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Another COVID vaccine?

(144 Posts)
Dollymixtures Tue 17-Jun-25 23:27:45

What’s everyone’s feelings about having ANOTHER COVID vaccine please? I’ve had them all up to now and was quite adamant that I didn’t want any more. Now I read that there’s a different strain making its way round. I really can’t decide, any suggestions?

escaped Thu 19-Jun-25 12:56:10

What’s everyone’s feelings about having ANOTHER COVID vaccine please?

How the topic started in the OP. Most people simply answering for themselves, not trying to put anyone off. Some giving personal experiences for their decision. That's fine, live and let live.

keepingquiet Thu 19-Jun-25 13:12:01

growstuff

escaped

I'm not sure about others, but I find it rather an insult to my intelligence when it is inferred that I haven't done research, or more importantly, spoken with a health professional. I make my decisions from that.
There's a difference between saying people in general who refuse the vaccine make blind decisions, and some people who decline after informing themselves.

I'm afraid the mention of "research" is a bit of a joke when it comes to conspiracy theories.

Anti-vax is a conspiracy theory. The science in favour of vaccines is overwhelming and readily available for people to read.

However, it is a choice. No one can force a vaccine on anyone, but anti-vaxers using their spurious claims to fan the flames of rumour and fear is morally indefensible...

Luckygirl3 Thu 19-Jun-25 13:54:21

This is my view too. It is fine for people to believe what they will, but giving others the impression that these conclusions have scientific validity is not acceptable as people's lives and health are at stake.

M0nica Thu 19-Jun-25 15:02:46

escaped

I'm not sure about others, but I find it rather an insult to my intelligence when it is inferred that I haven't done research, or more importantly, spoken with a health professional. I make my decisions from that.
There's a difference between saying people in general who refuse the vaccine make blind decisions, and some people who decline after informing themselves.

I do not think anyone has suggested that everyone who refuses a vaccine has not done their homework, on the contrary, every post I have read has been very careful to make the clear distinction between informed decisions and those where someone says they made their decision on the basis of some facts that are simply not true.

growstuff Thu 19-Jun-25 16:13:12

keepingquiet I agree with you. I really couldn't care less what other individuals decide to do. They own their own bodies and lives. However, the proliferation of "fake news" is concerning, especially as some people reading it might be quite vulnerable and maybe not able to look up peer-reviewed research.

foxie48 Thu 19-Jun-25 16:45:42

We are still collecting data about hospital admissions of patients with Covid, admittedly it can be secondary to another morbidity but there were over a 1,000 inpatients in English hospitals every day in April 2025. This is obviously an issue for the hospitals as they have to be isolated but the report from NHS England that I looked at also pointed out the link between stroke patients and being covid positive with the inflammation it can cause. Covid is still causing a problem. I think, it's just not news anymore.
www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/

growstuff Thu 19-Jun-25 17:42:13

There is also a report about myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-myocarditis-and-pericarditis-information-for-healthcare-professionals/information-for-healthcare-professionals-on-myocarditis-and-pericarditis-following-covid-19-vaccination

It's from 2022, so there's possibly a more recent one.

A couple of snippets:

"5% of patients developed new onset myocarditis and 1.5% pericarditis within a 6 month period following COVID-19 infection."

"As of 2 March 2022, in the UK there were 739 reports of myocarditis and 507 reports of pericarditis following use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, 221 reports of myocarditis and 216 reports of pericarditis following use of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine, and 212 reports of myocarditis and 119 reports of pericarditis following use of the Moderna vaccine to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Many of these are self-reports, and have not been confirmed by medical adjudication."

That's a tiny number compared with the Covid patients who developed myocarditis or pericarditis after infection.

Nevertheless, the people most of risk of effects from vaccination were in the 18-29 group. It's also known that people in that age group usually recover well from infection.

If I were 18-29 and otherwise fit and healthy, especially if I'd already had Covid and recovered quickly, I might think twice about being vaccinated (I'm not sure it's even offered to that group now).

However, the risk from vaccination is far less in older people, but the risk from infection is much higher, especially in certain groups.

