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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Pregnancy and vaccine passports - discrimination?

76 replies

Bluetable · 06/04/2021 13:06

Surely any rules regarding proof of Covid vaccinations will be discrimination against pregnant women who, on the whole, are advised not to get the vaccine. Someone getting pregnant now wouldn't be able to be vaccinated for nearly a year! Are they to be subject to different rules from everyone else once everyone has been offered the vaccine? Surely there would need to be an exception? I wonder what the plan is in term of getting women vaccinated asap after birth...

OP posts:
moochingtothepub · 06/04/2021 14:03

There will be an alternative way of proving you aren't infectious as kids aren't being vaccinated either - probably involving testing. Personally I won't be going near a plane until I've had two doses and every had to prove vaccination or negative test

Mamajules43 · 06/04/2021 14:03

@ChocolateCuddle

Would you want to fly abroad whilst unvaccinated and pregnant?
Yes...
Mamajules43 · 06/04/2021 14:05

@WhatTheFlap

The 'passport' will include negative tests and a positive test in the previous 6 months that would indicate you have a level of immunity, so not necessary to get a vaccine if you're unable to/don't want to.
That's great to know, thank you!
KitchenWarrior · 06/04/2021 14:08

@TheQueenIsDeaf

Pregnancy/Maternity is indeed a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010

It is, but it won't be relevant if the Government produce legislation saying that service providers must refuse service without a passport. Then you just have Art 14 of the Human Rights Act in conjunction with another right.

I don't get though if you're pregnant why you would want to go to things that require a passport? I'd temporarily avoid the risk myself.

I don't plan to e.g. fly abroad or go to music festivals. But I'd quite like to do some non essential shopping, go out for coffee, and maybe have the odd meal out in the next seven months. The articles I've read have suggested these activities would require a passport.
Racoonworld · 06/04/2021 14:11

There will be exemptions for people who genuinely can't have the vaccine. If the vaccine is advised against in pregnancy then pregnant ladies will be exempt.

altrajuce93 · 06/04/2021 14:12

@Hhusky

I hope they consider those TTC. In the last year I've had a stillbirth and a miscarriage so I don't want the vaccine until we know more about it. I'm sure there will be some sort of thing done. I think today they said they would consider letting you have a covid test instead if you have to go somewhere.
Absolutely agree with this, it worries me that I wouldn't be allowed to do normal things with my family purely because I'm TTC and currently undergoing fertility treatment and have been told to not have the vaccine or my treatment will have to be postponed.

The whole vaccine passport idea is just too much imo.

Babyiwantabump · 06/04/2021 14:13

Pregnant women are being advised to have the vaccine. They are running clinics especially for it at my hospital anyway .

Racoonworld · 06/04/2021 14:13

@Hhusky

I hope they consider those TTC. In the last year I've had a stillbirth and a miscarriage so I don't want the vaccine until we know more about it. I'm sure there will be some sort of thing done. I think today they said they would consider letting you have a covid test instead if you have to go somewhere.
Is the vaccine currently advised against by UK guidelines for those TTC? If not then it will be unlikely to be included as an exemption.
notalwaysalondoner · 06/04/2021 14:14

I think this is the big issue the government is struggling with - both pregnancy and disability are protected characteristics that cannot legally be directly or indirectly discriminated against. So I think they will come up with a 'passport' for those groups if they haven't had the vaccine. The alternative is we have to test for every event until we finish our pregnancies - even worse for those who are disabled without an end date in sight if they cannot get the vaccine for health reasons. This is why I'm so against the passports - they discriminate against the most vulnerable in society, it's not just anti-vaxxers...

SoupDragon · 06/04/2021 14:14

Absolutely agree with this, it worries me that I wouldn't be allowed to do normal things with my family purely because I'm TTC and currently undergoing fertility treatment and have been told to not have the vaccine or my treatment will have to be postponed.

You don't need to have the vaccine, just have a negative Covid test.

SoupDragon · 06/04/2021 14:15

This is why I'm so against the passports - they discriminate against the most vulnerable in society

No they don't.

