Page 6 | I know this is a bit morbid

fancyginglass · 2020-12-08T18:33:51+00:00

But do you really think they should have given so much publicity to the first elderly people getting the vaccine? Given their age, what if something happened to them in the next few weeks? This would seriously dent the update of the vaccine and the anti-vaxers would have a field day. Obviously I wish them all well.

LeaveMyDamnJam · 08/12/2020 21:44

Some of the comments on here are disgusting.

As a society, how we treat the most vulnerable amongst us, is a sign of how decent we are. Everyone is important, age is irrelevant, and to vaccinate the most vulnerable first is what a decent society does.

LaceyBetty · 08/12/2020 21:45

If you aren't prepared for a parent in their nineties dying, then you must not be particularly introspective. My grandparents both died of pneumonia in their mid-nineties and they themselves were certainly prepared. We all were because we are able to accept the inevitability of life.

Madvixen · 08/12/2020 21:47

It's not about keeping the elderly alive at all costs, it's about reducing pressure. It's the same premise we use for the flu vaccine

Last December there were 4048 critical beds available in England. 3048 were occupied. This is a pretty standard winter figure.

On Sunday, 1,118 people with COVID were in mechanically ventilated beds.

Simple maths shows that standard winter pressures COMBINED with covid will see critical care facilities run out of bed space pretty quickly. How do you reduce that? You vaccinate the people who are most likely to contribute to that figure. With both the flu and COVID, that is going to be elderly people or people with underlying conditions first.

As for the cancer/dementia argument, those diseases rarely need critical care at end of life so they are not a pressure on critical beds in the same way that a respiratory pandemic is.

XingMing · 08/12/2020 21:51

It is perfectly possible to prepare mentally for the death of a parent. If you are over 60, and still have parents, then it's inevitable. You are elderly, therefore your parents are at risk of death. Please point me in the direction of the guarantee that says your parents won't die. I'd like my mum around forever. Grow up!

Coffeeandcocopops · 08/12/2020 21:51

My mum died age 48. It changes you - it doesn’t make you hard or cold but it makes you more aware of ageing and death. It makes you treasure each day as I know it can end anytime. I tell my kids I’m not always going to be here - it’s a fact.

Tenyearsgone · 08/12/2020 21:54

This thread is bloody awful.

I know, lets just kill everyone over 80 off, then we won't have to worry about them will we.

Line 'em up against a wall.

formerbabe · 08/12/2020 21:55

@XingMing

It is perfectly possible to prepare mentally for the death of a parent. If you are over 60, and still have parents, then it's inevitable. You are elderly, therefore your parents are at risk of death. Please point me in the direction of the guarantee that says your parents won't die. I'd like my mum around forever. Grow up!

I agree. My mum died in her early forties. I make all the right noises when someone loses a very elderly person in their life but deep down I don't think it's an awful tragedy or anything other than inevitable

AlternativePerspective · 08/12/2020 21:56

I haven’t read all the thread because TBH one page was quite enough.

The difference between drug treatments and vaccines is that drug treatment is designed to prolong life, the vaccine is designed to prevent an illness.

Reality is that there are even cases in younger generations where medical treatment is not advised and the person is essentially told that no more can be done. Age doesn’t come into it. We don’t say “well he’s 90 so we think that we shouldn’t treat him because he’s about ready to die anyway.”

By that example, do people think that e.g. people with cancer shouldn’t be vaccinated? They might be about to die after all... Should people like me who is in heart failure not be vaccinated? I could die at any time after all, even though I am healthy with the help of certain interventions and various medications.

Or maybe you as a car driver shouldn’t have the vaccine, after all, you could leave the vaccine centre and crash the car and boom, what a waste of a vaccine eh?

People need to stop bloody wining about who is getting the vaccine and who should be getting the vaccine, these decisions are made by professionals whose life’s work it is to assess risk etc, not by readers of the Daily Mail or for that matter MN.

Tenyearsgone · 08/12/2020 21:56

@CharlotteRose90

I’d rather the elderly get vaccinated first and then we will see about any side effects. I will certainly not get it until I know for sure what’s in it and neither will my mum who is in her seventies

Is this for real?

LaceyBetty · 08/12/2020 21:57

@Tenyearsgone

This thread is bloody awful.

I know, lets just kill everyone over 80 off, then we won't have to worry about them will we.

Line 'em up against a wall.

Absolutely not what this thread is about. A person in their nineties should not be the poster child for this vaccination campaign.

snookercue · 08/12/2020 21:59

@userxx

I’d rather the elderly get vaccinated first and then we will see about any side effects.

🤣🤣. Sounds harsh but made me laugh.

As if the comment wasn't bad enough.

Someone actually thinks this is funny

Tenyearsgone · 08/12/2020 21:59

A ninety year old deserves to live and not die from corona as much as any one else.

LaceyBetty · 08/12/2020 22:04

@Tenyearsgone

A ninety year old deserves to live and not die from corona as much as any one else.

Again, not what the thread is about. OP wasn't saying she shouldn't have had it but I'm personally terrified to think about how many people will refuse the jab and if, god forbid, anything happens to this lady in the near future, whether due to covid or not, the anti-vaxxers will be all over it. By all means, give it to the elderly, but publicise the non-elderly having it ASAP as well.

