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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you sit or stand when you have the jab?

379 replies

Remoulade · 11/07/2021 12:30

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

OP posts:
Original poster
Remoulade · 11/07/2021 14:47

[quote Zilla1]@Waxonwaxoff0 we wipe chairs as we see how people sit down and stand up from seated. They use their hands to push up and sit down. They then touch their faces unless they consciously control this. Not an issue pre-COVID or 'flu season and there are costs to running a personal campaign against germs (hygiene theory) but there are good infection control reasons to wipe down the arms of chairs.[/quote]
Yeah people just don't think. I watched my neighbour hand me a parcel he took in for me and then touch his face instantly. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

OP posts:
SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 11/07/2021 14:48

@babynameneeded

OP: AIBU? Everyone: Yes, downright ridiculous OP: I AM NORMAL
I’m sorry, that is deeply unfair, @babynameneeded.

People have empathised with how @Remoulade is feeling, and have tried to reassure her - myself included. And I don’t think the OP is simply sticking stubbornly to an unreasonable point of view - she has a good reason for her worries, and is looking to find a way to get the jab that she feels comfortable with.

Original poster
Remoulade · 11/07/2021 14:49

@BuffySummersReportingforSanity

I use public toilets all the time and manage to find clean ones. How are you managing to be pregnant and only use the toilet at home?!

By her own description OP hasn't left the house in 18 months.

This level of germaphobia is genuinely not normal. You've made yourself a tiny life because of it and it's not healthy. Even if your husband met shielding criteria, which he didn't, shielding is over - and he presumably had both of his jabs some time ago. The initial phrase you used betrayed your thinking pretty well - that's not the way infection works. The price you are paying is not worth it.

He did meet shielding criteria. He had enough combined prevented and reliever every week to be shielding. I literally read the words on the webpage for who with asthma should shield.
OP posts:
Hollyhobbi · 11/07/2021 14:50

Have you had checkups with your GP or in a hospital OP, since the start of your pregnancy?

Waxonwaxoff0 · 11/07/2021 14:52

[quote Zilla1]@Waxonwaxoff0 we wipe chairs as we see how people sit down and stand up from seated. They use their hands to push up and sit down. They then touch their faces unless they consciously control this. Not an issue pre-COVID or 'flu season and there are costs to running a personal campaign against germs (hygiene theory) but there are good infection control reasons to wipe down the arms of chairs.[/quote]
I'm not at all convinced that it's possible to catch Covid that way or I would certainly have had it as I'm out and about all the time.

yellowsubmarines · 11/07/2021 14:52

For both jabs we were all standing at my centre BUT we sat in the waiting area for 15 minutes after the jab. Not sure if they would force you to sit in the waiting area OP or if you could stand.

Elune · 11/07/2021 14:53

Yeah people just don't think. I watched my neighbour hand me a parcel he took in for me and then touch his face instantly. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

This is massively extreme. I wouldn't even notice that.

ChikiTIKI · 11/07/2021 14:53

I sat on a damp chair because every chair was disinfected as soon as someone came off it. Then sat on another damp chair for the 15 min wait they ask you to do with Pfizer jab.

SpringRainbow · 11/07/2021 14:55

I genuinely believe that the OP needs help.

I know how disgusting and gross people can be, even during a pandemic. However the level of paranoia and anxiety the OP has described is extreme.

I don’t believe that reassuring her that her fears are ok or normal is helping her.

Aspinelli · 11/07/2021 14:55

It is highly highly unlikely that you will get covid from the chair, they're wiped down after every use.
I understand the level of panic, I've had agoraphobia where I didn't leave the house for a long time and with covid and a vulnerable dh I got that anxiety back and had a while where I went overboars and was wiping parcels etc but there is help you can get for the anxiety and it really does make life far better when you can control it and aren't as anxious about irrational worries.

TheDevils · 11/07/2021 14:55

No one in my family or DHs family presses those buttons without a sleeve or tissue. Pretty fucking normal in our circle 🤷‍♀️

I don't know anyone who does this. It absolutely isn't normal.

As for sick days...I touch things without thinking, use public transport, public toilets etc and I haven't had a sick day in years!! The only sick days Ive had in the past have been for migraines which are not germ related!!

