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Original poster

To expect to be able to choose not to have the vaccine without being made to feel uncomfortable? *edited by MNHQ at OP's request*

571 replies

Drogonssmile · 05/01/2021 11:32

Risking a flaming here:

I work in the NHS not patient facing. Our Trust has said all non frontline staff are likely to be offered the vaccine next week. (1000 staff have already been done which is brilliant!)

I'm a fit and healthy 39 year old with no underlying health conditions. I am not an anti vaxxer however I am concerned about the lack of long term research that has understandably not been able to be done on the vaccine and have made an informed decision that I probably won't have it. I'd prefer my dose to go to someone more vulnerable. I believe this should be my choice.
My colleague is 62 and is all for having the vaccine which is great. I said I probably wouldn't as it doesn't affect transmission only the severity of the illness. Now she isn't speaking to me.
AIBU?

(Also given the amount of setbacks and govt lies/omissions in the last 10 months I wouldn't be at all surprised if the vaccine isn't the silver bullet we've been told to expect. The way things are going I can see is in the same situation in 12 months time).

OP posts:
IceIceBebe · 06/01/2021 15:21

My fear of risk is no less legitimate than a teacher's fear of risk

Yes it is, when yours is based on a misunderstanding of the science involved. Which it is.

FourTeaFallOut · 06/01/2021 15:32

I really don't think there will be many eligible adults refusing the vaccine when it gets to it. Carbunkle can refuse and absorb the risk and consequences of that decision. If you don't want to risk getting the vaccine and in the future please don't whinge when private companies or individual countries don't want to absorb your risk assessment, like smokers you might find yourselves out in the cold.

FourTeaFallOut · 06/01/2021 15:37

If you don't want to risk getting the vaccine I think that's fine and I'll fight for your right to refuse but please don't whinge

TheWhalrus · 06/01/2021 15:42

I personally would get the vaccine (even though i'm unlikely to get it soon), although i respect the OP's reasons for not doing so.

Nonetheless, I would like to know what is an acceptable length of follow-up for safety. With the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, something like 15,000 people were injected with the live vaccine in the trial over the summer, and probably several million globally have now received this vaccine. Thus, we can be confident that this vaccine has no bad acute side effects. This will shortly be the case for the Oxford vaccine also.

In terms of the long-term side effects, we realistically cannot be sure about these for ten years, or possibly even longer. So how long are those who are worried about long-term safety realistically willing to wait? Would an extra one year be reassuring, or two, or does it have to be longer than that?

SRYnegative · 07/01/2021 03:21

This thread is totally bonkers. I've lost count of the number of close friends who have told me about some almighty misdiagnosis that a medic has made. I don't blame the medical profession, it is a difficult complex job. So is science. Most experiments that biologists do don't work. It is very difficult and challenging. There are different opinions on experiments that have worked in an interesting way and got published. Very few have been repeated, those that have have often given different results. So many immunologists, virologists etc disagree about the pros and cons of the various vaccines. Anyone who is so blind in following the science does not understand the nature of biomedical research, where it takes years for consensus to be reached, You just cant be that sure, either way. It's called uncertainty and I think a lot of people here cannot tolerate it.

Myshinynewname2021 · 07/01/2021 04:16

This is a modified SARS vaccine so actually has more science behind it than most of us realise.

I don't give a fuck if someone doesn't want to have it. Get sick if you want. But at some point IF it's proved to stop you from passing it on (and the jury is out in this) getting a flight, or going to a bar/restaurant etc will become an awful lot easier for the vaccinated.

At which point I suspect many of the people worried about side effects will simply get the fuck over it. Do it or don't do it. Bit if you can give it to me as a result of not doing it then just stay home.

Myshinynewname2021 · 07/01/2021 04:19

@SRYnegative following your logic we would still have polio and measles and whooping cough. Medicine is not an exact science because we are animals with different biological makeups.

Your whole post sounds almost good (longish words etc) but is actually total shit. To use a technical term.

garlictwist · 07/01/2021 04:32

You are so lucky to be given the vaccine while many won't. Don't waste it. Just because you turn it down it won't go to anyone more worthy.

SRYnegative · 07/01/2021 05:12

[quote Myshinynewname2021]@SRYnegative following your logic we would still have polio and measles and whooping cough. Medicine is not an exact science because we are animals with different biological makeups.

Your whole post sounds almost good (longish words etc) but is actually total shit. To use a technical term.[/quote]
Those other vaccines were tested for years. What is shit about sharing my experience of working as a researcher in a diagnostic immunology lab. So you think the frontiers of medicine represents an exact science do you. Really. And anything to the contrary is shit.

Bananasandorangesss · 07/01/2021 06:07

@Drogonssmile I have exactly the same concerns as you and couldn’t have put it better myself. I have also expressed my feeling that I don’t want the vaccine and people are very surprised. Some people feel so strongly about Covid / lockdowns / vaccines that they don’t appreciate other people have different views. Don’t discuss politics, religion or Covid!!

