Reassure me about the AstraZeneca vaccine as Denmark have banned it

[Urbanhymngirl]

I have my first vaccine tomorrow and it’s the AstraZeneca one - Denmark have banned it today over the risk of blood clots- Aibu to ask for some reassurance? I feel REALLY anxious 😬

You're much more likely to get blood clots from Covid itself, the contraceptive pill - or staying in bed! It's under-30s who have been advised to take a different vaccine, and they wouldn't be getting it yet anyway.

Given that the % of people suffering blood clots at any time who have NOT had AZ is higher (extrapolating like numbers) than among those who have, it's virtually an anti-coagulant.

That's not true. The background rate is 5-16 per million per year. The vaccine related cases (about 4 per million) are on top of that. So in total it will now be around 9-20 per million per year (assuming one vaccine given per year OR only a risk with the first dose). So it is a small increase in risk.

The good thing is that they now know better how these cases should be treated than even a few weeks ago, so the death rate should drop. It really is a tiny risk.

@Lunar567

It is still in trials until 2023, only has emergency authorisation. Thousands reported side effects. If you want to risk your health - go for it. I am a little older than you and will not have any Covid vaccine. I prefer to rely on my immune system.

I too am relying on my immune system - which is why I am delighted that it is currently being prepped by the AZ vaccine I had today to be as effective and efficient as possible should I come into contact with the covid virus

I had the AZ on 5th March, I'm 36. It was before the blood clotting news came out, I also suffer fr a cute anxiety, a lot surrounding health. Thankfully, I didn't know anything about the concerns as I may have talked myself out of it. Approx 12hrs after the jab, I woke up sweating with the worst headache I have ever known, I thought my head was going to explode, but I'm still here, and will have the 2nd jab as I'm just as scared of getting covid

I've had it (52), I was fine. Loads of others I know have, varying ages (45-80) - also fine. No blood clots. I want my life back and the risk is so minimal. Frankly I'm more likely to get run over by a bus. One person who I know got covid (55 male fit, slim) is still on oxygen after getting covid in December.

You have more chance of getting a clot from taking the pill and people take it worldwide without thinking twice for years.

Had mine 3 weeks ago, felt like I had a dead arm for a day or two and felt delicate the morning after.

When you read the side effects on a medication packet that means that someone has had those side effects. All of them. Some are common, others are less so, but there is no such thing as a drug which has 0 side effects, and every single one has some which in very rare instances are serious.

Case in point, there is an anti emetic called cyclozine which is often handed out to pregnant women for morning sickness. One of the incredibly rare side effects of cyclozine is that it can cause an increased heart rate. It’s listed as a rare effect.

I get that side effect and as such I cannot take cyclozine. And yet they hand it out to pregnant women and others with gay abandon.

I have a note on my records that I can’t take it, the fact that I have atrial fibrillation is a good reason why not, ;) but I would never say to anyone else that they shouldn’t take it because of the risks.

Equally I take some drugs whose side effects can be liver failure, scarring on the lungs, over active thyroid. Those side effects are actually slightly less rare than those of cyclozine. But I take it without a second thought, because without it I would be headed for the transplant list. So benefit outweighs the risk.

If you’ve ever had surgery then you have had a 4% risk of dying under anaesthetic.

You are at risk of dying in childbirth.

And away from the medical arena every time you get into a car you are at risk of dying in a crash.

Benefit vs risk.

Denmark stats were 1 in 40000 for clots from the jab. Considerably higher risk than what we have been told here.

There is a small chance that if you were to get Covid, you would get a blood clot. There is a tiny chance that if you were vaccinated with AZ against Covid, you would get a blood clot. Therefore, if you want to reduce the risk of getting a blood clot, you should get the vaccine.

The risk-averse thinking of the OP is a consequence of the way we have reacted to this coronavirus. We do take such enormously damaging decisions to avoid other illnesses as those we have taken in response to this virus. As others have mentioned driving, it is much more dangerous than Covid but we tolerate the risk. The reaction to Covid has suggested that any risk is too great to take. You can’t blame people then for asking why this, albeit minuscule, risk is worth taking.

I am in my mid 40th.
I have been traveling by plane and train in the last 5 months, visited 5 different countries, even more cities. Went to packed theatres and cafes, met many people. And I haven't even had a cold.
So I will keep living my active life without hiding behind a useless mask and without experimental vaccine.
Time will tell who is right.

Factual question, just because I'm not great with stats:
the 4 in 1million people who get a blood clot from AZ are 4/1million vaccinated people, right?

Of those 1 million people presumably about half - 500,000 - were women, but it seems to be only women getting the clots so surely the risk for a woman is 4/500,000?

