How are others feeling who are parents to school age children but not in any of the priority groups for vaccination ?

[Bluegot]

So I am a worrier. And I can foresee that what will happen is once the vulnerable are vaccinated, the government will vaccinate teachers. Then the government can really claim schools are Covid safe as teachers will be protected and young children generally get mild cases. So schools will be opened long before all the 30s and 40s get vaccinated. And parents will then all catch Covid from their kids. I am worried about getting long Covid which in my age range seems to be happening to approx 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 depending which estimates you read.
Not sure why I posted, but nobody else to talk to

I'm concerned about this too. I have a disability that wasn't on the shielded list and feel it will be quite a while before I have a vaccine. I am trying to psychologically come to terms with the fact that I won't be able to outrun Covid forever, especially if I want my DC's to have any quality of life at all. I am taking these weeks of home schooling to do everything I can to give me the best chance if/when I catch it. Losing weight, vitamin C, D, B12 and Zinc and trying to work on my stress, or I'll have a heart attack before Covid gets near me!
I just kept thinking if I stayed at home as much as possible I'd be able to out last the threat, but it doesn't look like that is realistic anymore. As someone who struggles with agoraphobia too it's a difficult thing to accept.

I'm 40 and have no health issues so I expect to be very low down on the priority list for vaccination, I have two primary school age children. I'm not terribly worried about catching covid myself because I would, in all likelihood, be fine. I could have had it already and not even know.

I am worried about getting long Covid which in my age range seems to be happening to approx 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 depending which estimates you read.

It's important to put this in perspective. It is entirely common for some people to have lingering effects of a viral infection for several weeks if not more. That is any viral infection. For the vast majority "long Covid" or post viral syndrome will be inconvenient - a lingering cough, perhaps tiredness or some lingering respiratory issues, which will diminish over time and eventually entirely disappear. Experience from other viruses suggests this is often seasonal too - lingering effects are often worsened in winter, and summer sunshine / warmer weather often improves such conditions.

Serious post viral impacts are very rare. And that is still the case for Covid. If you knew the risks that you take every single day of your life with the many far more dangerous and common things around you, you would never set foot outside again. Or, in fact, stay indoors, because a fair few "killers" are in the house!

Be sensible, but don't be paranoid. It won't do your mental health any good at all, and that is one of the things that you are at far greater risk from!

I am feeling completely depressed by the fact that so few people care about anything other than Covid.
Schools need to be open.
The reason the old are being vaccinated first is that they are the ones most at risk - of course, because on any given day, they are most at risk of dying anyway.
To be fair, I also think that people who are worried should be vaccinated just to try to move us on from this madness. I'll happily give up my vaccine dose as I understand my risk and it is absolutely minimal.

Yes I am also worried. My husband is a diabetic and unlikely to be vaccinated before children return. I am also eligible for the free flu jab but I don't appear on the vunerable list so will need to wait until the over 50s are jabbed which is unlikely to be before summer.

I won't be eligible for the jab for ages. As long as frontline and key workers and elderly/vulnerable people get the vaccine then I'm not bothered about me or my kids. (Statistically we should be fine.....there is a risk we won't but no bigger risk than many other bad things happening).

@Moondust001

I am worried about getting long Covid which in my age range seems to be happening to approx 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 depending which estimates you read.

It's important to put this in perspective. It is entirely common for some people to have lingering effects of a viral infection for several weeks if not more. That is any viral infection. For the vast majority "long Covid" or post viral syndrome will be inconvenient - a lingering cough, perhaps tiredness or some lingering respiratory issues, which will diminish over time and eventually entirely disappear. Experience from other viruses suggests this is often seasonal too - lingering effects are often worsened in winter, and summer sunshine / warmer weather often improves such conditions.

Serious post viral impacts are very rare. And that is still the case for Covid. If you knew the risks that you take every single day of your life with the many far more dangerous and common things around you, you would never set foot outside again. Or, in fact, stay indoors, because a fair few "killers" are in the house!

