To not know where to turn about vaccine fears?

[WaxedNotVaxed]

I've started a new job in the NHS, I'm patient facing and there is pressure being put on for me to get the covid vaccine as soon as possible.

My fears are that I have PCOS and have always struggled with my periods and my cycles used to be 100+ days. Since having a baby a few years ago I have a 29 day cycle and I don't want to mess with this?

I'm scared about the vaccine making me infertile? Or having long term impacts on my reproductive health? It's scary enough with PCOS and I definitely want another child.

I'm overall just a bit skeptical as a 26 year old woman who wants more kids and has PCOS to get a vaccine without long term studies for a virus id likely only be mildly ill from?

I can't say this at work but I feel really anxious over it

Working in the NHS does your training not include science and scientific reading and understanding? (i know it may not if you happen to be in IT or something so im genuinely asking) but if it does then you only need to have a base understanding of how vaccines work and to be able to read the papers to know this isn't a genuine risk to be concerned of.

It's not a hunch that it can affect your cycle.

A sinusitis affects my cycle... Doesn't mean it makes me infertile.
You really need to speak to a professional about the effect on this and what can be done to either prevent or the stabilise it again.

Does Pfizer also cause this?

But what does that mean? They’re now going to research into the effects of having a vaccine on pregnant women: but in what way does this imply that there are any long-term effects on fertility?

I’m sure they originally must have researched the effects of the flu vaccine on pregnant women, but that certainly doesn’t affect fertility.

@WaxedNotVaxed

So I should quit the career that I've studied years for because I, as a young women, have fears over the long term fertility impacts of a still very new vaccine?

Worlds gone mad.

No the world hasn't gone mad. Things have just changed and you don't like the effect this change has had on your choices -that is all

You could consider changing the focus of your job so that you don't deal with very vulnerable people until your concerns about the vaccine are no longer an issue ( for whatever reason that may be, eg that you are satisfied the vaccine is safe, that Covid is no longer a problem for the vulnerable or that the vaccine is no longer needed to protect your patients)

As things stand it, you are putting your concerns about you fertility above the safety of your patients ( fair enough) and also your career preference above their safety ( really not ok)

Of course there is peer pressure - endangering patients and colleagues is rather frowned on in the NHS.

I can't think of a role in the NHS that doesn't come with a degree of risk - risk of catching illnesses, being assaulted by patients, risk of vicarious trauma etc. It goes with the territory, really.

There's no evidence to demonstrate a risk to fertility, and also no guarantee you wouldn't be badly effected. Just have the vaccine.

So there are 2 parts to the vaccine, 1 is either genetic material so dna or rna of part of the covid vaccine, which you would have anyway if you caught covid. Or parts of proteins of the virus, again that you would receive if you caught covid.

The other aspect is the part that contains the dna or rna so it is able to be put in to your body.

There are a number of technologies being used to achieve this.

If you are nervous about these after researching I would be hoping for novavax as that uses the same tech as used for the flu jab so rather than part of the genetic material it is proteins from the virus. Being a well used technology I wonder would you feel more comfortable with that?

I wouldnt get into a debate about it here or at work.

Say nothing and if pushed say that for medical reasons you have discussed with your doctor you arent having the vaccine. Theres really no reason for them to ask any further.

Truly well done on the studying and work you have done, but unfortunately working for the NHS and with vulnerable people you will be expected at times to put the needs of patients and the service ahead of your own health or anxieties.
It’s really well known that working long shifts and night shifts affects health and fertility for women in particular (obesity causing PCOS, breast cancer risk) but there isn’t a rule that women of reproductive age don’t have to work long shifts or night shifts, it’s a risk of the job we have to accept. There isn’t even a blanket rule about when doctors come off 13 hour night shifts even though it’s know to affect pregnancy outcomes and stillbirths.
For a vaccine with an ever larger base of evidence showing there isn’t an adverse affect on fertility, and no plausible mechanism for this to occur, I wouldn’t be surprised if there aren’t expeditions if it becomes mandatory in patient facing roles.

[quote sammysnake]@samwitwicky of course, but she should not be in a client facing role because that wouldn't be putting the care of the patient first.[/quote]
Are you saying that every single patient-facing NHS staff member should have had the vaccine before being allowed to do their job?

As a patient, I would expect patient facing staff in nhs to be vaccinated. If they were not, not only would I be concerned about the risk they present to patients and their stance towards the patients they are supposed to be caring for, but I would also question their clinical judgment if they are asking Mumsnet for views rather than turning to their knowledgeable colleagues and checking the science!

@RealBecca

I wouldnt get into a debate about it here or at work.

Say nothing and if pushed say that for medical reasons you have discussed with your doctor you arent having the vaccine. Theres really no reason for them to ask any further.

Exactly this.

