Where can I find impartial information about the Covid vaccines?

[yellowbeaker]

I have a family relative who has been offered the vaccine but she is petrified of having it and is at the moment declining it. she has been told she can have time to think it over which is really good but so much of the info we are finding online is opinion rather than fact.

I would like to help her make an informed choice. Where is the best place to start looking?

Why is she petrified of having it.

I’d ask what part of it she finds petrified of first and go from there?

NHS website.

She thinks it is going to kill her. She had a really bad reaction to the flu vaccine a few years back and has also seen a lot of stuff on facebook about people having the vaccine and dying. She has had friends who have had the vaccine feel very unwell afterwards etc.

(I was going to write the above in my OP but I didn't want to scare other people into not having it)

I'm not insulting her, but I honestly don't know what people are so scared of. Yes, there will be side effects. These cannot not be fully known until years down the line. But all medicines have side effects.

Sometimes the side effects in the leaflet sound awful. But you still normally take the medicine as they are rare and you want to get better. Same thing really.

Who has been killed by the vaccine ?

I'd like to know too! They r doing a webinar at work, but it's designed to get us all on board so we have it! (Yes work, we know your game! ;)!) I also feel all the NHS info and anything provided by government will also be spun in a way so as to encourage us to have it.

I'd like to see completely impartial, honest, facts about side effects and complications and research findings so far..

Does she know why she had a bad reaction to flu jab -- what were her symptoms?

The jab is bound to be a nicer experience than having covid if she's age 80+.

This is the official NHS page: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-vaccine/

Please tell her that the side effects mentioned are a good sign that the immune system is doing something useful. Vaccines work by making our bodies recognise the virus and build the tools to fight the virus without you having to catch it.

I don't mind insulting her intelligence because she believes what she reads on Facebook.

If she has any concerns she needs to talk to a medical professional not read social media.

I think this article by a Swedish doctor gives good information about each of the three available vaccines.

sebastianrushworth.com/2021/01/10/are-the-covid-vaccines-safe-and-effective/

Tell her my mum would love it if she doesn't want it!

Unwell in what way? I don’t believe anyone has sided from the vaccination but if she’s reading information on Facebook then it’s full of absolute dross and lies and I doubt you’ll talk her round if she is reading and actually believing this.
I’ve had it, felt a bit tired for a few hours but that’s it, but that could also be to do with the fact I’m working my arse off.
If she doesn’t want it she doesn’t have to have it, it’s a choice.

*died rather

One man has died, an American physician. I believe he had some kind of blood disorder which he was unaware of, the case is under review.
You can fact check the fake news, but she probably doesn’t trust the internet either.
No one knows what the long term side effects will be, because there is no data yet.

I really recommend this podcast:

thispodcastwillkillyou.com/2020/12/22/covid-19-chapter-13-vaccines-take-2/

Stay away from Facebook.

Does she have friends / neighbours/ people she knows who have had the vaccine? Maybe first hand testimony that it is fine might be more effective than lees first-hand evidence?

www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health/coronavirus-vaccine-trials

hmm link doesn't seem to have worked. it is "This podcast will kill you, COVID-19 Chapter 13: Vaccines, Take 2"

So basically she’s already got her own legitimate reasons but you want to bully her into changing her mind. Nice person 👍🏻

She is fairly young but entitled to one.

When she had the flu vaccine she was bed ridden for days. She told me a load of stuff about the oxford vaccine (which I didnt understand so I can't really repeat it coherently)

I think it's because she has seen other people having it (friends who are nurses) who have gone on to feel really unwell and now she's scared herself into not having it. she said they had racing heartbeats and felt like they were going to die.

She is usually very reasonable. I don't think she has necessarily believed the stuff she has seen on FB, but more that it has scared her, hence trying to find so real information not stuff made my conspiracists or the NHS who want you to have it. I tried helping her and looking for stuff and ended up down a wormhole of nonsense and it really messes with your head so I get why she is feeling confused.

@Houggbfhhbdfg lmao......she's not the type of person you bully into anything.

She asked me to find IMPARTIAL advice which is why I am trying to help her. When I went looking it wasn't very impartial. Either very antivax or take it and don't ask questions. I would rather she was able to make an informed choice which I feel I clearly conveyed above.

It's no skin off my nose if she does or doesn't have it.

3 million covid cases, more than 80k dead in the UK
2 million doses of covid vaccine administered so far. Zero deaths in the UK. Zero ICU admissions (it would be ALL over the news let's face it)

I know which one I'll take my chances with.

Suggest that she discusses her fears with her GP. MHRA and JCVI considerations are available, those may be useful sources of data: www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/covid-19-vaccines-pfizer-slash-biontech-and-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-current-advice.