine? To continue to care for those who have decided the safety of others is of no account.

I know you’ve decided to have the vaccine. But what would you say to those still working with Covid patients?

Shelflife

CafeAuLait, it is not simply the 'general approach' to your health that is the issue ! It is the general approach to world health you should be considering. I fail to understand your attitude , speechless!! I hope you remain safe and well. If you find yourself battling the virus no doubt you will be eternally grateful to those NHS medics who put themselves and their families at risk to take care of you.

I am vaccinated so I feel that I have done what I can to help myself.

I wouldn't put myself at risk if I didn't feel it was the best decision for myself and my family though. The world won't be coming and picking up the slack for the people I care for and who need me well if I react badly to the vaccine or die from it. That's the main reason I did get the vaccine - for them.

The individual matters too and I support free choice for everyone.

CafeAuLait, it is not simply the 'general approach' to your health that is the issue ! It is the general approach to world health you should be considering. I fail to understand your attitude , speechless!! I hope you remain safe and well. If you find yourself battling the virus no doubt you will be eternally grateful to those NHS medics who put themselves and their families at risk to take care of you.

"As for blood clots,HRT,Contraceptive pill and smoking are a higher risk!"

I think those kind of statements don't work for those of us who have been more hesitant. My response would be, "But I don't do any of those either!" I don't put those things in my body because of health concerns about them, so it only makes not doing the vaccine seem consistent with my general approach to my health, which validates any decision to not get vaxed.

Well done on having the vaccine.Ive just had my second one without a thought and I now feel so relieved. As for blood clots,HRT,Contraceptive pill and smoking are a higher risk! I fear that this virus will keep mutating in order to survive and it will affect most of the unvaccinated eventually! I had many family members infected from the ages of just 3 to 55! All very ill and a friend died from it.Do any of you remember the swine flu,followed by a vaccine.My arm was literally highjacked while taking my children to get vaccinated.No choice,no time to think and no one at the time made a big fuss,so what has changed? Maybe without that vaccine there might have been a much bigger problem like there is now.I have one family member who is refusing due to the blood clot issue,he also smokes,drinks heavily and worse! I know if he caught Covid it would wipe him out!! My adult children and extended family are now all double vaccinated and it has taken that worry away.
At the end of the day we are responsible for ourselves...I wouldn't preach to the non vaccinated but they seem to freely attack the ones of us who took the vaccine!

Did you take your children to be vaccinated when young? They did not have the mental capacity to weigh up all the pros and cons. maybe they resent you making the decision for them. I hope you just thought it was something that would save them from life-threatening illnesses when they were older. Luckily most of us did and formed the umbrella the refuseniks sit under.,polio eradicated very few cases of measles until recently etc.
Lots would complain if our civil rights were taken away and we were told we had to have the vac,.
Just think of the millions in third world countries hoping and praying for it while ours is starting to stockpile with numbers rising and people still refusing. We are lucky that it is there to say yes or no to.
Chances have to be taken how many people have had life-threatening operations because of chronic illnesses but the outcome is good. It happens every day with heart surgery and transplantation.
You have done the right thing go for your second. Stop worrying and Good luck.

Well done on being vaccinated Nannie N. Please have your second shot when the time comes and stay safe.

Biscuitmuncher

Shelflife what the TV that's there to terrify people? I'm not being injected with a brand new experimental drug, that gives what 6 months cover. My friends daughter has had her first jab and has been ill for three weeks, shes 20! Having covid wouldn't have made her that ill

You don’t know that though, do you.

I have an auto immune condition which can, when flaring, lay me very low indeed. Having just come out of a major eighteen-month flare which required emergency hospitalisation, I was uncertain about having the vaccine in case the necessary immune response to the vaccine triggered another flare up.

I took advice from experts in my condition and the unanimous opinion was to have it. Doctors explained that the immune response to a vaccine is different to the immune response which causes inflammation in auto immune conditions. I’m probably not explaining this very well but a similar kind of thing to what Peasblossom has explained above about different kinds of clotting.

I’ve come to the conclusion that we have a choice between trying to stay alive and really living. In a recent Downing Street press briefing, Patrick Vallance said the virus could be around for at least another ten years. I don’t want to spend ten years feeling frightened. By the end of May I was doubly-vaccinated and three weeks later started to resume my normal life insofar as the things I used to do have reopened or restarted. I continue to take precautions with masks and hygiene. The mental health benefits of socialising again were immediately apparent.

I’m one of life’s ambiverts exhibiting qualities of both introvert and extrovert. I live alone and think I coped with lockdown pretty well but it is so very good to be able to go out to enjoy the company of other people again and participate in the things I enjoy.

Do NOT find yourself on a ventilator- sorry typing error!?

Biscuitmuncher, you seen to have much opposition on this thread , but I guess you expected that - why else would you do it!? I genuinely hope you do not regret your decision.
Please think about how the world would be if everyone refused the vaccine!!! Are you relying on the rest of us to keep Covid away from you ?
I would always ( under normal circumstances) respect the wishes of those who do not want routine vaccinations - but this is far from Normal, we are in a Pandemic for goodness sake. Do you actually believe that tv reports are there simply to terrify us ? They are there to educate and make everyone (including you) aware of what is happening. NHS staff are working in such dangerous conditions nursing people with the virus - many who have not been vaccinated . We all need to take responsibility for others.
Of course the vaccine companies are big business- so what ? I know asking you to reconsider will fall on deaf ears but if you are unfortunate enough to to catch the virus I sincerely wish you well and hope you do find yourself in a coma on a ventilator. Good luck !!!!