Fed up with unvaccinated colleague isolating

[Peevedcolleague]

Name changed 'cos I'll probably get slated but aibu to be pissed off about a colleague self isolating yet again while the rest of us have to carry on and pick up the pieces?

A new colleague chose not to be jabbed and is now facing numerous isolation periods at home on full pay where the rest of us have to carry on and cover her workload. Nature of the job means she's likely to be a close contact fairly regularly.

Even if she changed her mind and gets jabbed tomorrow, it'll be 10 weeks minimum before she's exempt from isolation so this could happen several more times yet.

Aibu to feel resentful and wish she bloody well got jabbed like the rest of us?

@Beachcomber

Wow at the vitriol on this thread. I've been interested in vaccination since my DD had a serious reaction to a DTP as a baby. It changed her life and ours. Her immune system was shot and she developed allergies to most foods and many chemicals. It was a nightmare. Thankfully she is in a much better place now but she is still living with the consequences of vaccination and will for the rest of her life.

I don't want her to have a covid vaccine as no-one has any idea how she will react to it. I also don't want anyone in our family to have a covid vaccine because I have witnessed vaccine injury first hand and it is terrible.

And therein lies the problem for me. Most people are OK with vaccinations but some people are not. This is fact. What is also a fact is that no-one knows which group they belong to. So we roll up our sleeves and hope that we are in the majority. But if you do turn out to be in the minority the consequences can be devastating and life changing if not life ending.

This unfortunate truth is the reason why in democratic ethical societies getting vaccinated is a choice.
People should be careful what they wish for - those here waving pitchforks for people to be basically forced to be vaccinated are clamouring for an erosion of our right to informed consent.

Covid vaccines may turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread and I hope that they do.

But the fact is that they are still experimental vaccines with both Moderna and Pfizer using mRNA techniques with their vaccines being the first mRNA ones brought to market (yes I know other mRNA vaccines have been tested on humans but none are currently licensed for general use other than the covid ones).

Add to that that Pfizer is currently under scrutiny following a whistleblower documenting that one of their subcontractors has failed to comply with regulations and protocols.

And then add to that that Moderna has no other products on the market (the company does research and development in experimental medicine but has yet to have any of their products licensed and brought to market) and is a very new company in the pharmaceutical industry.

In addition I don't live in the UK and the rules around vaccination are different to the UK. Where I live if you have had covid you are considered to be fully vaccinated if you have 1 jab. And indeed our doctor advises against 2 jabs. In the UK you must have 2 jabs regardless of having had covid. Who is right? Where is the science?

I will not be having a covid vaccine unless I am made to. And I pray that I never live to see the day when democratic nations force their citizens to be injected with experimental (or any) vaccines against their will.

Plus let's face it, we are finding out that the vaccines are not anything like as effective at preventing infection and transmission as was first claimed. They do seem to reduce severity in the individual at least.

I've had covid but if I hadn't I would much rather sit in an office with someone who has had covid or who regularly tests for it than next to someone vaccinated who no longer tests and is under a false sense of security that they will not be a vector of transmission due to their vaccinated status.

So I think YABVU op. The problem here is not your colleagues right to informed consent it is the politicisation of what should be a purely scientific and ethical issue.

@Beachcomber this is one of the most reasonable and well written responses I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you.

YANBU
She’s being very selfish. How do your other colleagues feel? Supposing your whole “department “ adopted her attitude and none of you got vaccinated? How would that have worked out?
I’d be having a word with Management

@CondomHat

Yep and there's more mercury in a can of Tuna than the vaccine...

I don’t eat tuna. 😜

There's no mercury at all in the vaccines.

www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-covid-vaccine-ingredients/fact-check-covid-19-vaccines-do-not-contain-the-ingredients-listed-in-these-posts-idUSKBN2AQ2SW

@XenoBitch

It is due to the rules that your colleague has to self isolate, so get mad at the system, not them. I would be more worried that a vaccinated colleague still be allowed into work even if they have a confirmed Covid case at home.

This. YABVU

There's no mercury at all in the vaccines.

I didn’t say there was. I was just responding to someone else’s comment. I have no idea what the vaccine contains, I don’t want it it.

You are definitely not being unreasonable. It would piss me off big time.

@Jzpap

YANBU She’s being very selfish. How do your other colleagues feel? Supposing your whole “department “ adopted her attitude and none of you got vaccinated? How would that have worked out? I’d be having a word with Management

What should OP be expecting management to do?

@AlohaMolly @Beachcomber still full of false information though. You ask where the science is. It’s everywhere, it’s just that you don’t understand it, nor can separate reliable, valid information from false.

Your colleague can decide what is best for her but there is absolutely no way I would tolerate being overworked due to her personal choices.