@WaxedNotVaxed

So I should quit the career that I've studied years for because I, as a young women, have fears over the long term fertility impacts of a still very new vaccine?

Worlds gone mad.

Its a thing about being grown up that grownups have choices and choices have consequences. Some of those choices won't be easy. If I had a frail loved one or if I was frail myself, I would not want to be cared for by an unvaccinated clinician. No my wishes do not outweigh yours but they are as important.

@eternalopt

As a patient, I would expect patient facing staff in nhs to be vaccinated. If they were not, not only would I be concerned about the risk they present to patients and their stance towards the patients they are supposed to be caring for, but I would also question their clinical judgment if they are asking Mumsnet for views rather than turning to their knowledgeable colleagues and checking the science!

yup, this ^^

WaxedNotVaxed
"So I should quit the career that I've studied years for because I, as a young women, have fears over the long term fertility impacts of a still very new vaccine?

Worlds gone mad."

Bumblingbovine
"No the world hasn't gone mad. Things have just changed and you don't like the effect this change has had on your choices -that is all

You could consider changing the focus of your job so that you don't deal with very vulnerable people until your concerns about the vaccine are no longer an issue ( for whatever reason that may be, eg that you are satisfied the vaccine is safe, that Covid is no longer a problem for the vulnerable or that the vaccine is no longer needed to protect your patients)

As things stand it, you are putting your concerns about you fertility above the safety of your patients ( fair enough) and also your career preference above their safety ( really not ok)"

^^ this absolutely

Not really because having the jab does not stop you catching or passing on covid.. It only makes YOUR symptoms less then they would have been. Apparently. So it's the people around her who are vunrable who would benefit from it

OP you will get few sympathetic ears here. I can already see the standard replies being trotted out:

• there’s no proven link between the vaccine and fertility issues (of course not - it’s too early to know)
• it’s your job to protect others (it’s not)
• you might get seriously ill or die from Covid if you remain unvaccinated (unlikely if you are healthy and not overweight)
• your medical condition makes you more likely to get ill from Covid so you should be bloody scared (you need to find out if this is the case because often this is just scaremongering).

While MN seems to have developed a culture of shouting down anyone who dares to question the vaccine, I for one totally understand your fears. They are valid.

If you’re not forced to get the vaccine to do your job then the NHS obviously doesn’t see you as a significant risk to patients, so I wouldn’t let social pressure dictate your decision. You need to get good advice and weigh up the risks and benefits. And remember that you could always get it at a later date - it’s not now or never.

@Mummasdiary2021

Not really because having the jab does not stop you catching or passing on covid.. It only makes YOUR symptoms less then they would have been. Apparently. So it's the people around her who are vunrable who would benefit from it

vaccination makes you MUCH less likely to incubate the disease so less likely to catch it and less likely to pass it on.

This is definitely the wrong place to ask about this!

People on here forget the vaccine protects you and not those around you. It’s not a traditional vaccine in that sense. It’s designed to lesson your systems not stop you getting it

If you have concerns then you need to seek independent expert medical advice not a hysterical forum like this

@samwitwicky Unless there are legitimate health reasons why not then client facing health workers should have the jab. Why shouldn't they? If it's safe and effective then it's no different to having any other vaccine, except not having this vaccine can have devastating consequences for the exact people you're working to help.

I really don’t understand why you think it would stop you having children.
This is not some moonshine made in a bath! It is based on many years of research.
Do you refuse all vaccinations and medication just in case?
You don’t have to have it. But I hate the scaremongering and nonsense that’s being put about about this vaccine.

@DismantledKing

But is my fertility and reproductive health not also worth protecting?

If you choose a patient-facing job in the NHS then you really should accept the responsibility that comes with that.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read.

Absolutely not should she put other people's health before her own for a job.

FWIW, OP, I have the same worries re: fertility. I had my first jab on 12th May and my second a fortnight ago, and I haven't had a period since before my first jab which is very unusual for me. I hadn't thought much of it until I saw the theories linking the jab to the missed periods and it is a concern for me now.

@millymollymoomoo

This is definitely the wrong place to ask about this!

People on here forget the vaccine protects you and not those around you. It’s not a traditional vaccine in that sense. It’s designed to lesson your systems not stop you getting it

If you have concerns then you need to seek independent expert medical advice not a hysterical forum like this

wrong wrong wrong. o god why do i bother

@millymollymoomoo

This is definitely the wrong place to ask about this!

People on here forget the vaccine protects you and not those around you. It’s not a traditional vaccine in that sense. It’s designed to lesson your systems not stop you getting it

If you have concerns then you need to seek independent expert medical advice not a hysterical forum like this

This is just wrong.

OP out of interest, did you have to have the hep B, hep C, flu and tetanus vaccines to start?

Both I and my daughter have PCOS.
We were both recommended to have the vaccine.
We have had both vaccines.