How would you react if a family member or a friend chose not to have the vaccine?

[Laiste]

Is this going to divide people and friendships?

(i know it's a minority who wont have it, but still ... how do you feel?)

How many people bite their nails? Isn't that something kids grow out of by 8yo? Never heard of an adult doing it. But once again, you cant do it through gloves, and most people have soap and wash their hands by now I would hope.

Lifelong nail biter here. Can not stop.

@NoCauseRebel

If someone else decides not to have the vaccine then they’re the ones putting themselves at risk, I’ll be having it so they’re not a risk to me and I don’t care what they do.

But I don’t think they should then demand special treatment e.g. my DP works with a woman who has been shielding. Interestingly enough no-one knows which illness she has as she’s constantly off sick with one thing or another and her illness always seems to coincide with the school holidays. I don’t doubt she has some health problem but she does so little at work and is off sick so regularly that the team have lost patience.

Anyway, she’s now shielding and is refusing to do any work from home while she is. But she’s openly said she will refuse to have the vaccine because in her words, she doesn’t need the vaccine, she has God.
. In that instance I don’t think she should be allowed to continue to shield as she has chosen to put herself at risk.

I disagree with you and think she is allowed to continue shielding if that is what she wishes to do. However, I would support her employer dismissing her on capability grounds. So then she can shield from her own savings indefinitely.

@Fuckadoodledoooo

How many people bite their nails? Isn't that something kids grow out of by 8yo? Never heard of an adult doing it. But once again, you cant do it through gloves, and most people have soap and wash their hands by now I would hope.

Lifelong nail biter here. Can not stop.

Lots of adults bite their names. A surprising number of adults also sick their thumbs!

*suck not sick

Because if those not at risk don’t have it, the virus won’t become controlled and will mutate so that the vaccines aren’t as effective. It means living a life of lockdowns or restrictions for years or forever for some people. Unless the vast majority have it, the virus will endlessly circulate.
ROFLMAO - The Spanish Flu did exactly the same thing 100 years ago. We have no cure for it. It comes here very year and kills off old people, morbidly obese people and people with compromised immune systems. But we don't vaccinate the whole of society to stop that from happening. We don't advocate putting the whole world on permanent twice yearly injections for life to control it. H1N1 is more than 100 years old not, and we have never managed to stop the spread of any of these viruses, ever.

My support worker and her colleagues were offered and refused.
I wasn't annoyed but was surprised.

It is entirely up to them.

I plan to have it but I always refuse the flu vaccine. I will be asking to have the Oxford jab though when they get to me. I'd refuse the Pfizer ones on the grounds that I have a severe seafood allergy and is probably contraindicated for me.

@LadyPoison - i had no idea about that! Thank you. MIL is severely allergic to sea food. I'll give her a heads up in case she doesn't already know.

@ElliFAntspoo I think the poster you quoted is being slightly dramatic but is in a sense correct. You are incorrect for still believing that Covid is comparable to flu. It is not.

@ElliFAntspoo

Because if those not at risk don’t have it, the virus won’t become controlled and will mutate so that the vaccines aren’t as effective. It means living a life of lockdowns or restrictions for years or forever for some people. Unless the vast majority have it, the virus will endlessly circulate. ROFLMAO - The Spanish Flu did exactly the same thing 100 years ago. We have no cure for it. It comes here very year and kills off old people, morbidly obese people and people with compromised immune systems. But we don't vaccinate the whole of society to stop that from happening. We don't advocate putting the whole world on permanent twice yearly injections for life to control it. H1N1 is more than 100 years old not, and we have never managed to stop the spread of any of these viruses, ever.

The nhs is close to breaking point every winter. Pretty sure if we didn’t vaccinate the vulnerable (and this who care for them) against flu each year the system would be overwhelmed.

If it turns out the covid vaccines also stop transmission then only the vulnerable will need it. But we don’t know that yet.

Well I would like to know their reasons but I’d probably be as @Myneighboursnorlax if they had generalised anxiety I would probably think it was fine but anyone who comes out with any misinformed at best or crazy antivaxer microchip bollocks at worst will be phased out. I don’t think I’m friends with anyone that thick though.

The Spanish Flu did exactly the same thing 100 years ago

The Spanish Flu killed around 50m people @ElliFAntspoo, roughly a third of the world's population at the time. An equivalent death rate today would be more than 2.5 billion people. While it's unlikely that Covid would have a similar death rate if allowed to run its course, even a tenth of that would be too big a price to pay imo.

