The Vaccine

I have just read an article that said that some people who are allergic to a certain antibiotic will not be able to have one of the vaccines but the Oxford one will be ok as it doesn't use the antibiotic in its manufacture. This was the first time I had come across this so more information needed.
I had said I would want the vaccine as early as possible but at 64 will be a bit down the list. Now I want to know if it has been tested on people with certain health conditions such as the type of blood cancer I have.
We can only hope the powers that be give plenty of information out, all in all I still want it.

I'm a bit of a vaccine phobic. I had my first flu jab this year because I felt a responsibility not to be ill and strain the NHS. Never had the pneumonia or shingles one. I'm a bit worried about the shingles as I had it several years ago and when I am run down I still get some irritation in the nerves it affected.For the covid one I'm not sure. Will they test first to see if you have actually had it? It seems there might be a substantial amount of people who have had it wthout knowing. I also wonder about the people who are going to actually do it. I don't mind trained health care assistants but I don't think I want a fireman giving me an injection.

I was going to ask why you are reluctant annsixty but I think M0nica sums up the situation very well. Already in this thread there is a raft of vaccine myths – such as there’s a special one for older people - although the most common complaint in general seems to be that his has been rushed through.

My mum is the same age as you annsixty and she’s champing at the bit as well, like your friend. I’ll be taking whatever vaccine my doctor offers me, because if its being offered that means it has gone through all of the necessary safety and effectiveness checks. I won’t know what’s in it because I’m not a medical scientist, but I trust the people who are, and the regulatory bodies. If we stop doing that, we’ll be in a pretty bad way.

Its natural to have doubts, but it’s also sensible to listen to reasonable explanations. I hope the government have a good communication campaign about this so that as many people as possible take the vaccine up and we will all benefit from that.

Another one here would like to be first in the queue.

I think all the vaccines have elements of previously used vaccines (not sure that's what the scientists call it!) which reassures me that they will be safe.

Anything which helps to get us back to "normal" is ok by me

annesixty. I think the reason you feel as you do is because, even though one is firmly provax, the miasma of anti-vax that floats around us wrappingits delicate tentacles round our ears, inevitably affects how we think.

I will be first in the queue for the vaccine. DH is part of the phase 3 trials for the Oxford vaccine, so we are fully committed, but ywt - that antivax miasma, wraps itself around my ears as well.

I'm certainly not open to any old vaccine that comes along first.
I really want to know what's in these vaccines !

The Oxford one won’t be available for ages: the Pfizer one will though. They are all pretty similar anyway from what I’ve read. Thee only one I’d have reservations about having is the Sputnik one but I won’t be offered that one anyway! The pharmacist that gave my pneumonia jab said she knew of people that had contracted shingles from the shingles jab (I’d said how I wished I was eligible for that one) so you were probably more at risk having that one than the COVID one. For what it’s worth I’d still have the shingles one if I could.

Even with the shingles jab, or any other for that matter they seems to give a deadline of 80 years old, meaning beyond that the immune system will either not cope the same or the side-effects are dodgy.
It'll either kill or cure

I'm undecided too annsixty and admit to being wary as well. Like yourself I've had those jabs that you mentioned and didn't turn a hair, maybe because they've been going for years and have established themselves as being a safe-guard against the illnesses that they protect.

This one I'm unsure of particularly as there's one specifically for those over a particular age which tells me that if you're inadvertently given the " run of the mill " vaccine, that it would have unwelcome adverse effects.

Annsixty I’ve been thinking about this and come to the conclusion I’ll be grateful for the Oxford one but not so sure about the Pfizer one! I wonder how they’ll go about which one to use. I read a very large amount of the Oxford has been ordered so maybe that’s what most people will get after the most urgent groups have been vaccinated?

Madness not to.

If you decide not to go ahead, then what?

The virus will still be lurking and you will still need to social distance etc if you haven’t had it.

It will totally constrict the rest of your life, not forgetting you would be a pain in the proverbial to the NHS having to be treated when there was absolutely ino need to be.