@TheKeatingFive

I'm not asking that covid vaccines or any other vaccine be guaranteed to be 100% safe.

I totally accept that that is not realistic with any substance we put in our bodies.

I have no issue with that at all and I hope and believe that the people and organisations who develop vaccines and other medicines do their utmost to make them as safe as possible.

But as we have agreed, 100% safety is not realistic. Which is why we have important rights such as the right to informed consent. And it is why the concept of benefit versus risk is key in medical ethics.

And I don't understand why we are allowing these fundamental human rights concepts to be eroded due to covid. Especially now that we have started to treat covid cases more successfully than in the first wave. Plus meanwhile we are finding out that covid vaccines are not anywhere near as effective as was first thought. Which is a shame and annoying but must be discussed openly and sensibly.

It's a strange experience for me to discuss this on MN and be painted as some sort of extremist or antivaccination when in all the real life circles I move in (family, work, friends etc) despite not everyone agreeing, nobody thinks there is anything particularly radical or unusual in my view.

Strange times we live in. I really dislike seeing people panicked to the extent that they are calling for people to be sanctioned for refusing a vaccine that they probably don't need and which is not very effective.

Loads of data on the vaccine and pregnancy and planner fertility. It’s still recommended. There are no concerns over this. Pregnant women and their babies are dying.

*of Covid

What about the people who are double vaccinated and constantly having time off because they caught covid after vaccine and can’t seem to recover. Or those who since having the vaccine are constantly having illness after illness despite not really having been ill at all before. Should they be slammed too for having time off.

What about the vaccinated who come in because that the rules, and then spread the virus to others.

The rules are not consistent and so of course it is ridiculous.

My problem is that it's the people that live a drama & that can't think critically to analyse the evidence that won't have the vaccine. The teenage esk look at me.

If you note it's health care assistants not doctors that are not vaccinated.

@dancinfeet

Should be unpaid leave. I would be rightly annoyed too

Yea this

Why does everyone pop up on these thread and say ‘you don’t know the reason why X isn’t vaccinated’.

This suggests all unvaccinated people would get vaccinated, if they could.

When we know FULL WELL, there’s a significant cohort of people who just do not want to because they don’t believe in vaccines.

Yanbu. She has made her choice and shouldn't be on full pay for not doing her job. It's just unfair!

@newusername2009

What about the people who are double vaccinated and constantly having time off because they caught covid after vaccine and can’t seem to recover. Or those who since having the vaccine are constantly having illness after illness despite not really having been ill at all before. Should they be slammed too for having time off.

What about the vaccinated who come in because that the rules, and then spread the virus to others.

The rules are not consistent and so of course it is ridiculous.

Of course they shouldn't be slammed. They did the recommended and right thing. You do see the difference, surely?

The fact that they now tell vaccinated close contacts they can go about their business as usual is ridiculous, I think a lot of us agree there. However, those are the rules and by not following them, people would lose their jobs unfortunately.
The rules are consistent though, because there is clear data that shows that overall, vaccinated people do indeed transmit the virus far less than the unvaccinated.

It's become the anti-vaxxers truth that this isn't the case, but like all the other anti-vaxxer truths, it's bollocks.

@newusername2009

What about the people who are double vaccinated and constantly having time off because they caught covid after vaccine and can’t seem to recover. Or those who since having the vaccine are constantly having illness after illness despite not really having been ill at all before. Should they be slammed too for having time off.

What about the vaccinated who come in because that the rules, and then spread the virus to others.

The rules are not consistent and so of course it is ridiculous.

Where’s your evidence of this? It’s completely contrary to what studies show. Oh, and your personal anecdotes do not count as proof.

@LoveGrooveDanceParty

Why does everyone pop up on these thread and say ‘you don’t know the reason why X isn’t vaccinated’.

This suggests all unvaccinated people would get vaccinated, if they could.

When we know FULL WELL, there’s a significant cohort of people who just do not want to because they don’t believe in vaccines.

Where are the figures that prove your last point?

Beachcombers post is exactly how I feel

So you’re saying all unvaccinated people actually do want to get vaccinated @XenoBitch?

I’m not actually an anti-vaxer at all. I just think people have a chose especially with a vaccine that will not complete testing until 2023. When it came out I was so happy and relieved as I thought all those high risk now had a solution as their risk v benefit was clearly with taking the vaccine, it’s every thing that has happened since that concerns me

Just wonder if the people who refuse vacs would also refuse necessary vacs if they were given a free holiday to somewhere exotic where they required the vacs. If we are closed down over christmas again I'm sure it will be down to the no vac. and scare mongerering anti vac. brigade. . If the last year is anything to go by more people will be hospitilised and even die.

it’s every thing that has happened since that concerns me

What's happened since that concerns you?