My eldest DD won't have the vaccine. She refused it last week. I've had mine because I'm ECV. I think she's exceptionally selfish. I'll possibly limit contact with her next winter because of it.

I think people are selfish to not get the flu vaccine. Unless there's a medical reason.

I hate the assumption that if you don’t want it you are anti vax or believe in some conspiracy theories!

I’m neither. I’ll encourage my elderly parents to have it. I’d encourage anyone vulnerable to have it. Me? Well statistically I’m very low risk of severe outcome. I dont feel I need it. And as yet there is no evidence that it prevents catching it or transmitting it just significantly reduces your chance if severe illness or death. So if I chose not to how does that impact you?
I know people will scream at me hysterically and say it’s not flu, I get that, but in terms of this it is. If you’re over 50 and / or at risk have the jab. If not, you probably dont need it. If you want to, have it if it makes you feel better. I’ve never had a flu jab because again statistically I don’t need it. We’ve never called for mandatory vaccines for that, despite in some seasons tens of thousands of people dying.
Each to their own

@ElliFAntspoo yes vaccination causes herd immunity. That’s why babies are vaccinated with MMR, Diptheria etc with boosters as needed when they are toddlers etc.

When not enough children are vaccinated then there isn’t sufficient here immunity and there are measles outbreaks. It has happened more frequently recently because parents aren’t vaccinating their children because they’ve read conspiracy theories on the internet.

Doing your own research just means googling things. It’s not research it’s hanging around the sillier parts of the internet.

I think people are selfish to not get the flu vaccine. Unless there's a medical reason.

You are perfectly entitled to your opinions. However, there will be plenty who don't agree. I am one of them.

It would be interesting to see if people would change their mind if employers started saying they wouldn’t pay out sick pay for covid if the individual hadn’t been vaccinated.

I disagree with you and think she is allowed to continue shielding if that is what she wishes to do. However, I would support her employer dismissing her on capability grounds. So then she can shield from her own savings indefinitely. ah yes, I suppose that what I meant was that her employer shouldn’t have to support her shielding if she hasn’t had the vaccine and should be able to dismiss her accordingly.

Their choice, not mine.
But, since they may pick up the virus and pass it on I would be wary about visiting, expect them to wear a mask, not have get-togethers indoors or whatever and I would make this quite clear.
Fortunately I live on my own....if this was a partner, it might become a deal breaker for me.

@Laiste - she certainly needs to make sure that the person giving the injection is aware of her allergy if she is offered Pfizer. I'm not sure there is any formal advice about seafood allergies and the jab though

More info here www.sps.nhs.uk/articles/advising-individuals-with-allergies-on-their-suitability-for-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine/

[quote LadyMayoGoodway]@ElliFAntspoo I think the poster you quoted is being slightly dramatic but is in a sense correct. You are incorrect for still believing that Covid is comparable to flu. It is not.[/quote]
Lol.
I didn't say they were comparable. I didn't even elude to it.
What I did say was that what we are facing now, in regard to what we are facing and how deadly this may be, is comparable to the H1N1 Flu pandemic at the beginning of the last century.
Clearly H1N1 Flu is largely an insignificant inconvenience at best, and not even a second thought for most of us, but that was not the case 100 years ago when millions of people were dying of it all over the world.
100 years from now if they have another viral pandemic, they will still have Covid, but they won't give a flying F about it, and it will be nothing more than a mild irritation.
H1N1 killed approx. 20 million people and infected half a billion over a two year period. To put that in perspective, if Covid kills 4.6 million people on the planet by next January, we will be getting close to being Covid being comparable to the H1N1 flu strain.

None of my business.

People are selfish. I’ve got my appointment booked for next week and I can’t wait. I want the immunity from it and it also effects my job. Quite a lot of countries have said you can not fly there with the vaccination so I wouldn’t be able to do my job working for an airline. Honestly though I will pretty much cut anyone off that’s not had it unless it’s on medical grounds. It’s absolutely hilarious what people come up with as reasons not to have it and it’s those people to blame when lockdown doesn’t end and things won’t go back to normal. Absolute morons.

Bare in mind they might not be anti-vaxers. They might chose to have come vaccines and not others, depending on the risk of them suffering from the actual illness. It's just a personal choice. There are a lot of unknowns still with this one that some younger people might be fearful it could interfere with fertility etc. The number of over 80's dying has shot up since that group got vaccinated so maybe some older people are starting to get nervous, especially since it hasn't been tested in the older groups.

To answer the question, I doubt I'd know. I certainly wouldn't ask. I intend to have the vaccination when it is my turn.