Be sensible, but don't be paranoid. It won't do your mental health any good at all, and that is one of the things that you are at far greater risk from!

The problem is there will be far more of a risk from Covid (and then long covid) compared to other viral illnesses when cases explode after restrictions are lifted- if say, we get up to 300,000 new cases a day (considering we are on 60,000 a day now and that was with most of the country under Tier 4 and with schools closed over Christmas) that will mean a lot more long covid sufferers too. This disease is so bloody infectious.

I got the impression from the Press Briefing yesterday that there will be a 'difficult decision' on whether to vaccinate (and if so, which groups) the under 50s. Hopefully keyworkers will be offered one but I can't see anyone who can WFH getting one.

Anyway I'm not suggesting that we should be expected to lockdown etc..after the vulnerable have been vaccinated!

I'm worried about this too although I have no kids. I'm scared about getting long covid and/or getting covid and having stomach problems (I am very emetophobic). I don't understand how we are meant to go back normal when most people won't have been vaccinated. I'm 39 and not a key worker so can't see myself ever being offered the vaccine.

Swirlingasong, of course I hadn’t even thought about vulnerable kids. What a worry for you. The individual cases just aren’t even thought about. It’s all to do with protecting nhs and economy

Yep it's shit.
I realised several months ago.
But thats not even the worst it's the reinfection. I dont see how we can not vax those with long covid etc?? Or who had it badly and couldnt breathe.

The best we can hope is that it reduces transmission. Because otherwise the vaxxed will go about spreading as will the young with few symptoms. this will also be awful for kids. how many are going to get t1 diabetes.

Long covid is NOT a normal post viral. the drs cant even help with it.

Someone was talking about the muscle twitches (which i also have 9m later) and drs have no #### clue. it's all untreatable.

Ive had post viral after GF and it was rubbish. Tiredness, catching everything going etc. I pretty much recovered though.

There are fb groups full of LC people. Some are recovering most arent.

Im just praying private vax companies will step in and offer it.
Because uk gov agreed to covax ?? So cant vax the whole population.

Take up of hcp (in fact some admin staff pushing in front of care homes etc) does show me lots of young people are concerned especially as theyve seen what it can do.

The nhs isnt great service at best of times (sorry) i honestly feel if i get it again with same symptoms and face getting it say every couple of months (due to lack of restrictions) im not going to live like this.

It also reflects in how i feel about the 1 key worker families pushing into school places. With the restrictions hopefully kids wont have a chance to spread it as much. So younger non cv parents getting it. Hopefully with some immunity (?) And not needing hospital.
Crap for the teachers though.
At least 2% of kids will have had it now. (But perhaps they dont make lasting antibodies?)

Maybe we could go abroad or an airport for a vax so gov cant control it.
We cant trust gov.
They had blatantly lied about kids spreading it and teachers. they lie about the deaths 'with underlying'

Women have gone into early menpause.
I think it's a q of say how often kids get long term issues. Things like t1 which absolutely will affect lives and possibly kill earlier and could kill. Even if it causes worsening or new asthma in kids.well that too kills. so i expect that although kids are not immediately affected the longer term.

If all these women with twitch were to end up being MS or all the brain fog turn into dementia (who knows). then uk covid response will turn out to be even more disastrous than we already think.

Tony Blair is saying we should be able to vaccinate 5million a week. I really hope they push the vaccination schedule harder until everyone is vaccinated. Hopefully they won’t take foot off the accelerator once vulnerable are vaccinated

If you are not in a high risk group then the risk of covid is no worse to you than the risk of flu.

Once the high risk people are all vaccinated and the deaths and hospital admissions go right back down then things will start to gradually normalise.

You need to try to get some perspective on this.

I am not worried about catching covid personally. I worry about catching it and passing it on to my parents who could die from it. Once they are vaccinated then I will relax.

@GintyMcGinty

If you are not in a high risk group then the risk of covid is no worse to you than the risk of flu.

