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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To refuse to have a corona vaccine?

384 replies

EasyPleasey · 13/05/2020 13:35

A lot of people seem to be waiting for a corona vaccine. However I just dont trust any vaccine 'rushed' out, especially after all the mistakes made so far in this crisis. I would rather catch the actual virus and take my chances, as for most people it is a mild illness but who knows what the vaccine may do.

I know quite a few other people who say they will refuse any vaccine for this. I have had all the other vaccines, as have my children.

AIBU?

OP posts:
LockedInMadness · 13/05/2020 14:01

All medications have side effects. Including paracetamol. For instance, contraceptive pills can cause blood cloths.

Yes of course but it is too early to see what side effects this vaccine might have. Some may take years to appear.

Wolfgirrl · 13/05/2020 14:01

@CovidCrofter

Flowers for your bravery!

Bedroomdilemma · 13/05/2020 14:02

@Wolfgirrl, they may be experts but given the abrupt u-turn in their advice which likely contributed to the UK having the highest death rate in Europe, Whitty and Valance certainly aren’t infallible.

LockedInMadness · 13/05/2020 14:02

Good for you CovidCrofter, you are very brave.

Porcupineinwaiting · 13/05/2020 14:03

No YANBU. Foolish perhaps but if you'd rather give the virus a try go for it. You dont even need to wait.

countbackfromten · 13/05/2020 14:04
  1. there might not be an effective vaccination

  2. the safety and efficacy of vaccinations has been proved time and time again and the risk of any harm is completely outweighed by the benefits

  3. the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 - the virus which causes covid 19 has been shown again and again. This isn’t a cold, this is killing people. And those who are seriously ill from it who don’t die may have very horrific long lasting consequences. Even people with milder forms may have long lasting consequences.

Rubywhox · 13/05/2020 14:04

All medications have side effects. Including paracetamol. For instance, contraceptive pills can cause blood cloths
I don’t take contraceptive pills because the risks associated with it are not worth it for me.
Should I be judged and have people sneer at me saying ‘more for sensible people then’ because I’ve made the choice not to take those risks even though lot of other people do?

FourTeaFallOut · 13/05/2020 14:04

@CovidCrofter - when it comes to testing the efficiency of the vaccine rather than the safety would you be happy to directly expose yourself to the virus - normally considered unethical when there is no reliable treatment options but it seems is being considered with coronavirus because of the scale of the problem?

Wolfgirrl · 13/05/2020 14:04

@Bedroomdilemma

Of course, but they're certainly more infallible that hippies on facebook.

As for comparisons to thalidomide etc, how ridiculous.

A lot of armchair experts embarrassing themselves online.

Wolfgirrl · 13/05/2020 14:06

@Rubywhox

Fine but your choice not to take the pill only affects you.

Covid affects everyone.

IMO those that refuse it should not be allowed into public places. Why should everyone be at risk because of you?

Sedlescombe · 13/05/2020 14:07

So long as schools Andy allow vaccinated kids in that’s fine and you will benefit from herd immunity

AndMyHairWillShineLikeTheSea · 13/05/2020 14:09

I don’t take contraceptive pills because the risks associated with it are not worth it for me.
Should I be judged and have people sneer at me saying ‘more for sensible people then’ because I’ve made the choice not to take those risks even though lot of other people do?

You do realise that your contraceptive choices are not a matter of public health?

Rubywhox · 13/05/2020 14:09

IMO those that refuse it should not be allowed into public places. Why should everyone be at risk because of you?
So you’d enforce medical on people going against their bodily autonomy in order for them to have the right of freedom? That’s going down a dangerous route...

onesmalldog · 13/05/2020 14:09

Just for balance.

$4 Billion and Growing: U.S. Payouts for Vaccine Injuries and Deaths Keep Climbing

childrenshealthdefense.org/news/4-billion-and-growing-u-s-payouts-for-vaccine-injuries-and-deaths-keep-climbing/

amijustparanoidorjuststoned · 13/05/2020 14:10

So you'd rather take the risk of catching Covid-19 and dying than having the vaccine - that WILL have undergone a lot of thorough testing - therefore saving your life?!

