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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:
Hill1991 · 11/12/2020 10:56

@flaviaritt

But C12H22O11 is actually the formula for sucrose. So...
Lactose/Formula

C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁

Lactose is the sugar that is found in milk

flaviaritt · 11/12/2020 11:07

I’ll have to go by this:

pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/sucrose

But I’m not a scientist, so what do I know, other than that I have the right to make up my own mind?

knittingaddict · 11/12/2020 11:13

@flaviaritt

I’ll have to go by this:

pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/sucrose

But I’m not a scientist, so what do I know, other than that I have the right to make up my own mind?

It is also the chemical formula for lactose. Hill1991 was right the first time. It being the chemical formula for sucrose too doesn't make it not lactose.
flaviaritt · 11/12/2020 11:15

Fair enough. I don’t claim to know about it. I only know I have the right to make up my own mind.

CakeRequired · 11/12/2020 11:20

Forgive us if we don't listen to you though @flaviaritt considering you've just proven my point brilliantly.

flaviaritt · 11/12/2020 11:21

I don’t mind if you don’t listen to me. You have every right to make your own mind up.

knittingaddict · 11/12/2020 11:22

@flaviaritt

Fair enough. I don’t claim to know about it. I only know I have the right to make up my own mind.
It's fairly easy to get facts if you go to reliable sources. How do you source "facts" for your take on the coronavirus and the vaccine? The same way?
Butchyrestingface · 11/12/2020 11:24

I'm feeling quite sanguine, @CutToChase. Based on what I've read about priority groups, I will be one of the last to get vaccinated.

If there IS anything wrong with that vaccine, the evidence will surely have emerged long, long before it gets to little ol' me. Grin

Hunnihun2 · 11/12/2020 11:25

@flaviaritt

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.
Exactly how you have put it. People have NO rights demanding or imposing other people’s views at this early stage.
flaviaritt · 11/12/2020 11:27

It's fairly easy to get facts if you go to reliable sources. How do you source "facts" for your take on the coronavirus and the vaccine? The same way?

Variously. But I have not actually looked into it in particular detail. I’m not especially concerned about the vaccine. I simply maintain that I have the right to be concerned, and to refuse it, if I wish.

millymollymoomoo · 11/12/2020 13:44

No different to healthy under 50s not having a flu jab. Not needed. And before someone cries this ysnt flu, in years where effect of flu vaccine is low, 50k people in England have dues in a year from flu. Same categories- old : ill/ vulnerable
So no, I won’t have this one, and actually healthy under 50s will be at the very back of the queue for this reason

cauliflowerface · 11/12/2020 14:16

I won't be allowed to get the vaccine for years as the govt have advised women not to have it if they're ttc, pregnant or breastfeeding. I'm currently ttc (could take 1+ years as I'm over 40) and then I'll be pregnant and then plan to breastfeed for several years. By then they might have done more testing and allowed it, or one of the other vaccines may be allowed.

I will probably tell people (socially) that I've had it though, if it comes up in conversation, as I don't like to share details about ttc/early pregnancy, but I don't want to be viewed as an anti-vaxxer. Although I'd be back of the list regardless as I'm under 50.

Cygne · 11/12/2020 15:50

No of course not but I'm not the one suggesting that the experts I've watched on TV were wrong. You were.

Which was in response to a statement that they said "I've listened to a number of experts on TV who rightly advise that there's no telling what the side effects or long term issues may be." So, somewhat self-evidently, I wasn't claiming 100% safety which was the level you demanded evidence of, @whiterabbitsweets

MaryLeeOnHigh · 11/12/2020 15:56

@flaviaritt

Would you put this into your body C12H22O11

No idea. Why do you ask?

So I take it that, before you looked it up, if you saw that on a list of food ingredients you wouldn't eat or drink it?

But it's a fair bet that you do consume it very frequently, in practice.

NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace · 11/12/2020 15:57

I'm fairly convinced that the vaccine will be fine. However, I won't be having it.

flaviaritt · 11/12/2020 21:21

So I take it that, before you looked it up, if you saw that on a list of food ingredients you wouldn't eat or drink it?

