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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Are people right to be worried about the vaccine?

439 replies

CutToChase · 11/12/2020 06:26

I had a "good tempered" argument with DP last night. He says theres no way hes putting something in his body that hasnt undergone all the checks and tests and says that normally vaccines take 20 years to approve.

I think that when I have a choice between a known negative (covid) and an unknown (vaccine) I will always take the unknown.

In response he says people have forgotten a minuscule proportion of people actually suffer from covid. He says this is all about money (however he is a conspiracy theorist...)

What do you think about the vaccine and the speed of it?

Also vote:
YABU = I will not be getting the vaccine
YANBU = I will be getting the vaccine

OP posts:
RainingBatsAndFrogs · 11/12/2020 06:30

Vaccines do not normally take 20 years.

A new flu one is rolled out every year.

There is nothing in this vaccine that is new to medicine.

It is based on the vaccine for previous SARS.

Oh, god, why am I getting sucked into arguing the POV of conspiracy theorists?

flaviaritt · 11/12/2020 06:33

I suspect the vaccine is fine and will probably get it. But it is totally legitimate to be concerned about it, and people are well within their rights not to get it.

Original poster
CutToChase · 11/12/2020 06:37

@RainingBatsAndFrogs

I plan on doing some research today because to be honest I stopped following any covid-related news at the end of the first lockdown, it was just stressing me out.

He's one of those who believes the government is out to get us whereas I fundamentally believe that governments have the peoples interests at heart (the truth is probably somewhere in the middle).

OP posts:
Sirzy · 11/12/2020 06:45

A lot of the time taken in research for vaccines normally is taken up with applications for funding and waiting to be able to start the next stage. All of that has been bypassed at the moment in order to get a safe vaccine out as soon as possible

SeasonFinale · 11/12/2020 06:45

Your OH sounds like a right twat. Why are you even giving his views any validity at all.

The vaccine is ready because all The stages were done concurrently rather than consecutively and there has been no delays in waiting for approvals.

SeasonFinale · 11/12/2020 06:46

You do realise that by starting a thread kike this you too are feeding this nonsense.

Shoxfordian · 11/12/2020 06:47

The vaccine will be fine
He's being ridiculous

flaviaritt · 11/12/2020 06:54

It makes me laugh that some people are so frightened of sensible discussion about a new medical treatment that they accuse anyone bringing it up of ‘spreading nonsense’.

The Guardian estimates 1/3 people might refuse it. It’s a perfectly reasonable thing to talk about.

GaraMedouar · 11/12/2020 06:56

I have allergies - vs food and some medicines - anaphylactic (epipen level) - so will be following with interest. I understand the Oxford vaccine is better for those with allergies than Pfizer. But I am low down on the priority list so they should know more by then.

TeenPlusTwenties · 11/12/2020 06:58

flaviaritt People aren't frightened of sensible discussion.

They are fed up with having the same kind of thread time and time again pedalling ill-informed scare-mongering.

Gardeniaofdelights · 11/12/2020 06:58

This issue here is that your husband fundamentally doesn’t understand how vaccines work. If he’s a conspiracy theorist you won’t get through to him, but you can make your own informed choice. It’s therefore worth remembering the following:

  1. This is not new technology - the tech used in the Pfizer vaccine has existed for decades and is used to treat some forms of cancer. It has just been developed for the Covid spike protein instead.
  1. The reason this vaccine didn’t already exist is because there wasn’t a large medical need and therefore no justification for the expense and time required to develop it.
  1. A truly vast amount of money has been pumped into this vaccine, meaning there have been many people working on it and access to any amount of resources, equipment etc.
  1. Clinical trials have not revealed any major issues with the vaccine, meaning it has progressed quickly through testing. Testing vaccines is done independently, it is not under the control of the manufacturer.
  1. The sheer scale of the trial meant lots of data was collected very quickly - this normally isn’t possible where disease prevalence is lower.
  1. vaccine scientists are the ultimate vaccine sceptics. That is their job, to assume a vaccine is unsafe until proven safe and effective (and even then, to provide a calculated measure of doubt). If they’re saying it’s safe, it’s because the evidence overcomes their base position that a vaccine isn’t safe until proven otherwise.

So, in short - get the vaccine.