Anti-vaxxers baffle the fuck out of me.

CovidCrofter · 13/05/2020 14:11

FourTeaFallOut we are not meant to change our behaviour to expose ourselves more to the vaccine - they couldn't ask that as it would be unethical, and I guess may also skew the trials (I'm not an expert, just a member of the public so this is conjecture!).

However this does mean that the trials may take longer if not enough of us in each group (there 600 of us in each) catches the virus to prove a difference between the vaccine and the placebo.

MitziK · 13/05/2020 14:12

@EasyPleasey and Thalidomide is still approved for medical use, because it's a damn useful drug and safe outside pregnancy.

It was tested at the time, including on animals. Chirality of molecules isn't the same as a conspiracy. The findings afterwards mean that even more care is taken in testing to avoid harm, including extensive computer modelling to avoid possibly misleading results from using other species (which reduces the numbers of animals used, so win-win there).

I caught Swine flu. DP was seriously considering calling an ambulance. A friend, a long distance runner, is now on the shielding list and permanently disabled due to the lung damage she received from catching it (which led to another fortnight in ITU early this year - not Covid, not flu, just a bog standard bug that nearly killed her). I was probably still vaccinated against it the following year and was fine.

With the exception of the BCG, as I have acquired immunity in the 'conventional' (ie, I got sick and recovered after 9 months to a year when I was a child) manner, I've had every vaccination I've been told I needed/was eligible for.

You crack on if you don't have elderly relatives or any friends who have other medical conditions, get pregnant or suchlike. Congratulate yourself on your suspicions.

And don't forget to remember that, at any time there is a story of a pregnant woman who dies of it, every funeral notice in the local paper, a newborn baby or a six year old with cancer that dies of it - you might have been the one person in the chain of transmission that could have prevented that death.

turnthebiglightoff · 13/05/2020 14:13

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

AndMyHairWillShineLikeTheSea · 13/05/2020 14:13

@CovidCrofter it must be very interesting being part of that trial. Would you mind starting a thread about it? I'm sure lots of us would be interested to know what's involved etc.

bambinaballerina · 13/05/2020 14:13

There might never be a vaccine, but I agree that a vaccine that is developed over months instead of years might give people doubts. There are examples of vaccines that were withdrawn due to issues they caused and those took years to develop.

Think about the controversy around the Dengue vaccine in 2017 or the whooping cough one, that was changed in the 90s.

Nurseynurse2007 · 13/05/2020 14:14

Anti-vaxxers baffle the fuck out of me
Ffs turning down a vaccine doesn’t make you an anti-vaxxer, it just means you’ve turned down that one particular vaccine! People can turn down procedures or treatment for any reason they like, it doesn’t mean they’re necessarily broadly ‘anti’- something

FourTeaFallOut · 13/05/2020 14:14

Yeah, I read that they were considering a change to that because it will take longer to get good data. I think it's very brave in any case.

Wolfgirrl · 13/05/2020 14:14

@Rubywhox

So you put your freedom 'wants' over another person's right to life?

Even more dangerous in my opinion.

bambinaballerina · 13/05/2020 14:15

Covid affectseveryone.

That's not correct, vast majority of people with covid do not develop symptoms or have very mild ones.

Proppedupinbed · 13/05/2020 14:15

Thalidomide was first sold in the 50s. I'd like to think that medical protocols have improved a bit since then.

Thalidomide was a drug that was made before the significance of chirality was understood on medicines. Chirality relates to the design of a chemical molecule.

A vaccine causes an immune response in the body.

These are two different things, but the general idea is the same that the length of the testing time is very important.

the safety and efficacy of vaccinations has been proved time and time again and the risk of any harm is completely outweighed by the benefits

No doubt true for society as a whole. But not great for one of those with the horrible side effect that only affects a tiny proportion of the population.