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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Vaccine-feeling worried

354 replies

2020yearfromhell · 11/11/2020 20:36

I’m feeling really worried about this gradual
push to possibly have to have the vaccine, they say they won’t force us, but will likely make you unable to travel, go to festivals etc etc without it, so basically it is almost as if we’re being forced.
Why the sudden rush through of it and such a need for it from day one.
Anyone else feeling nervous? I really don’t want it as no idea what it is.

OP posts:
Iamclearlyamug · 13/11/2020 14:18

@2020yearfromhell

I’m feeling really worried about this gradual push to possibly have to have the vaccine, they say they won’t force us, but will likely make you unable to travel, go to festivals etc etc without it, so basically it is almost as if we’re being forced. Why the sudden rush through of it and such a need for it from day one. Anyone else feeling nervous? I really don’t want it as no idea what it is.
Who is “they” though? The government? Because the government have said “they” won’t make us have the vaccine - and “they” won’t.

It’s ticketmaster, or whoever runs the festivals, or the governments of countries who decide ‘no vaccine, no entry’ who are ‘forcing’ you to get vaccinated - but that is their prerogative as a business/organiser/country.

But festivals, travel etc isn’t a god-given right - if you really don’t want the vaccine, then don’t have it and don’t go to the festival or whatever.

NOBODY IS FORCING YOU - especially not the government!

pointythings · 13/11/2020 14:41

Bumbleymummy I agree that older people should have priority for vaccination, no argument there. But the idea that younger people can then just opt out isn't a safe one. There will be older people - a higher proportion than in the younger age brackets - who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons. When younger people opt out because they are afraid of 'rushed vaccines', those younger people will be moving around and risk spreading COVID to those older people who are unable to be vaccinated. Vaccination is a societal effort.

CorianderLord · 13/11/2020 14:53

Why? Have you ever been made to have a medical injection? Ever?

notimagain · 13/11/2020 14:54

I just don’t think it’ll be the case that you’ll be refused entry to events etc without being vaccinated

Events in one's country of residence perhaps but as others have pointed out upthread I don't think there's very much doubt at all that anyone declining to be vaccinated (and possibly being prepared to carry proof thereof) will find that their options for travel abroad will become very very limited.

toconclude · 13/11/2020 15:08

[quote 2020yearfromhell]@AcornAutumn Agree with your all your points. I’m gobsmacked how quickly they’re passing through all the laws on festival entry, travel insurance etc. It’s been so rushed through, I’m genuinely frightened, never before has any vaccine had all these rules attached to it, it’s bizarre.[/quote]
They are not 'laws', for goodness sake. Companies have policies, they always have had. The level of ignorance on this thread is pitiful.

5foot5 · 13/11/2020 15:39

I will not be having a brand new vaccine injected into me.

I might have already done so! Grin

Not the Pfizer one but I volunteered for clinical trials for one of the other vaccines in development and I had my first shot a week ago. Of course the trial is "double blind" so there is a 50/50 chance I just got the placebo. But then again maybe not..

As you can probably guess I will have no hesitation in taking wat is o offer.

bumbleymummy · 13/11/2020 15:42

@pointythings not for all diseases though. The elderly/immunocompromised are at higher risks for other diseases that we do not vaccinate for en masse. The more vulnerable are offered vaccines and can choose whether to take them or not. Even things like the men ACWY vaccine is offered to teens and students because they are most at risk - we don’t expect to vaccinate the whole population to protect them.

knittingaddict · 13/11/2020 15:44

I can't get the bloody thing quick enough. I will get it because I'm in my 50's, but am probably going to be one of the later ones, despite some vulnerability. My husband will get his before me. Lucky him.

knittingaddict · 13/11/2020 15:46

@5foot5

I will not be having a brand new vaccine injected into me.

I might have already done so! Grin

Not the Pfizer one but I volunteered for clinical trials for one of the other vaccines in development and I had my first shot a week ago. Of course the trial is "double blind" so there is a 50/50 chance I just got the placebo. But then again maybe not..

As you can probably guess I will have no hesitation in taking wat is o offer.

If it wasn't for my age and weight I wouldn't have happily volunteered too. We need people like you, so thank you.
WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants · 13/11/2020 15:49

@paintedsmile77

The deadly virus that you have to get tested for to see if you have it.
Don't be ridiculous.
WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants · 13/11/2020 15:52

@BlusteryLake

I have to say, I am pleased that I would be at the back of the queue for the vaccine, in that I am under 50 and healthy. It's been such a short time in development I am secretly pleased that lots of other people will have tested it before my turn comes.
Please stop adding to the fear some people have about the vaccine.