It's all about risk and balance. As a 70 year old with medical conditions which make me vulnerable to reacting badly to infection, it seems obvious to me that opting to be vaccinated is preferable. I've lost count of how many times I've been vaccinated, but have not had any adverse reactions.

foxie48 Thu 19-Jun-25 18:07:31

Thanks for posting this growstuff it explains my post about understanding "risk" better than I could have done but basically the data shows there is a risk of young people (especially males) of developing myocarditis or pericarditis following a covid vaccination but it is considerably less than the risk associated with having a Covid infection. Also, both conditions are found in young people prior to the pandemic and the covid vaccination programme and are generally found to be linked to viral infections.

henetha Thu 19-Jun-25 18:10:19

I've had every covid jab offered and will continue to do so. I firmly believe that it would lessen the symptoms if I caught Covid. In fact, that has already happened, - I did have mild covid about three years ago.

growstuff Thu 19-Jun-25 18:21:48

I've never had Covid, to my knowledge, but I have witnessed what it can do to people who otherwise reasonably fit and healthy. I'll do whatever I can to avoid being that ill.

I already have a number of meds on prescription. I have an annual flu jab and have recently had my first Shingles jab. If I listed all the possible side effects, I could produce a book!

Dollymixtures Thu 19-Jun-25 22:51:42

Wow! What a conflicting range of opinions! Thank you all for your input. I’m really not persuaded one way or the other about having another jab. I’ve had a couple of years of varied health problems and don’t want more but then I want to be protected against Covid of course. I think I’ll wait until after my imminent holiday and see how the land lies then. Isn’t it good that we have such choice?

growstuff Fri 20-Jun-25 01:11:05

Dollymixtures As far as I know, you can't just ring up and book a vaccination whenever you want. You have to wait for a "window" and maybe wait to be invited depending on your age/health. I was invited to have the latest one, but when I checked, it turned out that I didn't meet the criteria to have it, so I will have to wait until autumn/winter. I don't even know what the arrangements are or even whether there will be one.

Maybe use the time to do some proper research by reading peer-reviewed articles and official data. Please ignore the scare-mongering and social media posts which don't give sources and evidence. If something is coming from a known anti-vax site, you can guess that it's going to be biased.

Nobody can tell you what is the right decision for you. Factors would include your age, medical history, reaction to previous jabs and if you've had Covid before, how long you to took to recover. There is overwhelming evidence that you are more likely to have health problems form Covid infection than any vaccination. It's about risk and balance.

CariadAgain Fri 20-Jun-25 07:02:20

henetha

I've had every covid jab offered and will continue to do so. I firmly believe that it would lessen the symptoms if I caught Covid. In fact, that has already happened, - I did have mild covid about three years ago.

But how do you know that? - ie that it was only mild...where otherwise it might have been severe?

I've never had any jabs and I've had Covid once - and didn't realise it was Covid until I thought "This cough is lasting a long time - it's been more than a week" and it lasted, in the event, for 4 weeks. There might be an element to it of being a bit overweight as well - I'd gone down to real size 16 just before Lockdown and was dieting my way back down to real size 14 (ie 1970s sizing) and - courtesy of Lockdown wine - am now currently real size 20 and that might be what is causing the slight breathlessness I've had since then (ie being plump) or it might be Covid. I guess I'll be able to tell on that once I'm back down to size 14 (vanity size 10-12) again - whenever that is and can see whether the slight breathlessness has gone yet.

henetha Fri 20-Jun-25 10:19:36

Well, of course, I don't really know for certain, CariadAgain, but common sense tells me that it's reasonable to think that it could have been more severe if I had not had the vaccination.
That's what I believe . In the same way that I have never had flu again since the jabs started being available, whereas previously I regularly had flu and bronchitis . I honestly think that these jabs do help.
I didn't realise that our weight had any bearing on covid. That's news to me. Is there any evidence of this? Any reports about it? It's interesting. smile

camlyn Fri 20-Jun-25 13:52:10

Me too Nankate. Give me everything going, that's my motto. Pneumonia, Shingles etc.

theworriedwell Fri 20-Jun-25 15:32:24

I've had COVID twice. Once I didn't know anything about it but was having blood tests as part of a study and they found it. Second time I was very ill, they wanted to admit me to hospital but I declined. Lots of antibiotics and weeks in bed followed by long COVID. I still have the skin itching and am now very prone to chest infections and pneumonia.

One thing I would say to anyone is don't imagine because you've had it mildly once you will get it mildly if you get it again.

rocketstop Sat 21-Jun-25 08:38:50

No, never , unless there is an imminent and really bad pandemic predicted.I am convinced the jabs did me harm , I won't risk another jab.

rocketstop Sat 21-Jun-25 08:39:41

oh, and I speak as someone who lives with Long covid and the damage that has also wreaked on my life.