To ask whether you would have and give your DC the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available?

[Juniorpromdressqueen]

Apologies if this has been asked before.

I’m very pro-vax, but the thought of such a new vaccine makes me feel a bit nervous. Then again, so does the thought of coronavirus.

I was reading an article in The Atlantic about the vaccine today, and it said 21% of Americans say they won’t have the vaccine and another 30% are undecided, and it made me think about it, because my initial reaction was, “idiots!!” and then I realised that made me hypocritical, as I am nervous myself.

What would you do, if you and your family could have the vaccine at Boots tomorrow?

There hasn't been enough time for them to adequately test it on the human reproductive system & I'm hoping for healthy grandchildren one day.

Plastics and the environment are the bigger threat to reproduction, are you banishing plastics from your life?

We don’t know what sitting our children in front screens does to them long term but we still do it.

I don't have children but, yes, my family and I will all be having it as soon as we can.

There hasn't been enough time for them to adequately test it on the human reproductive system & I'm hoping for healthy grandchildren one day.

Is sterility and/or damage to unconceived children a known side effect of any current vaccines?

The vaccine won't be licensed as a pediatric vaccine until it has been deemed safe in the general adult population. It is a slower process to get vaccines approved for children even with the accelerated pathway being used for covid 19. Although most of the increased speed is a more efficient paperwork process rather than increasing the trials themselves.

I will be taking the vaccine when/if it becomes available, for the same reasons that I pay for a flu vaccine every year even though I'm not in a vulnerable flu category. I might be able to fine with the flu but I don't want to infect anyone else more vulnerable whether they are vulnerable family members or those I come across in public or at work.

No I won't be having it or suggesting that my family have it. It has been rushed through and there's no guarantee that it will work. They can't even tell us if having the virus gives us immunity how can they be sure a vaccine will work.
And for the record I'm not anti-vax - my dd is booked in next week to get her MMR booster she should have had a school in April. I'm very wary of something so untested and rushed for a virus that is very unlikely to do my family harm. I wouldn't have a normal flu vaccine so I can't see why would I have this one.

Yes I would. I have signed up to the vaccine trial registry also (for me not the children).

@KittyFantastico

There hasn't been enough time for them to adequately test it on the human reproductive system & I'm hoping for healthy grandchildren one day.

Is sterility and/or damage to unconceived children a known side effect of any current vaccines?

I can’t weigh in on the vaccine side but I do know that one of the veterinary coronaviruses vaccines in use was developed because a particular strain of coronavirus was making chickens infertile and I have seen numerous reports, although still very theoretical because of the nature of it, saying that the covid-19 virus has been linked to male infertility (covid is thought to bind to ace2 receptors which testicles have along with lungs, heart etc.).

Even with that in mind I’m not sure whether I would want my dd to be in the first lot of vaccinations. I’m happy to have it and have signed up to the Zoe registry to be a guinea pig if needed for vaccinations or treatments because I know that a lot of these are modified or repurposed existing medications and I’m pretty confident about them.

However I don’t know if I’m being completely reasonable about it but I definitely have an unease about the thought of it for my dd and I have given her all the vaccines available so far including flu so I will keep reading up on anything I can. Ultimately I want to protect her so if an available vaccine is the best way to do that it’s what I’ll do.

Yes I definitely would, but would prefer to delay dc as she’s unlikely to be ill with the disease.

@Takingabreakagain

No I won't be having it or suggesting that my family have it. It has been rushed through and there's no guarantee that it will work. They can't even tell us if having the virus gives us immunity how can they be sure a vaccine will work. And for the record I'm not anti-vax - my dd is booked in next week to get her MMR booster she should have had a school in April. I'm very wary of something so untested and rushed for a virus that is very unlikely to do my family harm. I wouldn't have a normal flu vaccine so I can't see why would I have this one.

How many times does this have to be said to people: it is not rushed. All the original work for this vaccine was done previously before this year. Trials stages are running alongside each other rather than one after the other. And it is not just about protecting you and your immediate family, it is about protecting the wider community, those that can't be vaccinated (not won't).

Oh and now your daughter is at school (assuming 5 as she is having mmr booster) then are you going to refuse the new every year flu vaccine she is entitled to? (Because, you know it isn't the same every year!)

The researchers started planning the vaccine that would become the COVID-19 vaccine around five years ago in response to MERS. Doesn’t seem very rushed to me. How long would you like them to take?

I don't think children will be part of the initial vaccine programme anyway, excepting the clinically vulnerable.

Yes I would. Theyre not fast tracking the vaccine by cutting corners - its by having global wealth and shared knowledge thrown at it in a way we've never known before. When I heard the scientist who was one of the first ever trials talking I thought if she would, why not me.