Do some reading & understand how this has been able to be done so quickly.

It's through it's if money & efficiency NOT cutting testing!

WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants · 13/11/2020 15:56

@2020yearfromhell

Yes it was the Ticketmaster report I saw earlier on today and I’m guessing lots of other things will follow suit. So effectively, if we want to live a normal life, it will force us to have it. No one else scared?! It’s been made in such a short time, in a really weird period of time, I really don’t want it, my anxiety’s heightened even thinking about it.
Well, it's your choice. Is it really a big deal to you not to go to concerts?
5foot5 · 13/11/2020 15:56

If it wasn't for my age and weight I wouldn't have happily volunteered too. We need people like you, so thank you.

@knittingaddict The trial I am on said they would take people between the ages of 16 (or was it 18?) and 84. They didn't have any concerns about weight either as far as I could see. At least one of the other people in my group looked to be morbidly obese.

pointythings · 13/11/2020 15:57

[quote bumbleymummy]@pointythings not for all diseases though. The elderly/immunocompromised are at higher risks for other diseases that we do not vaccinate for en masse. The more vulnerable are offered vaccines and can choose whether to take them or not. Even things like the men ACWY vaccine is offered to teens and students because they are most at risk - we don’t expect to vaccinate the whole population to protect them.[/quote]
The main one being flu, for which we are trying to vaccinate en masse. I use to work in a research facility carrying out dementia research, obviously involving frail elderly people. One of my colleagues working there refused the flu vaccine. We all thought differently about her after that. Protecting others who are part of the society we live in, where it is possible and reasonable to do so, is part of being a decent human being.

Of course people have a choice about being vaccinated or not - but the rest of us are allowed to point out to them that choices have consequences.

WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants · 13/11/2020 16:40

@Duemarch2021

Urgh i dont want it... not yet.. maybe in a few years once its been tried and tested. I wasn't aware we'd be forced to have it
So you want the rest of us to have it, to protect you & your family & you'll just sit by & wait...

No one is going to force you to have it. It'll be personal choice. You might face some festival/travel restrictions, but that's your choice.

WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants · 13/11/2020 16:43

@Gancanny

WRT to side effects showing up years later, that's not really how vaccines work. Side effects, even serious ones, tend to show up relatively soon after the vaccination is given and the vast majority of them are mild such as tenderness at the injection site. Serious adverse reactions are incredibly rare and side effects appearing several years later even rarer still. This is not the first vaccine ever developed and the science behind vaccines shows that they are very safe.
Maybe we could get you the job as the Givt spokesperson on the vaccination!!

People need to hear this kind of thing!!

bumbleymummy · 13/11/2020 16:53

@pointythings how do you feel about people in the vulnerable categories who choose not to have the flu vaccine. Uptake in over 65s was around ~72% last year. Why should people feel guilty for not having a vaccine to protect people who choose not to take it themselves?

pointythings · 13/11/2020 17:15

bumbleymummy you're being disingenuous as always - I'm talking about people who can't have the flu vaccine for medical reasons (but would if they could. They tend to be the most vulnerable of all and they have no choice about protecting themselves.

People who have choices are allowed to make bad choices. We are allowed to point out that they are making bad choices. That includes pointing out that some people have no choice and that those of us who do have choices should be better.

Your point about the meningitis vaccine was also deeply true to form disingenuous as meningitis isn't a pandemic disease.

BestOption · 13/11/2020 17:18

@Gancanny

& others involved in trials or with good links etc

Can anyone tell me if the Pfizer vaccination was trialled (or us being) on people (f,51) with diabetes & obesity? (& high blood pressure)

If I didn't have these underlying conditions I'd be happy to have the vaccine, but I don't react well to any medication (diabetes us controlled through a boring as fuck diet) & blood pressure as best as I can through diet & exercise. No medication. I had a small op & was very ill from the medication they gave me afterwards for heart & diabetes. Came off it all & ate non hospital food & eventually sorted it out again. I'm a bit worried about how my body would cope with the vaccine (but would have it anyway as Covid would be worse I'm sure) is just be a bit reassured if the testing was done on some people like me, not just the 'healthy'

GeorgiaGirl52 · 13/11/2020 17:42

NottinghamForestFan

... my age has a 99% survival rate. In fact I had it recently and didn't even know (tested weekly through work).
Why would I want it.