NOT a comment on relative risk, which I don't fully understand, tbh, but just can't understand why they keep saying 4 in a million if it;s only women? What have i missed?

It's not only women, small percentage are men.

In denmark. They say that one in 40,000 People Will/Can get blood Floyd from the vaccine.

personally I won’t be taking it. :)

Oops blood clots

@danishkids it's because we have vaccinated around 140.000 and had three cases.

But OP is there a chance you could get another vaccine because of your anciety?

@Tootsey11

It's not only women, small percentage are men.

Thank you Tootsey11, that is helpful - so say (a bit randomly, as I don;t know how many are men) that of the 4 in 1 million, 1 of the 4 is male, 3 are female.

Would that mean the risk for a man was 1 in 500,000 people vaccinated
And the risk for a woman was 3 in 500,000 people vaccinated?

Or for a woman 1 in 167,000 vaccinated people?

I just find it weird because when a risk is gendered surely it makes sense to talk about it in terms of gender? I don't get the relevance of the 4/1 million figure.

54 year old NHS worker so have had both, second two days ago.

Not in the slightest bit anxious.

Every drug or vaccine has side effects, even paracetamol.

Crossing the road has risks.

I'm on the waiting list for gallbladder surgery. I had a phone appt with the hospital yesterday, wh ere I was warned about the risk of anaesthetic etc. I'm like "I don't care, I'm getting episodes of off the scale pain every 2/3 weeks, just rip the bloody thing out". To me, the benefits of the surgery far, far outweighs the potential risks. I have the same attitude to the covid jab.

First jab, I felt rough for the first 24 hours and my arm ached for about 10 days, and it felt like there was a lump in my arm. This time, my arm is aching slightly 48 hours later, but that's it.

I am bloody annoyed by the amount of people trotting out the 'Still in trials' line.

That is NOT unique to the covid vaccine and does NOT imply it was in any way rushed. Stage 4 trials ALWAYS take place after approval when it begins to be used, for EVERY medication. It is the literal definition of what a stage 4 trial is and unless you ask your Dr what stage every medicine you ever use is at you're a bloody hypocrite if you oppose the covid vaccine for this.

The risk of dying from a general anaesthetic is no where near 4% it is about1 in 400,000 for reaction to GA, a higher risk for heart failure under GA but it is not 1 in 25, people don't die in theatre that regularly.

Not sure where risk of covid got to 16.5% is it just the risk of maybe getting covid however mildly in 12 months I just don't get what it is referring to in relation to covid, as fatality rate is around 1% but varies vastly with age but even in over 80's the fatality rate is around 12%

I think the AZ vaccine is good and the least risky option obviously but some figures quoted here don't seem to

Denmark have not ‘banned it’, they have currently stopped using it and said they would not rule out using it in the future.

They have the ‘luxury’ of being able to stop using it for now because the infection is under control in Denmark. In part, presumably, because of the 140,000 people ghetto who have been vaccinated....

2 people in Denmark got clots. One died. It is not proven that the clots were a caused by the vaccine.

What’s our current COVID death toll?

I will be welcoming my 2nd AZ jab.

@Lunar567

It is still in trials until 2023, only has emergency authorisation. Thousands reported side effects. If you want to risk your health - go for it. I am a little older than you and will not have any Covid vaccine. I prefer to rely on my immune system.

Oh for goodness' sake. What do you think Vaccines use? Your immune system. Thousands out of millions reported some side effects - mostly a sore arm. Please stop posting scientifically illiterate, dangerously misinformed nonsense. And get bloody vaccinated unless you have a CLINICAL reason not to.

You are more likely to be struck by lightning than you are to have a clotting issue after the vaccine.

It has not been banned, don't listen to the scaremongers (one or two of whom are on this thread). Everyone I know who has had the AZ jab (and it's a LOT) have been fine bar a sore arm. However that is anecdotal and not worth anything as much as a serious look at the stats, which say that the risk, IF THERE IS ONE, is tiny, much tinier than common risks we take all the time.
Cost/benefit says do it.

If you’ve ever had surgery then you have had a 4% risk of dying under anaesthetic.

No that is rubbish. Where on earth are people getting these figures???

Would that mean the risk for a man was 1 in 500,000 people vaccinated. And the risk for a woman was 3 in 500,000 people vaccinated?

Yes, as long as equal numbers of men and women have been vaccinated. I am not sure that is the case though. Women are over represented in the health service, care workers are mostly women, and there are also.more elderly women than men. So I would guess there might be more women than men who've been vaccinated. So it might be more like 1 in 300,000 for men Vs 3 in 700,000 for women. (No idea if those figures are accurate).