Once the high risk people are all vaccinated and the deaths and hospital admissions go right back down then things will start to gradually normalise.

You need to try to get some perspective on this.

I am not worried about catching covid personally. I worry about catching it and passing it on to my parents who could die from it. Once they are vaccinated then I will relax.

Sorry but do you know this for definite? We know the risk of dying from covid is less than from the flu if under a certain age but I haven’t seen any figures comparing the risk of long term effects from flu versus covid per age group. It may turn out that the risk is the same as for Post viral syndrome after flu but 1) that data doesn’t seem widely available and 2) most people have some immunity to the flu and the chance of catching flu each year is much less than the chance of catching covid will be once restrictions are lifted if under 50s are not vaccinated. I think people are justified in there concerns about long covid. I certainly don’t want it and my husband would struggle mentally if he developed long covid.

It's not even just the individual risk. If the virus is allowed to spread like wildfire among the under 50s, it will have more chance to mutate and create new variants that could put the vaccinated groups at risk again too.

On a personal level I worry about long covid. I know someone who has long term kidney damage now after covid. She's in her late 30s and used to run 10k several times a week, basically very fit and healthy before. Now she's exhausted and can barely go for a walk.

Viccat that’s a good point about increased chance of mutations. But actually thinking about it. The whole world would need vaccinated to stop that risk. Or we would need to quarantine every arrival to the uk.
So many difficult questions to address

I don’t worry, then I come on here and read stories of people’s 40 year of husband dying in hospital of covid and it sends me into a frenzy. Then I start to really worry about never getting the vaccine and eventually getting covid and potentially being very ill from it.

It’s ridiculous I know.

Im just praying private vax companies will step in and offer it.
Because uk gov agreed to covax ?? So cant vax the whole population.

That's not how covax works. Lots of countries are signed up to covax and the richer ones (us included) are making a financial contribution to it. That funding is being used to create a pool of vaccines, which all covax members have access to. But the WHO will control how that pool is distributed. For instance, they've previously said that they won't let any member country take enough vaccines for more than 20% of its population until all members have had the chance to get to 20%.

But separate to that, richer countries also have private arrangements with vaccine manufacturers - i.e. we've ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford one, 40 million doses of Pfizer, etc. Those are not controlled by covax, and the WHO have said that while they encourage richer countries to share, rather than hoard, vaccine supplies, they also recognise that the richer countries are the ones funding both vaccine development and the covax pool, and so they're not going to bite the hand that feeds them, so to speak. So being part of covax won't limit us.

I'm not concerned. If I'm going to get it, that's that. We may have already in February.
Secondary age child, so I have no contact ever with parents so I'd catch from DD or partner who works in non distanced office with known cases.
When I'm done I'm done. Give it to All front line workers then vulnerable shielding. Getting ill fucks them over, staying off work unpaid fucks them over.

Working age adults should have been the priority

You may have had it already at your age and not even realised it....
There are many things you could get

You are really over worrying. It’s mild in most young, healthy people. I’ve had it.. was fine. Felt rough for a few days. No long covid seemingly. I worry far more about other illnesses to be honest! I’ve had flu, was horrendous. Glandular Fever was awful, it dragged on for nearly a year! Some people on here have terrible health anxiety - please reach out & get some support!

@Swirlingasong

The long Covid figures you quoted prompted me to Google a bit.

The Zoe study was mentioned and quoted 1 in 2O with long Covid. It was based on symptomatic people for a start. (We know there many asymptomatics who give positive tests even among the elderly who are the riskiest group.) Zoe counted people having symptoms after 8 weeks. The proportion suffering at 12 weeks was more like 1 in 50.

(As a young fit person I suffered a post viral syndrome that gave me daily symptoms for a year afterwards. It was horrible and so please don't think I am brushing this off carelessly.)

@Frozenintime

Working age adults should have been the priority

No, this is completely wrong. You vaccinate those at highest risk of needing ICU & death first.