I rarely see lists of ingredients that look like that. They usually say things like “milk”, “onions”, “salt”. And I have no concerns about those things.

whiterabbitsweets · 11/12/2020 22:07

@Cygne

I've listened to a number of experts on TV who rightly advise that there's no telling what the side effects or long term issues may be

Not sure who you've been listening to, but I don't really think they can claim to be experts if that is what they are saying. This is not a brand new vaccine, it is based on established vaccines whose side effects and long terms issues we already know. And we know enough now about the side effects and long-term issues of coronavirus to know which is preferable.

For avoidance of all doubt @Cygne, what exactly was incorrect about my post that prompted you to claim that I was wrong?

I responded with an unrealistic 100% in kind as your claim is equally ludicrous. Please do post a link to the well known long term issues with the vaccine. And which vaccine does that happen to be, all of them or one specific?

If you are so certain about the vaccine then please tell me why the government have a covid-19 yellow card reporting site? What is its purpose if the side effects are already well known.

Why are the first tested patients on long term observation (at least 2 years)?

Why are pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers not given the vaccine. Surely the effects of covid-19 are worse than the known side effects of the vaccine so why not just let women have it?

Instead of nit picking, please do me the courtesy of answering these questions or provide links. I've provided sufficient in my previous posts but you've conveniently ignored them all in favour of focussing on a 100% comment.

Leaannb · 11/12/2020 22:18

@RaspberryCoulis

I plan on doing some research today

Sorry to pick on you OP but this phrase really winds me up. There are people out there who have spent their entire career doing degrees, postgrads, doctorates, postdocs, writing papers, teaching students and researching - they say it's safe.

Why would you take what you can find out with a few google searches over the opinion of someone who 30 years plus experience and knowledge in the field?

Because humans are not infallible and they make mistakes.
Eloradannin · 11/12/2020 22:42

I'll be administering the vaccine. I have to undertake hours of training about the biology of the virus and the pharmacology of the vaccine. This is so each and every person I vaccinate can give "informed consent" This means that you have all the facts before you consent.
Its completely your decision whether to have it or not. Just make sure you get your information from the right place.
I WILL be having the vaccine BTW.

Completelyfrozen · 11/12/2020 22:57

I intend to wait a while before getting the vaccine. My concern is that once people have had the vaccine, they will no longer social distance, wear face masks, or wash their hands as frequently.
I noticed that before people were asked to wear face masks when out, people were much better at social distancing. Once face masks were worn by most, social distancing in shops for example wasnt followed as thoroughly. People felt face masks meant they didnt have to social distance as avidly as they had been doing.
I fear the vaccine will further diminish people wearing face masks or social distancing, before we have had an opportunity to learn how effective the vaccine is at preventing transmission of the virus.

burleycha55i5 · 11/12/2020 23:17

@Completelyfrozen

I intend to wait a while before getting the vaccine. My concern is that once people have had the vaccine, they will no longer social distance, wear face masks, or wash their hands as frequently. I noticed that before people were asked to wear face masks when out, people were much better at social distancing. Once face masks were worn by most, social distancing in shops for example wasnt followed as thoroughly. People felt face masks meant they didnt have to social distance as avidly as they had been doing. I fear the vaccine will further diminish people wearing face masks or social distancing, before we have had an opportunity to learn how effective the vaccine is at preventing transmission of the virus.
If you think that then isn't that an incentive to get the vaccine (to reduce the risk to yourself of becoming seriously ill if you catch COVID) ASAP?
burleycha55i5 · 11/12/2020 23:20

Here's a very good article about why it often takes 7-10 years to develop a vaccine and why it hasn't taken that amount of time in this case...

theconversation.com/less-than-a-year-to-develop-a-covid-vaccine-heres-why-you-shouldnt-be-alarmed-150414

burleycha55i5 · 11/12/2020 23:22
Wink
Torvean32 · 11/12/2020 23:30

The vaccine is tested and had to pass stringent medical regulations.
It's safe. I've no idea why ppl are suddenly such medical experts.

FWIW I'm taking part in a vaccine trial as are thousands of others.
Some of us have sacrificed to try and get this country back to a kind of normality
The conspiracy theories need to be deleted every time they are put on public forums.