Concerned about having second jab of AstraZeneca

[LuluJakey1]

I have read all of the stuff about AstraZeneca and blood clots and felt the EU was making a fuss about something the WHO and EMA were saying was not a significant issue.
However, I have become increasingly worried over the last few days when further reports have emerged. They are all linked to AstraZeneca, not to Pfizer.
This is in The Independent which is the first time I have read of the medical profession here recognising it as an issue and warning Drs about it.
www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-astrazeneca-vaccine-blood-clotting-doctors-b1826144.html
It raises some very interesting points.

I am worried about having the second jab. I am now feeling the government are trying to sweep it under the table' because they have bought so many doses and could not vaccinate everyone without using AZ.
AIBU to be considering not having the second jab?

What I would like to do is leave it for a while and then have two doses of Pfizer. Does anyone know if that is even medically possible?

All the residents where I work, have all had their 2nd vaccine of Oxford. They are all in their 80's and are fine after their 2nd.

I had my 1st astrazeneca jab before the concerns were raised

I am worried about having the second and am very concerned about whether to allow my children to have it

Funny how the non profit vaccine is coming under increased fire, something sounds fishy to me!

In the UK 30 blood clots in 18 million doses given, works out 1 in 600,000

Reports are saying they is no proven link between the clots and the vaccine.

Do you take the contraceptive pill?
Fly on a plane?

Both are significantly more likely to cause a blood clot.

It still represents less risk than getting coronavirus. Vaccines and medicines come with side effects, some often very serious. But the vaccines and medications are given as the benefits outweigh the risks.

I'm of the mind that if it's gonna get you - it'd get you after one shot. You won't be upping your risk by havng the second.

The numbers are vanishingly small, and I wouldn’t count that as doctors being ‘warned’, more that some specialists in a particular illness are using their expert knowledge to further educate general medics on what to look out for.

I can appreciate how worrying it is, but it’s important to try and see it in perspective. Not the same type of clots, but the risk of DVT in those taking the contraceptive pill is much, much higher, but it’s something considered worth risking for the benefits.

The blood clot risk seems lower (lower than the contraceptive pill - which is widely accepted)

I thought the vaccine likely to be approved for 12-16 year olds was a Pfizer one which AFAIK has not cone under scrutiny?

@Boopeedoop

Do you take the contraceptive pill? Fly on a plane?

Both are significantly more likely to cause a blood clot.

This

The risk of clotting or bleeding issues is greatest after the first shot for AZ, and after the second for Pfizer.

The UK’s medicines regulator said it had identified 30 cases out of more than 18 million doses of the vaccine. Seven of the cases were fatal

I understand why you're concerned, every time the media reports anything about covid-19 or the vaccine I always anticipate hearing negative news.

30 out of 18million people have been affected. I'm not very good at calculating probability and percentages, but the chances of you being affected are very very low.

I had the AstraZeneca vaccine two weeks ago, apart from the sore arm & flu like symptoms for a few days, I'm fine.

See also all the responses to www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4209481-to-not-have-my-second-vaccine-if-it-s-effectiveness-only-increases-by-6-5

There is a very small risk of blood clots from the virus and a much smaller one from the vaccine. Therefore, if you are worried about blood clots, you should get the vaccine.

@Johhny4fingers

Funny how the non profit vaccine is coming under increased fire, something sounds fishy to me!

In the UK 30 blood clots in 18 million doses given, works out 1 in 600,000

And according to Worldometer stats, there have been 1,861 deaths from Coronavirus per million of the UK population.

Second dose is supposed to have far fewer side effects than first.

What have nurses got to do with anything? This sort of silly comment is highly annoying.

I know and understand all of those arguments. These are a very specific kind of blood clot in the brain, extremely rare usually and almost all of the cases after vaccination have been in women in their 30s, 40s and 50s and associated with an also developed blood platelet condition.

I am not worried about general bloodclots. It is this specific type which is causing the concern in the EU medical agencies. It is extremely unusual and it is now confirmed that Drs in this country are being warned to look out for very specific symptoms and told what actions they must take.

If it was random, the incidences of this specific, often fatal, blood clot would not all be associated with AstraZeneca- some would be associated with Pfizer which has been used much more in many places across the world. None have been associated with any other vaccine.

No I don't take the pill or fly on planes - (not for 3 years anyway😁)

Not another one. The reported figures simply don't bear this out.

28 staff in work had our second AZ jab in the week (care home). Side effects reported were far less than the first time round, nobody was severely affected. I didn't even get a lump in my arm.

Nurses are not painting a different picture, so don't believe a random poster on Mumsnet.

Sorry, I cross posted with you. I still think the risks are minuscule.

I will still have my second AZ next month. Can't worry about every small risk and I will feel a lot safer after my 2nd dose.

I'm worried too. I had my first dose in March as I'm ecv. However, I had to stop taking the pill as my dad has had two dvts out of the blue and his consultant told him to tell me to come off the pill because of the increased risk. Luckily he had the Pfizer jab. I do fly short Hall but take aspirin and keep moving as much as possible.