Lunariagal · 11/12/2020 06:59

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-55041371

jomaIone · 11/12/2020 06:59

The vaccine has gone through all the same tests as other vaccines, and has nothing 'new' in it, the scientists know the effects of all the ingredients. It's not a free for all, random mix!

What I can't understand is how we are the first to make one, China, America?? Why has no one else got a vaccine yet.

bobbiester · 11/12/2020 07:00

No idea what "doing some research" means. Scientists do the research.

When a vaccine skeptic asks you to "do some research" it usually means watch some YouTube videos made by assorted cranks.

If you want to read about the Oxford vaccine for example the scientific report is freely available in The Lancet. Sure it won't make sense to most people but so what? Why does this have to be the one area of medicine where people won't accept treatments without understanding all the details themselves?

Original poster
CutToChase · 11/12/2020 07:01

@Gardeniaofdelights
Thanks, I am going to do my own research today, to be honest I'm quite ignorant in that I dont know anything about vaccines other than a vague notion of "they inject your body with the virus so your body learns to react to it".

What does it mean on a practical level if one person in a couple gets the vaccine and the other doesnt?

OP posts:
flaviaritt · 11/12/2020 07:01

They are fed up with having the same kind of thread time and time again pedalling ill-informed scare-mongering.

What scaremongering? It’s a perfectly valid question. ‘What do you think about the vaccine and the speed of it?’ isn’t scaremongering.

Plenty of people (including lots of doctors) are intending to be cautious about this. I am one of those people. I think it will be fine, but I concede the possibility that mistakes might have been made because of unprecedented speed.

custardbear · 11/12/2020 07:01

I'll take it thanks!

My understanding is that they've used technologies already out there in vaccines - they've also done procedures and processes concurrently, rather than step by step, massively shortening the process. The governing bodies prioritised it, usually that side takes ages, new stuff goes to the back of the queue, but all hands on deck for Covid vaccines

I'm in, vaccines are never risk free but far better option than the illness

Angel2702 · 11/12/2020 07:01

The same safety checks and trials have been completed. The fact vaccines usually take years is not because they are safety tested for years. They take years because of waiting for funding, trying to recruit enough volunteers and waiting for them to be exposed to the disease etc. The trial part is no different to what has been done for these vaccines it is just because all the other stages have not been delayed and there was no shortage of people willing to test the vaccine in areas they had enough exposure to the virus.

BendingSpoons · 11/12/2020 07:06

I read an article that said the reason this vaccine didn't take 10 years is because they didn't have to spend years getting funding, waiting for ethics and trying to recruit participants. The funding bit particularly is a real barrier. It still underwent the same tests.

Thepilotlightsgoneout · 11/12/2020 07:11

It has undergone all the usual checks and tests. I would find him extremely irritating, you’re a better woman than me for putting up with him.

UnmentionedElephantDildo · 11/12/2020 07:15

What I can't understand is how we are the first to make one, China, America?? Why has no one else got a vaccine yet

Pfizer is US company.

FDA has endorsed the vaccine.

TeenPlusTwenties · 11/12/2020 07:15

falviarett What scaremongering?

I refer you to the OP (though speaking for her DH):

hasnt undergone all the checks and tests - FALSE This vaccine will ahve gone through all the normal checks and testing phases, just without delays for funding, next meetings, outbreaks to occur to test on etc.

and says that normally vaccines take 20 years to approve. - FALSE It doesn't take 20 years to approve vaccines once all the testing has been completed.

I have a friend who is working on research for treating Covid. She says that earlier this year you just needed to put 'covid' into a project proposal and it got assessed without delay.

RancidOldHag · 11/12/2020 07:16

What does it mean on a practical level if one person in a couple gets the vaccine and the other doesnt?

One gets the benefits and the otther doesnt

bobbiester · 11/12/2020 07:16

What does it mean on a practical level if one person in a couple gets the vaccine and the other doesnt?

It means the person who had it is protected against getting seriously ill from COViD. While the person who did not have it is not protected. Simple as that.

That's what we know at this stage.

Pretty simple.

flaviaritt · 11/12/2020 07:17

TeenPlusTwenties

But that’s just what her DH thinks. He’s entitled to think it. We are all entitled to discuss it.

From my perspective, I’m prepared to believe the vaccines have gone through all the appropriate tests. I’m also prepared to believe otherwise. Obviously they’re going to say it has, but I’ll see what happens when millions of people take it. It’s not illegitimate to have concerns.