2020quelhorreur · 07/01/2021 06:14

How would you feel if you passed on Covid to a vulnerable hospital visitor? Maybe that’s what she’s thinking...

echt · 07/01/2021 06:24

@Drogonssmile

Risking a flaming here:

I work in the NHS not patient facing. Our Trust has said all non frontline staff are likely to be offered the vaccine next week. (1000 staff have already been done which is brilliant!)

I'm a fit and healthy 39 year old with no underlying health conditions. I am not an anti vaxxer however I am concerned about the lack of long term research that has understandably not been able to be done on the vaccine and have made an informed decision that I probably won't have it. I'd prefer my dose to go to someone more vulnerable. I believe this should be my choice.
My colleague is 62 and is all for having the vaccine which is great. I said I probably wouldn't as it doesn't affect transmission only the severity of the illness. Now she isn't speaking to me.
AIBU?

(Also given the amount of setbacks and govt lies/omissions in the last 10 months I wouldn't be at all surprised if the vaccine isn't the silver bullet we've been told to expect. The way things are going I can see is in the same situation in 12 months time).

Nobody is making you feel uncomfortable, you're doing it to yourself.

If your colleague's not speaking to you affects your work, then complain to management.

Sunshine3013 · 07/01/2021 06:30

There is a chance the vaccine could have a side effect of making women sterile! No way I'll be taking it.

Sunshine3013 · 07/01/2021 06:32

And for everyone saying by not taking it she is risking passing it on. The vaccine does not stop you from getting covid and passing it on! It just stops you becoming very sick from it.

borntobequiet · 07/01/2021 07:59

I wouldn’t talk to you either (I’m in my late 60s and clinically vulnerable) if you were my colleague.
Firstly, you might breathe over me, and secondly, I no longer wish to waste any time I have left talking to foolish people.

FannyCann · 07/01/2021 08:15

There is a chance the vaccine could have a side effect of making women sterile! No way I'll be taking it.

I'm not sure where this rumour has sprung from. However I did read an article about women in their 40's whose regular periods have stopped post Covid and who appear to have gone into menopause as a result. Which has made me wonder if we will see a reduction in fertility in the longer term among women (and maybe men) who had Covid. I think it will be some time before we see the full range of long term health effects.

So take your pick.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 07/01/2021 08:22

@Sunshine3013

And for everyone saying by not taking it she is risking passing it on. The vaccine does not stop you from getting covid and passing it on! It just stops you becoming very sick from it.
Nope! That is, yet again, a highly simplistic take on some very complex science. This has been explained over and over again by many posters here. It has been explained again and again by some highly knowledgeable experts - some of those explanations were seized upon by lazy journalists looking for a scare story cos good news is no news... and here it is, repeated as fact yet again!
atswim2birds · 07/01/2021 10:03

There is a chance the vaccine could have a side effect of making women sterile! No way I'll be taking it

There is the chance that it could make you grow an extra head and start speaking Klingon, but like making you sterile, it is extremely extremely unlikely.

atswim2birds · 07/01/2021 10:04

Some people feel so strongly about Covid / lockdowns / vaccines that they don’t appreciate other people have different views

They don't appreciate the likes of you prolonging the need for lockdowns instead of just taking your vaccine. Unsurprisingly Hmm

DenisetheMenace · 07/01/2021 10:05

You can’t expect the rest of the population to take precautions to protect you forevermore.
If you’re happy with that, absolutely your choice.

atswim2birds · 07/01/2021 11:02

You can’t expect the rest of the population to take precautions to protect you forevermore

That's what constantly happens in a civilised society. We are all always taking precautions to protect others.
Like vaccinating ourselves and our children.

squeezeapplesmakejuice · 07/01/2021 11:21

All of the nasty angry comments are completely unnecessary.

Bananasandorangesss · 07/01/2021 11:44

@squeezeapplesmakejuice totally agree - don’t know what’s happened to MN users recently. This is supposed to be a supportive forum - instead people seem to come on here with the sole purpose of having a go at others. We all need to be kind - now more so than ever.

GypsyLee · 07/01/2021 15:07

They don't appreciate the likes of you prolonging the need for lockdowns instead of just taking your vaccine. Unsurprisingly hmm

I'd blame prolonged lockdowns on schools and nurseries not closing tbh. More kids in than ever.

bumbleymummy · 07/01/2021 15:40

@DenisetheMenace

You can’t expect the rest of the population to take precautions to protect you forevermore. If you’re happy with that, absolutely your choice.
This isn’t about preventing anyone from ever getting covid - it’s about reducing the risks for more vulnerable people so the health service isn’t overwhelmed.

There is actually a bit of a stink being kicked up in some parts about non-patient facing healthcare staff being offered the vaccine as priority anyway. If the OP doesn’t feel at risk then why waste a dose when it could be given to someone who actually needs it?