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*

[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).

I’m fascinated by the BAME thing though. Would they give the vaccine to a twenty five year old black female member of staff rather than a fifty nine year old white male member of staff?

People can mind their own business regarding who is or isn't vaccinated

Yeah, becayse if you were working with someone who had a contagious virus which might kill you you’d be thinking “none of my business”

Spidey66

I wouldnt be happy in her position.

The reason why its gone through quickly is because it was already researched for SARS and has just been 'tweaked' for COVID.

If we want any kind of normality. the only hope is for as many people as possible to be vaccinated. Refusing it when offered just slows this down.

I think those who refuse, are looking for all the benefits of herd immunity while not taking the chances of any risks. I think it's selfish, tbh.

Ive got a colleague refusing it while spending all year panicking about covid as her family have asthma. I'm really angry with her.

Absolutely this. As many people as possible need it to get any hope of normality! Those who pick and choose and leave it up to others make me so cross.

(I’m not against weighting the HCP priority list for race, but the OP didn’t mention age or sex at all)

@ilovesooty

I'm getting rather tired of hearing people banging on about their individual rights and freedoms. It's about time some of these people realised that there is a distinct case for collective responsibility and acting in the best interests of wider society. This to me means being vaccinated if you can be. I have limited respect for people who can't see that.

I agree totally with the collective responsibility.

I have taken on plenty of it, myself and via my children. I have lost huge huge amounts to take responsibility for other people.

I've done enough.

I won't demand that vulnerable people accept risk on my behalf and I won't accept them demanding that I take risk on their behalf.

The SARS vaccine was linked to increased risk of narcolepsy, guillain barre syndrome and liver damage in ferrets so hardly reassuring

What SARS vaccine? There isn’t one.

COVID-19 is the first coronavirus for which we have had a vaccine.

@Drogonssmile you need to make your own risk assessment regarding how you treat your own body, as we all do. You are perfectly reasonable for being circumspect regarding a new vaccine.

I hope you can ignore the bullies. Thank you for the job you do

YABU. GOV doesn't have anything to do with the production of the vaccine!

And those who can have the vaccine and refuse are endangering those who cannot have the vaccine, those who are immunocompromised etc

Its stupid and selfish

You can't say you're worried about the effects and then say 'I'd rather my dose went to someone more vulnerable'.

Either you worry it's dangerous or you don't and given you clearly do you've just said 'I'd rather the vulnerable were guinea pigs and potentially got hurt instead of me'.

If you don't want the vaccine, that's up to you, ill informed and selfish as that decision would be. But you should rightly be judged for potentially putting additional pressure on the NHS if you do become ill, and for being perfectly willing to pass this disease to others who haven't yet been vaccinated through no choice of their own.

I fully support you and stand behind you. I WON'T be getting it, neither will my elderly mum and family. I have refused vaccinations in the past as I'm not entirely convinced of the lack of link with autism etc. I was talked into getting the flu vaccine for my child a few years ago and she ended up in hospital with....the flu.

’I said I probably wouldn't as it doesn't affect transmission’

But surely it does indirectly? If you have herd immunity then surely the virus will weaken eventually as it is not being enabled. It's not being hosted.

The blanket assumption seems to be that the vaccine definitely won't cause the OP or anyone else any problems, ever. Where does that assumption come from? Because there is zero evidence for it.

@CorianderBee

You can't say you're worried about the effects and then say 'I'd rather my dose went to someone more vulnerable'.

Either you worry it's dangerous or you don't and given you clearly do you've just said 'I'd rather the vulnerable were guinea pigs and potentially got hurt instead of me'.

It's their choice though!!! I don't particularly want my mum to get it but she will because she wants to and that's fine. It's her choice. Why can't I have my choice??

@Marmunia1975

I fully support you and stand behind you. I WON'T be getting it, neither will my elderly mum and family. I have refused vaccinations in the past as I'm not entirely convinced of the lack of link with autism etc. I was talked into getting the flu vaccine for my child a few years ago and she ended up in hospital with....the flu.

I wouldnt stand behind her if I were you. What if she is infected and breathes out.....?

Your post is too idiotic to respond to seriously.

Some people are clearly clueless to what is going on in hospital even those who work there!

Covid patients are not just elderly and vulnerable people but do young normally fit ones. They survive but with long term complications that could leave them disabled.

I don't think the vaccin is 100% safe, there is a risk but I strongly believe it is much less so than ending up with chronic ailments from Covid.

@Cadent

I also have have concerns but I'm aware that if I don't have the vaccine, I am relying on everyone else to have it to keep me safe.

We all need to do our bit, OP.

Unless you can commit to giving up your job and living like a hermit at home forever, then YABU.

I don't have the flu vaccine, the one year I did I was so ill it was unbelievable but I'm afraid I will be having this when offered it, I'm 70+, mainly to protect others and to try and get life back to normal.

@Godimabitch

Yes I know....on reflection that was a dickish comment I made. It was just my first thought at the time but mumsnet is great for a reasoned argument and I realise paying for covid treatment after refusing a vac is not ever going to be happening!! And there’s a few valid points about obesity,smoking etc

I’m an idiot for suggesting it now I think about it properly. I’m just worn out with covid. Mentally. Supporting my colleagues ( I’m a retail manager) is getting hard mentally. Mumsnet is great for giving perspective. Thankyou

Does everyone worried about risks want to carry on as we are? Covid may not be that risky for me as an individual (although actually there are still a lot of working age people admitted or quite unwell with it) but the restrictions are having a negative impact on my quality of life every single day. That alone is enough for me before anything else gets consideration!

YABU. Nothing else to say to you.

Ah yes, people who make their own informed choices that are different to others are idiots, outcasts and the scum of society. YANBU OP.

Thank you for the job you do

What, working in a hospital where the most vulnerable of society go for cancer treatment, from accidents, where babies are born and she doesn't want to get vaccinated against a disease which kills these very people she is meant to be supporting.

Err, yeah....thanks.

People seem to think the scientists, working under huge pressure and to crazy tight deadlines, definitely covered every possibility and definitely didn't miss any problems or complications.

I think the reason I don't feel the same is that I know too many scientists (and am one myself, though not in vaccines). They are decent people, but they are people, not gods. They can't possibly say that their work is perfect and infallible.

They will find out how good their work is in a few years, when any effects show themselves. For many people the balance of that risk may be in favour of getting the vaccine. For me, it is not.

**So you will pay out of your own pocket for the treatment you will need when you catch covid then?
How about we refuse treatment for anyone with a BMI above normal? Anyone who smokes? Anyone that engages in risky activity?
You’re statement is ridiculous

YABU
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.

The first sentence is really why you don’t want the vaccine. You want everyone else to be your guinea pig. You’re willing to reap the benefits but not share in the risk.

The second sentence is a red herring...if someone were more vulnerable they’d already have the vaccine ahead of you because the priority list is literally based on protecting the most vulnerable first.