Do you sit or stand when you have the jab?

[Remoulade]

Not had my first jab yet and going today. Pregnant and incredibly anxious about it. Want to minimise touching anything with any part of my body (yes I know I am over worried, saying it really won't help) and was wondering if you stood up or sat down when you had yours? The thought of sitting on a possibly covid infested chair is making my skin crawl.

Also, if you're meant to sit, can you ask to stand?😐

YABU - I was sitting down
YANBU - I was standing up

Absolutely - keep washing hands

And some of you should be washing your faces, you scruffy little urchins!

For anybody feeling overly emotional this evening...

Don't rule out the menopause.

Just sayin'

I sat down but I changed my clothes as soon as I got home

@oakleaffy

If one is tall, it is common courtesy and normal practice to sit. Everything is sanitized between people.

One barely breaks 5 foot.

If you're getting Pfizer you will need to sit down in a holding area after the jab for 15 minutes to check you're OK as quite a few people faint afterwards. If you're worried you could take some gloves and wipes with you and wipe down the chairs before you sit in them. We see people with all sorts of anxieties at the centres I volunteer at so no one will bat an eyelid.

OP, I say this with love I really do, I really think you should seriously consider getting help to deal with your anxiety. I have had anxiety in the past and it's so easy to brush it off and say "oh but when XYZ happens, I will be okay again", except it never quite turns out that way.

I'm also pregnant and I am so nervous about catching covid and hurting my baby. I thought I'd feel so much better after being fully jabbed and whilst I do not doubt getting vaccinated was the right thing to do, I don't actually feel much less anxious. I know how tough it is to be pregnant during a pandemic and it's completely understandable to wind up anxious about it - I think it's really common too. But this isn't a sustainable way to live, and you really ought to seek help - I know I'm going to!

As for your current issue, just ask them if you can stand and I'm sure they will do whatever they can to accommodate you x

One barely breaks 5 foot.
Then standing on it would be sensible ;-)

I stood for first not offered a seat
Second was asked to sit soon as I walked in !

@VerticalHorizon

One barely breaks 5 foot. Then standing on it would be sensible ;-)

Haha ikr 😂

Oh dear, everyday life sounds very stressful for you. I'm really sorry that you have to live with that anxiety.

I sat down for my injection.

I was asked to sit in a special cubicle. Men with white coats came and told me to relax as they strapped me to the chair.
They then wheeled me away to a lovely room with padded walls.

Fortunately it's got WiFi.

OP, like PP, I also want to say in the kindest possible way, that whilst of course you do need to be more cautious than most because of your DH and your being pregnant, you do appear to be overly anxious. I'd suggest a telephone consultation with your GP.

It may not be normal but what we do works. I can't remember the last time DH or I had a sick day and our employers absolutely love us for it.
I've had one week off work in over 35 years and that was because I had a miscarriage. I can count on one hand the number of times I left work a little early as I felt under the weather but was ok by the next day. This as someone who pre COVID travelled regularly by train and plane, and often on the road using service station toilets. I have also had to travel during COVID to care for an elderly relative, again using service station toilets. I have gone to the supermarket weekly during the pandemic, and shared a house with two key workers who tested positive. Good hygiene, masks, distancing all seem to have worked for me. Please discuss with your GP

It may not be normal but what we do works. I can't remember the last time DH or I had a sick day and our employers absolutely love us for it.

As long as your employers love you then the long term impact on you, your DH and your children is unimportant.

Have you looked up the relative risks to COVID of various pre-existing conditions? I have asthma myself and worked in the NHS on site since last Summer. Asthma is not a high risk factor for COVID. The biggest risk is age and pre-existing conditions are dementia, diabetes and heart disease. Would looking at some of the ONS statistics help reassure you?

Our Gp has a highly organised, supervised one way system in and out of the building, all doors propped open, and we stood to be jabbed. This is to make sure patients touch nothing at all; no part of the building or furniture and no staff. The vaccinators run through a few ID and health questions then ask us to bare an arm ; they swab it, and jab it, again without making any skin contact.

It's all been up and running for over 18 months, refined to the last detail, so don't worry about a thing.

has OP said how many weeks pregnant OP is? Sorry, tried to RTFT.

@lljkk she said she didn’t want to say because it would be outing

The chairs are cleaned between use. Typically by staff / volunteers but I believe specially trained gorillas also may do so 😉

When I had jab 1 (waiting for jab 2) I had to change my mask for a surgical one, obviously sanitise - the chairs and laminated info sheets were cleaned between uses and social distancing was good. The staff all seemed lovely so I am sure they can help you with any concerns.

You'll be directed to sit down. If you want to stand, I'm sure the nurse will accommodate that. You're not going to catch Covid from sitting in a chair.

You will probably be seated

I also found that deviating from the standard procedure may flummox the person giving the jab. Many of them have been trained just for this task so they lack confidence despite being perfectly qualified.

I had to use a different plaster that I brought in myself because of allergy and that was enough to make her very nervous.

So I would not ask to stand. If you don’t want to sit on the chair as it is provided, bring a large towel and drape the chair. You will look a bit crazy, but who cares.

There was absolutely no option to be seated when I had mine. There were no chairs even. The queue was standing, next to numbered balloons and the jab was administered standing up, the nurse came out of the room, and I was standing in the corridor outside.

If a seat was required you would have had to request it presumably but nobody I saw did.

@VerticalHorizon

I was asked to sit in a special cubicle. Men with white coats came and told me to relax as they strapped me to the chair. They then wheeled me away to a lovely room with padded walls.

Fortunately it's got WiFi.

If it’s quiet and has room service, book me in!

@StripyHorse - if one sits on a chair that has been cleaned by BoJo, one might catch Toryism! Ewwwww!

I work in one - it’s incredibly sterile. We wipe the chairs after every single use. You’ll be asked to sit. We need you to sit to maintain social distancing rather than stand.
You have the option of just leaving, no one will force you to stay, although if you’re going to have a reaction ( it’s usually fainting, or anxiety attacks) then there aren’t many better places - almost everyone in the vacc centre is a medic of some kind and there is a full crash team there too.

With respect, your AIBU is the least of your problems