Will the new vaccines be safe?

[Covidfears]

I’ve read a lot about the vaccines (mainly Oxford and Pfizer ones) and know that they have gone through all of the safety tests albeit in just a shorter amount of time as they have had money thrown at it so haven’t had to secure funding etc etc which takes the time.

However, does this mean that they haven’t had the chance to see if there are any long term effects?

I think I feel less worried about the Oxford one as that is based on old technology but the Pfizer one is the new r-DNA one. I’ve read a paper on it that says that the chance of it ‘getting into your dna’ is low. That doesn’t sound great! Am I worrying unnecessarily.

I’m certainly not an antivaxxer - the whole family had had everything going and I really need to the Covid vaccine as I’m very high risk (2% chance of death).

Is it just a matter of picking whether to take the risk of Covid or the risk of the vaccine when the long term effects of neither are known?

86% of over 65s would.

What about the long term effects of a vaccine based on RNA? I don’t understand. Is this new technology and if so, do we know the long term safety? How can we?

How can people be so blasé about this?

Heard immunity is not actually a thing with this virus, you can catch it more than once....

For people who have had the vaccine can still catch it, and although, they wont be ill, they can still shed viral load and pass it on... So not straight forward ..... @Forgetmenot157

For people who have had the vaccine can still catch it, and although, they wont be ill, they can still shed viral load and pass it on... So not straight forward

We don't know this yet.

This has actually been stated afew times by different resources

@GoldenOmber

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow

What about the long term effects of a vaccine based on RNA? I don’t understand. Is this new technology and if so, do we know the long term safety? How can we?

How can people be so blasé about this?

I'm mostly blasé because:

a) I trust the regulators to make sensible decisions about safety, given they know a lot more than I do about this;
b) there isn't really a mechanism for vaccines to cause damage that only turns up a long way down the line. If they're going to cause some sort of damage, they'd do it when they're injected and your body reacts to them by ramping up its immune response. The vaccine doesn't hang around in your body afterwards;
c) the vaccine's going to go to higher risk populations first, so by the time it gets to the rest of us, there will already be a lot more knowledge about its safety collected anyway. (I'd still have it if I was in the priority group, but I'm not.)

@ColdNovemberNights

This has actually been stated afew times by different resources

@GoldenOmber

No, it hasn't. It has been stated that this might be the case, but it hasn't been stated that it is the case, for any of the vaccines. Because they're still in trials! So we CAN'T know, because finding that out is one of the things the trials are for!

The only one we have actual information on at all is Pfizer, and even there we don't know if it's blocking infection or reducing infection or what.

it's simply about you choosing between the vaccine or the risk you'll get the virus. That's a personal choice based on what's important to you and your particular circumstances.

Not strictly so. We are also vaccinated so we can’t pass the disease on to vulnerable people who for whatever reason can’t have the vaccine themselves. But I don’t suppose this argument holds much sway with those who think the vulnerable should just crack on and die or lock themselves away forever.

Of course the vaccine has clearly been rushed through desperation & there could be risks based on that. 10 years condensed into 10 months? As already stated though, it’s a choice for the individual.

This vaccine hasn’t been around for years & there is no substitute whatsoever for time passing & experience gained through that.

@MummyPop00

What research have you done to come to that conclusion? Have you looked into it at all?

This vaccine hasn’t been around for years & there is no substitute whatsoever for time passing & experience gained through that.

I'll take my chances rather than exist like this for years until enough time has passed for people to consider it 'safe'.

Nothing will ever be 'safe' for everyone. Some people will always react to certain medications or vaccines.

It does annoy me when people want guarantees before they take the vaccine. Its personal choice. The UK will never force people to have it, however some coutries will perhaps want a certificate showing that you have had the vaccine before they let you in. I am sure some will come on here bleating that its not fair.

The thing is that life isnt fair. There are decisions to make all the time, nothing is risk free. Have it or dont have it will be up to you but there might be consequences if you dont, i.e you might not be able to move around the world freely or hug your grandchildren or pass it onto others or even god forbid get CV19 yourself and pass away.

Let them roll it out to the care homes. Dont get bogged down in these places by trying to do everyone. Do the easy ones first, then move on.

Can you tell I have worked with government depts before?

I just can’t get my head round the willingness of so many people to accept the much greater risk of death and harm from covid because the vaccine can’t be cast iron guaranteed to be 100% safe.
I mean, we can’t guarantee the vaccine is safe but we CAN guarantee that covid is not safe!

I think so.

People are suspicious due to the fact that most vaccines take years to develop properly and test but what people are forgetting is no other illness has had such an effect on the economy.

Things like cancer do not stop the world moving, business still trade etc but cv19 stopped everything in its tracks. Far too many fat cats have lost a lot of money and lots of businesses are failing hence the effort and push into getting this ready

I mean, we can’t guarantee the vaccine is safe but we CAN guarantee that covid is not safe!

Absolutely this.