It is healthy to be exposed to some germs as this helps build our immune system. Are you going to get help before the baby arrives as you will struggle when the baby starts to put everything in its mouth etc.

Elune · 11/07/2021 14:55

And yes please don't pass this onto your child when they get old enough to understand. Children are dirty, messy, they get colds, they wipe snot on things, you'll get poo on you, you'll get pee on you, you'll be barfed on, there will be stuff trodden into your carpet, they will bring home every bug going from school or nursery. That's just how it is, and you will drive yourself round the bend if you don't get a handle on it.

Zilla1 · 11/07/2021 14:55

Is it just COVID you don't think is able to be transferred from infected person's hand to an arm of chair when they push up/down to recipient's hand to mucous membrane or any contact-transmissible disease?

FWIW, I understand the infection control guidance is evidence-based and clear.

thecognoscenti · 11/07/2021 14:57

@SpringRainbow

So when are you going to get help for your health anxiety and germ phobia?

Please tell me you are seeking help.

I really hope you don’t pass on these fears to your child. It’s important for them to be able to play and explore freely.

This. You are not going to catch Covid through your arse, OP. I suggest you prioritise seeking help for your germ and cleanliness obsession.
Original poster
Remoulade · 11/07/2021 14:59

@Elune

Yeah people just don't think. I watched my neighbour hand me a parcel he took in for me and then touch his face instantly. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

This is massively extreme. I wouldn't even notice that.

He's an elderly man who was unvaccinated at the time. Excuse me for worrying that my need for a box of chocolates or whatever trivial thing it was I had delivered might be the reason my neighbour gets seriously ill or dies.

Luckily he wasn't worried when I told him what had just happened and he is still alive and kicking.

OP posts:
cinammonbuns · 11/07/2021 15:00

How is @SuperCaliFragalistic a viper? She simply pointed out to you that you could have posted this on any other forum if you believe AIBU is so bad?

VerticalHorizon · 11/07/2021 15:01

Sitting. I think this is primarily because of the risk of fainting.
The chairs are cleaned after every person (or should be). They certainly were at both of the vaccination centres I visited.

babynameneeded · 11/07/2021 15:01

Yeah people just don't think. I watched my neighbour hand me a parcel he took in for me and then touch his face instantly. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

Starting to think you’re joking now as you can’t be serious about that

Waxonwaxoff0 · 11/07/2021 15:02

But if you could catch Covid from parcels then all the deliverymen/women would be dropping dead! It's just irrational thinking.

Alwayscheerful · 11/07/2021 15:02

The nurse told me not to sit down .
I asked to sit in case I fainted.

Hercisback · 11/07/2021 15:03

He's an elderly man who was unvaccinated at the time. Excuse me for worrying that my need for a box of chocolates or whatever trivial thing it was I had delivered might be the reason my neighbour gets seriously ill or dies.

This is extreme. You hadn't been anywhere to catch covid according to your setup!

How will you cope with a child?

Bananarice · 11/07/2021 15:03

Dm friend has similar worries as you, so she asked around people on how their vaccination went. She then cut up an old bedsheet and took it with her. She stood up whilst getting the jab and placed the sheet on the chair she had too sit on in the waiting room. She threw the sheet away afterwards.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 11/07/2021 15:04

Yeah people just don't think. I watched my neighbour hand me a parcel he took in for me and then touch his face instantly. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

Your anxiety is way out of control and you need to seek some help before baby arrives.

How are you going to cope/feel about being touched by people in hospital when you give birth?

Original poster
Remoulade · 11/07/2021 15:04

@babynameneeded

Yeah people just don't think. I watched my neighbour hand me a parcel he took in for me and then touch his face instantly. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

Starting to think you’re joking now as you can’t be serious about that

Really? You wouldn't freak out if your 80+ year old neighbour took in a parcel for you half an hour ago, and then handed it to you and touched around his mouth and nose with that same hand?

If he did that with his own delivery, okay. But I freaked out because it was my delivery. It could be my fault his wife, kids and grandkids were left without him. I don't think I would ever stop feeling guilty over that.

OP posts:
Hercisback · 11/07/2021 15:05

I think the responses here are showing you that your reactions aren't within the bounds of "normal" when it comes to hygiene.

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