The so-called vaccine passports are expected to show whether someone has received a vaccine, had a negative coronavirus test, or contracted and recovered from Covid-19 within the past six months.

tttigress · 06/04/2021 14:18

The European Medicine Agency has started there is a clear link between the AZ vaccine and blood clots:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/clear-link-between-blood-clots-and-astrazeneca-vaccine-q8nvl82p5

My prediction is the government will now finish vaccinating older and at risk people only, which is what they should have done in the first place.

tttigress · 06/04/2021 14:21

@SoupDragon

This is why I'm so against the passports - they discriminate against the most vulnerable in society

No they don't.

The so-called vaccine passports are expected to show whether someone has received a vaccine, had a negative coronavirus test, or contracted and recovered from Covid-19 within the past six months.

I find it interesting that in the 1980s which was seen as a less caring time, the emphasis was not on every one having to know everyone else's medical status with respect to AIDS.

It's funny how people understood the probly of descrimitation on medical grounds then, but not now.

Kimye4eva · 06/04/2021 14:24

YABU. Check your facts. No one has ever said you will need to have had the vaccine for anything. It’s a way to show immunity through either i) the vaccine; ii) a recent negative test; or iii) a positive test within a specified time period.

luxxlisbon · 06/04/2021 14:28

@Babyiwantabump in the UK pregnant women are not advised to get it. Pregnant women will only be offered the vaccine on a case by case basis where the risk of covid outweighs any unknown risk with the vaccine. It is not remotely offered as standard and the vast majority of pregnant women will not be given the jab.

SlovenlyUnwedMother · 06/04/2021 14:28

I don't get though if you're pregnant why you would want to go to things that require a passport? I'd temporarily avoid the risk myself.

Well no I'm not planning on going abroad anytime soon but it'd be nice to go for the odd meal or meet a friend for a coffee inside. The idea of shutting myself away for the rest of my pregnancy (and the remaining time I'll be childless) while everyone else enjoys themselves is a bit bleak.

MrsTerryPratchett · 06/04/2021 14:37

I find it interesting that in the 1980s which was seen as a less caring time, the emphasis was not on every one having to know everyone else's medical status with respect to AIDS.

Because HIV was spread through sex and drugs (and transfusions). Knowing Bob in accounting had it and avoiding him as a result (or worse, him losing his job) is a bit different to Bob coughing over everyone on a cinema and infecting a load of people. There is private medical information, which affects no one, and choices which affect us all. I'd rather Bob couldn't give blood, even if he wanted to.

BTW I'm not sure about vaccine passports but pretending these two scenarios are the same is a bit silly.

Babyiwantabump · 06/04/2021 14:52

I’m in the UK . In the Midlands . Our consultant midwife is running a vaccine clinic for pregnant women .

Kimye4eva · 06/04/2021 14:52

Well no I'm not planning on going abroad anytime soon but it'd be nice to go for the odd meal or meet a friend for a coffee inside. The idea of shutting myself away for the rest of my pregnancy (and the remaining time I'll be childless) while everyone else enjoys themselves is a bit bleak.

But you won’t need a vaccine passport to go to a cafe or restaurant.

And surely people can see that this is one way of trying to make things safer for the vulnerable who can’t be vaccinated?!

SlovenlyUnwedMother · 06/04/2021 14:54

@Kimye4eva They haven't ruled it out. All they've said is they won't be required for the April and May stages of re-opening.

Babyiwantabump · 06/04/2021 14:55

Sorry just checked the guideline - it’s for pregnant healthcare workers and pregnant women with medical co-morbidities

2021mumma · 06/04/2021 14:55

I keep thinking this. I am pregnant and planning to breastfeed for a year (I read breastfeeding mums shouldn’t have vaccine either) so I won’t be able to go on holiday or enter restaurants will 2022/2023 this doesn’t seem fair at all!

ilovesooty · 06/04/2021 14:56

@Tinydinosaur

They're saying they'll be including negative tests and having covid in the past 6 months which I think is fair enough.
Exactly. I don't see how anyone can claim to be disadvantaged in any way.
Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady · 06/04/2021 14:57

As someone has already said...they've already announced that it will be a case of if you've had vaccine OR you've had covid in the last (insert required number of months) OR you've had a negative test, you will be permitted to do certain things.

Perhaps it would be helpful to think of them as "protection passports" rather than "vaccine passports"?

(I'm sure someone else can come up with a far better name suggestion! 😅)

Flittingaboutagain · 06/04/2021 14:58

I'm happy to wait and have the vaccine once I've given birth and not put others at risk by going places where everyone else has had a vaccine. I think it's fair enough to want to only be around the vaccinated.