One of my colleagues, aged 50 and normally fit and well, tested positive 3 weeks ago. Still very tired and if she does much of anything, needs to go back to bed.

A former colleague, in her early thirties, had suspected Covid back in March (but not ill enough to be tested). Still having a whole plethora of disabling symptoms now.

Just been in a meeting and heard of someone in their mid-fifties who died recently of Covid after four weeks in intensive care.

Even though only two out of those three would have been eligible for vaccination in the first phase, and towards the bottom of the list, they would all have been protected by widespread uptake of the vaccine by those offered it sooner.

I echo @GoldenOmber's point about there being no mechanism for vaccines to cause damage a long time after administration. It either starts to happen soon, or not at all.

The only risk is that there is a side effect which is so rare that it has not yet occurred in the tens of thousands of people who received it in the phase 3 trials. That could happen. If it did - it would still be a much, much lower risk of coming to serious harm from Covid - certainly for the over 50's. Maybe not for younger people - but by the time vaccines are offered to them, it will have been given to millions of older 50's. So it will have become obvious if there are rare side effects, and how frequently

I really don't know what people are afraid of.

From what I have seen, this particular vaccine template is not new. It's an mRNA vaccine that is safer than older style vaccines such as smallpox.

I presume that those people buying into vaccine conspiracy theories and spreading distrust of medical professionals will voluntarily stay in lockdown while the rest of us get on with our lives?

So how do we know the RNA vaccine doesn’t damage our DNA subtly and lead to increased risk of disease such as cancer or autoimmunity?

We may have a longer wait than we thought

www.popsci.com/story/health/pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine/?fbclid=IwAR3Bk5MqgM0_6CeVfZCKHfzbQL91f_oQ5-3jzULvfwIecHXh_Vsi69gWufs

It seems sometime wanted to sell their shares

www.npr.org/2020/11/11/933957580/pfizer-ceo-sold-millions-in-stock-after-coronavirus-vaccine-news-raising-questio?fbclid=IwAR0IOatS79nTrUq1kVCGCFrhIJHzB0DqqJ-M3a0fbL_xEHQ7jsFFWx6jsXg

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow

So how do we know the RNA vaccine doesn’t damage our DNA subtly and lead to increased risk of disease such as cancer or autoimmunity?

Do you have any evidence from people who know what they are talking about to suggest a concern that the vaccine might cause cancer?

Hopefully if research into these vaccines continues, then there does appear to be hope that they could be protective against cancer.

I am surprised that so many people are happy to live like this because they're scared (without evidence) that they're slightly more likely to get cancer etc.

Well of course I don’t as they won’t know yet - it’s too soon. But this is new technology for vaccines so forgive me for asking the bleeding obvious question!

I have learnt the hard way to remain healthily sceptical of most things. I would like to see a discussion from the MHRA on this issue.

Given my family and I are at very little risk personally from the vaccine, I would like to ensure that no harm is done.

We cannot possibly know the long term extent of any side effects

I will turn your statement on its head. I can’t understand how some people are prepared to take the risk with a vaccine the long term effects of which are unknown against a fairly benign virus for most people

Is it sensible for my elderly mother to have the vaccine? Probably. My kids - no thanks - after you please if you are so keen

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow

So how do we know the RNA vaccine doesn’t damage our DNA subtly and lead to increased risk of disease such as cancer or autoimmunity?

I don’t see how it could? As I understand it the RNA bit isn’t the unusual part, that would come with any kind of vaccine, and with the virus itself.

What’s unusual is that these vaccines use just a bit of RNA, rather than the whole instruction book of RNA. Usually a virus would hijack the cell’s own mechanisms to say “here’s the instruction manual for making virus! Make more virus!”. An RNA vaccine just goes “here’s page 73 of the instruction manual! Make more of what’s on page 73!”, which in this case is the virus spike protein.

That said I’m not a virologist or immunologist or whatever else, and if the expert consensus on this is that we should be worried about it then I’d be worried about it. But if they’re not bothered, I can’t see any reason why I would be.

We cannot possibly know the long term extent of any side effects

But we do know that vaccines don’t cause the kind of side effects that take years to show up, and there’s no reason to think this one could be different, no mechanism by which it could really do that. Surely that should provide some reassurance on that front?

I heard a scientist earlier today explaining that vaccine reactions or side effects happen immediately , they don’t show up long term. That’s how they can say it’s safe, when they do.

@GoldenOmber talking absolute sense on this thread.

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow I will certainly be having the vaccine at the earliest opportunity. I just feel quite disgusted that people are happy to sit back and benefit from other people being responsible and having the vaccine, without wanting to do the right thing themselves.

As I said earlier, will you be voluntarily remaining in lockdown so that I can crack on and socialise to my heart's content? Read my students' classwork over their shoulders?

You don't understand the science behind it; you're going off some kind of flawed gut instinct for which there is no evidence and it's that kind of thinking which is becoming increasingly concerning in our society.