Thenumberofrebels · 08/12/2020 22:04

I'm a bit taken aback that people seriously haven't considered that when you are in your 80's or 90's that you may just die? I'd honestly consider it a privilege to reach that age. Do you never consider your own death at all if you can't comprehend your Granny dying?

Tomorrowisanotherdayyouknow · 08/12/2020 22:05

The way people talk about older people on here is just sad really.

There was a thread the other die that suggested it was worse to lose a cat than a person.

Strange where people attribute value in our society.

Circumlocutious · 08/12/2020 22:05

This image says it all. The more people we vaccinate, the more life just carries on and people die / get sick as they normally do. I think people who want to exploit this stuff will do so regardless.

Defenbaker · 08/12/2020 22:05

I'm pleased to live in a country that is prioritising vaccinations for the elderly and vulnerable, along with NHS and care workers. All the elderly people I saw on the news were in their 80s or 90s, but they were all keen to get the vaccine so they could resume some normality and have close contact with their families again. They all seemed quite sprightly for their age, and I felt happy for them.

I did not see the vaccine being given to any elderly people with advanced dementia, and the thought did cross my mind that perhaps many of those people have such a poor quality of life that there is an argument to be made for excluding them. This is based on my memories of my father, who died with advanced dementia, amongst other things, and had a difficult and sad few months in his final year. I would not have wanted anything to prolong his suffering. On the other hand, hospital stays are a nightmare for dementia patients, so maybe vaccination is worth it, just to avoid that aspect if they catch it. I'm glad I don't have to make these decisions - talk about moral dilemmas.

ViciousJackdaw · 08/12/2020 22:07

@userxx

I’d rather the elderly get vaccinated first and then we will see about any side effects.

🤣🤣. Sounds harsh but made me laugh.

FIL told me yesterday that he's quite happy to take that risk. 'I'm 84 years old, got nowt to lose have I?'

A vaccinated elder is one who is not in hospital, using NHS resources and bedspace. I know that sounds horrible but they would generally need more treatment and a longer stay if they were to get the virus. I suspect it will save money in the long run. If there are fewer infectious people on the wards, this lessens the healthcare workers risk (admittedly not by much but still...)

Tomorrowisanotherdayyouknow · 08/12/2020 22:08

Indeed as a PP states the elderly shown getting the vaccine seem pretty spritely and quite with it. More so that some half their age!

It's not about testing it on the elderly by the way - it's already been tested - it's about giving it to the most vulnerable to Covid first and to hospital and care workers.

EveryDayIsADuvetDay · 08/12/2020 22:10

@HollyBollyBooBoo

I'm lost as to why we want to immunise a 90 year old rather than an NHS worker.

well: why treat people with terminal cancer? why provide fertility treatment to people who are not naturally fertile? why treat anyone - nobody is immortal?

The vaccine is being given to those at greatest medical risk

crimsonclover · 08/12/2020 22:15

It's not just about how much life someone has left, its about their quality of life! Many elderly people have been isolated all year from their family. I'm sure their relatives quality of life will also improve when they can finally be with them.

Echobelly · 08/12/2020 22:21

The main point is not actually that older people won't die of COVID - the point has never been that it's absolutely unacceptable that an 89-year-old should die, it's been that they are much more likely to end up needing hospitalisation, which could put the health service under impossible pressure, and no one wants to start naming a cut-off age after which you won't get treatement for COVID.

So yes, quite a lot of people who receive the vaccine will die in the next few months, but they are less likely to need intensive hospital treatement and isolation when they do because it's less likely to be COVID.

DinosApple · 08/12/2020 22:23

I’d like my grandma to have the vaccine, she’s 90, very active and sociable. I’ve not seen her since last Christmas and she has been quite isolated. If she has the vaccine I’d visit happily knowing that I couldn’t pass anything on unwittingly.

What I have seen is my MIL (also90) through a care home window.

We and our children waited and watched, and tried to comfort her over the course of a week as she slowly died of Covid. Not being allowed to hold her hand was horrific for everyone involved. Dying alone, or only with staff in full PPE is a terrible thing.

If anyone’s elderly relations are offered the vaccine, encourage them to take it!

showmethegin · 08/12/2020 22:29

I couldn't give a shit what age people are. The most vulnerable should get it first, which in the case of COVID is the elderly.

This year has been shitty for everyone but at least I know that at 32 I (touchwood) have a long time left once we get back to normality. Imagine being close to the end of your life and thinking that you may never hug your family again, or will die alone.

If there was a 110 year old that had three months left I would still believe they should be prioritised for the vaccine, if it means they could spend their last days with their family next to them and have that touch that the elderly have been missing for a year already.

Pootle40 · 08/12/2020 22:37

@Coffeeandcocopops

My mum died age 48. It changes you - it doesn’t make you hard or cold but it makes you more aware of ageing and death. It makes you treasure each day as I know it can end anytime. I tell my kids I’m not always going to be here - it’s a fact.

I completely agree as it happened to me too and for me personally I do agree with some of the posts on here. Yes of course it's sad to lose a parent but I have sensed a false expectation of immortality through all these COVID discussions.