Im obviously wary of the live tests they might do to test the vaccine by exposing people to Covid but selfishly I hope some people might volunteer for it.

Yes I would

Ds has had terrible reactions to vaccines but I still would (and he had all his vaccines)

There hasn't been enough time for them to adequately test it on the human reproductive system & I'm hoping for healthy grandchildren one day.

Seriously? Does that mean you want to wait several generations?

For those who want to 'see the science' before deciding. Will that be the technical peer reviewed stuff or the you tube stuff. To properly read the former, ideally have a PhD and know the literature. If the latter, I doubt you will have the vaccine.

Trust the scientists who release a vaccine as safe to use or don't. But don't kid yourself that you understand the science better than those who have dedicated their lives to working on vaccines and viruses.

Fewer people who want the vaccine means me and mine will get it sooner.

On the assumption we get a vaccine.

For anyone in the “I’m not an anti vaxxer” camp, sorry to burst your bubble, but you are an anti vaxxer if you are prioritising your paranoia over the health and wellbeing of your children.

It’s actually not true that children are less likely to catch it, it’s just that they’re less likely to have a bad reaction to it. But the principle of herd immunity is that the more people who are vaccinated, the less the virus can circulate around society, meaning those who are not able to be vaccinated for whatever reason are at less risk. But if you were pro vaccinations you would already know this.

So vaccinating yourself and your children isn’t just about you it’s about what’s best for society. You know? just like MMR is...

One of my DC had a moderate allergic reaction to a previous vaccine, we've been told they can still have vaccines but they have to be done at paediatrics rather than at the GP clinic. Once this vaccine is available they will be having it.

DH is asthmatic, two of our DC are disabled, and I'm a carer so we will probably be around the middle if the list for who gets it first.

For anyone in the “I’m not an anti vaxxer” camp, sorry to burst your bubble, but you are an anti vaxxer if you are prioritising your paranoia over the health and wellbeing of your children. It’s actually not true that children are less likely to catch it, it’s just that they’re less likely to have a bad reaction to it the flu jab and the chicken pox jab are optional for children- I will exercise that option given that their reaction to it is minor. Also children aren’t the predominant spreaders of this disease, it’s adults.

@AlternativePerspective The MMR has been licensed since 1971, that’s 49 years of use and research, not 6 months. It is no way comparable,

I'm on the fence (fully vaccinated here including annual flu jabs / spray)

I'm morbidly obese and have autoimmune arthritis [whcih is the main reason for the obesity] so I think I'd have the vaccine. The children I'm really unsure about!!

Yes and I’ll try and not hold it against those who say no ie they are happy for everyone else to have it and protect them. I’ll be controversial and say it also seems to be the case that those saying no (in IRL discussions) are the mask avoiders too... again the I don’t care enough about anyone else to be put or or slightly uncomfortable but I expect everyone else to do their bit. I do understand some people cannot wear a mask for whatever reason and I support those genuine people much like I’m happy to be the herd that provides immunity to people who cannot have a vaccine.

I will have it ASAP.
I think that if you are young( under40) without family members with significant other illnesses or aged parents reliant on you , and you are not working in close contact with the public you are in the luxurious position of being able to think about this. You and your children would be having it for herd immunity rather than yourselves.

I’m happy to be the herd that provides immunity to people who cannot have a vaccine yes I’m happy for me to have it, I’m also low risk, for the sake of the wider community - but my child is a different case. I make decisions for her based on what is best for her.

I would. I work on a respiratory ward so it wouldn't be fair on the patients not to.

It’s actually not true that children are less likely to catch it, it’s just that they’re less likely to have a bad reaction to it. But the principle of herd immunity is that the more people who are vaccinated, the less the virus can circulate around society, meaning those who are not able to be vaccinated for whatever reason are at less risk. But if you were pro vaccinations you would already know this.

So vaccinating yourself and your children isn’t just about you it’s about what’s best for society. You know? just like MMR is...

But vaccinating DS against measles helped herd immunity and protected him. The balance is very different for Covid - it would be essentially all about protecting wider society. You can see this from the fact that DS is actually at greater risk for chickenpox but there's no NHS vaccination scheme for that. The same is true to a lesser extent for me - I'm low risk, so would be getting it mostly for other people - and I'm happy to do that, but I don't feel so comfortable deciding on DS's behalf that he has to be altruistic, in the same way as I donate blood but I wouldn't sign him up to give his (if you could).

Yes. Volunteering for trials. As someone upthread said, if the scientists and medics are doing it so will I.

Just a thought - the antivaxxers are like the Taleban who kill medicial workers delivering vaccines to Pakistan and Afghanistan. And the resut is a resurgence of polio.