How many people did you infect while you were walking around with no symptoms? How many people did those people infect? How many people died?

Sometimes human beings do things (like get vaccinated) in order to benefit other people - not just themselves.

walksonthebeach · 13/11/2020 18:06

I haven't read the whole thread but I'm with the OP on this, it's ok to be anxious about having a vaccine!

This is all going to get very messy. I have a holiday booked for next year which I booked before Covid & tickets for a few gigs which were postponed until next year. I'm not high risk so I'll be last in line for the vaccine. So are people like me expected to pay for a Covid test to get into a concert/plane on top of already paying for that event!? How are ticketmaster going to deal with that! They'll have to start including Covid tests in their prices!

bumbleymummy · 13/11/2020 18:11

😂 oh grow up @pointythings with your passive aggressive crossing outs. You didn’t say the ‘frail elderly people’ you worked with couldn’t have the flu vaccine. Anyway, I stand by my point. We don’t guilt trip people every year about not having the flu vaccine and we shouldn’t try to guilt trip people about not having this one. By the time the vaccine is widely available, a large number of people will have had CV and will have some degree of immunity. That may be enough to help prevent spread in the community and a large vaccinated population may not be necessary. Time will tell.

Wrt the men acwy vaccine, my point had nothing to do with it being a pandemic disease - it was to do with offering the vaccine to the people it will benefit most - not trying to vaccinate everyone to protect a certain group. I’m sure you know that but anything to try to have a dig right? 😁

pointythings · 13/11/2020 18:24

bumbleymummy you do know that there's zero evidence that having had COVID means you're immune, don't you?

And I'm sure you are aware that pandemic diseases require a different management response in terms of targeting vaccination to non-pandemic diseases?

You're wilfully missing the point and here it is without crossing out - that's your arguing style. Always has been. That 70 year old you see in the shop might not be able to have the vaccine for all kinds of reasons. And here you are, 30 years old, having refused the vaccine because you think it's been 'rushed' even though it's available (we're obviously talking about some time down the line here) - you're COVID positive, asymptomatic and contagious. You infect the 70 year old lady who becomes very ill. That's what mass vaccination is about - giving a shit about people less fortunate than you.

bumbleymummy · 13/11/2020 18:44

@pointythings if there was no evidence that infection/exposure gives immunity then they wouldn't be developing a vaccine. It is evidence of antibody and t-cell response that is currently driving vaccine development.

"if natural infection with the virus can elicit a robust T cell response then this may mean that a vaccine could do the same,” said Fiona Watt, executive chair of the Medical Research Council.

Charles Bangham, chair of immunology at Imperial College London, said, “This excellent study provides strong evidence that T cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 may last longer than antibody immunity.”

He added, “These results provide reassurance that, although the titre of antibody to SARS-CoV-2 can fall below detectable levels within a few months of infection, a degree of immunity to the virus may be maintained. However, the critical question remains: do these persistent T cells provide efficient protection against re-infection?”

One of the more recent publications There are plenty more if you want to look. As said in the article, we don't know yet whether exposure provides long term protection - but we don't know that about the vaccine yet either and yet you seem happy enough to push that idea. As I said, time will tell.

I'm not wilfully missing anything. I just happen to disagree with you. I could also be carrying flu asymptomatically (as around 70% of flu cases can be)and pass that on to that woman and yet I'm not offered the flu vaccine every year, nor am I guilt tripped about it.

pointythings · 13/11/2020 19:20

If you were offered the flu vaccine, would you have it?

I have it every year - I'm not frontline, but I am an NHS worker so I have a duty of care. Besides, flu is awful and I'd rather not have it again.

But you're still missing the point I'm making. This pandemic needs to be controlled. A vaccine is key to achieving that. And yet all I see on this thread are people saying 'oh, I'm not at risk, COVID won't kill me, I'm all right, Jack'. In an ideal world, a lot more people would get the flu vaccination. Young children are being given in in schools, because they're super spreaders. Why can't people look at this virus and think that maybe it would be a good idea to do their bit? Instead they hide behind excuses that the COVID vaccine(s) have been 'rushed', without having any understanding of how medical research hurts. Of course they're free to behave like that. But I judge them.

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