Vaccine anxiety and not sure what to do.

[Littlelapwing]

I’ve been offered the Pfizer vaccine and in a total quandary. I haven’t trusted the Pfizer vaccine from the start, I don’t like the technology/basis for it and I don’t trust the company.
I don’t have a problem with the Oxford vaccine.....but that’s sadly not an option.

Has anyone else been in this position? Can you recommend any reassuring reading about the Pfizer vaccine in particular please? I’m not anti-vaccine at all but this particular one worries me.

I’m young, healthy, and 99% sure I’ve already had Covid. Can’t decide if that’s relevant.

I will also add (before any possible pile on, you never know) that anxiety over decisions like this is completely legitimate. I’m looking for other views/reassurance/helpful reading please.

Thanks.

@Xerochrysum

The thing is, you are a medical profession, so you have many people around you that you can talk to, to ease your anxiety. But coming on to the forum with many people who are not in medical profession and say you are in medical profession and don't trust the vaccine, do you actually thought about the damage you may cause?

Thank you for proving my point.

By your reckoning, I am ‘doing damage’ by merely raising the question of my anxiety on an anonymous forum.
Can you not imagine why I don’t want to talk about this in real life? It’s because of the many people with YOUR attitude.

Patient-facing staff in the NHS are not robots with no feelings or anxieties, and with magically all the knowledge about every new treatment implanted into us as it arrives.
It’s attitudes like yours that make people afraid to ask questions, for fear of being judged.
It may also shock you to hear that I’m not alone in how I feel. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the vaccine. I don’t know. But it still worries ME.

Thank you very much for the kind answers, they are much appreciated. I’m going to have a look through the articles as there’s a couple I hadn’t seen, thanks.

Pfizer is not German. It was founded in the mid 1800's in the US of german descent. It is a US company.

Australian infectious diseases experts are currently telling the Australian government that they strongly recommend that Australians receive the Pfizer vaccine over the AZ, based on efficacy. It was even on the radio this morning!

@ChateauMargaux

Pfizer is not German. It was founded in the mid 1800's in the US of german descent. It is a US company.

Yes this was my understanding.

I don’t trust American healthcare, they have a different set of ethics to us (I think). I think that’s part of my problem tbh.

Anyway I’m sure I’m not the only one with an irrational not-too-sure feeling. Like I say I know I still have to have it.

@Pyewhacket

The company is German , I really trust German scientists as a rule

........ remember thalidomide, developed by Chemie Grünenthal GmbH.

A drug developed in the 1950s for use as a sedative or tranquilliser, misprescribed to treat nausea in pregnant women, still in use today as a valuable medication for things like treatment of cancer and leprosy?

Not a sensible comparator, particularly bearing in mind the safeguards built in since the 1950s and followed by the developers of both the Pfizer and Astra Zeneca vaccines.

@Xerochrysum

The thing is, you are a medical profession, so you have many people around you that you can talk to, to ease your anxiety. But coming on to the forum with many people who are not in medical profession and say you are in medical profession and don't trust the vaccine, do you actually thought about the damage you may cause?

The OP may be genuine but this sort of thing is a classic anti-vax trolling technique.

E.g. "I'm a highly qualified world famous heart surgeon who is normally mega pro-vax. I normally have at least 5 vaccines before breakfast. But I am very unsure about....(may I lead you down the rabbit hole?)"

OP, as you haven't said what it is about the Pfizer vaccine that you don't trust, it's difficult to respond.

What is it you actually don’t trust though? You haven’t really said very clearly

I know several people who've had it. No side effects other than an aching arm for a day or so.

I'll take any I'm offered but I'd actually prefer the Pfizer vaccine.

All the OP has said about why she doesn't trust the Pfizer vaccine is it's made by an American company

If that is the case (I assume it is because you're avoiding all questions about what exactly you're worried about) then you're being ridiculous.

Well, yes, Bobbiester, but the problem is that shutting down queries, and frowning on people who dare to ask them, doesn’t inspire confidence either.

When people are discouraged from asking questions, it gives the impression there’s something to hide. Better to allow people to ask questions and answer them honestly and openly, with no fuss or drama or trying to shut them down IMO. It can surely only be problematic to answer questions if there really are issues, no?

OP I am nervous about having a vaccine for a different reason (needle phobia), I am already worried about it months in advance! I will be having it though as I really do want to be able to be around my older relatives and colleagues without thinking I'm going to infect them with a virus that could make them very sick indeed. I think you are lucky to be having the Pfizer vaccine, I would have that one if I will have a choice, which I won't as I'm in priority 10 category for being 50 plus and that's it.

I think your fears are unfounded.

Saying you work in the NHS in a patient facing role but claiming you don't "trust" the vaccine is damaging on a public forum.
Having an irrational "not too sure feeling" is anxiety. Recognise that it's not a feeling based on fact or science.

I'm sure you could talk to colleagues in your profession without being labelled as anti vaxx. You could simply ask for some recommended reading material, as you have done here.

Working in the medical profession you must be aware of the hundreds of potential side effects of contracting covid, including death, and how dangerous it is to transmit the virus to vulnerable people.

I wouldn't hesitate in being vaccinated. The vaccination programme is our only chance of suppressing this catastrophic viral pandemic. There is no other solution.

If you're worried about the US medical system then remember that although it's called the Pfizer vaccine it's actually the BioNTech vaccine as that's the company who developed it. Pfizer are the ones who are funding it. BioNTech is a company founded by a husband and wife team who are both originally from Turkey and have been doggedly working on mRNA technology for most of their lives. They're pretty incredible people. The FT published an article about them as "People of the Year" here:

www.ft.com/content/6633221e-3b28-4a15-b02d-958854644c79

Op, I am sure people in medical profession do have anxieties. But you not having a trust in your work place to confide in anyone about it, is not our problem. You could have said you are worried and could have asked for opinion without saying you are medical professional, who maybe in position to encourage others to take vaccine.

@bobbiester, I definitely get the vibe. That is why post like this is so harmful.

@Littlelapwing

Like I say I know I still have to have it

Can you postpone it until you are in a position to do a bit more research?

@FabbyMagic

What is it you actually don’t trust though? You haven’t really said very clearly

Because I don’t know!! I just know I feel really really anxious about it.

Yes it’s irrational, yes it’s woolly. Yes it’s probably silly. But I can’t help that and I know I’m not the only one. I need to work out what my problem actually is.

Biotech is clearly German
And that's who developed the technology

I think others are right , you have no specific concerns just anxiety, perhaps understandable since you are front line medical staff

You should also know that it's probably a reaction to the circumstances you have been living through

@Littlelapwing I think you need to explore your own thoughts on this deeper. What is it specifically about the Oxford that reassures you and about the Pfizer that doesn’t? If you are a medical processional and it’s a specific technique in the vaccine can you not research this yourself and see if your concerns are justified or not? There is a good page on Instagram called epidummiology who takes direct questions on the vaccine - you could put your specific concern to that person and they should be able to give you an answer or at least discuss it with you.

I think coming on here and asking total randomers with no medical experience about whether you should take the vaccine is not going to benefit you and if anything will feed your anxiety as you are talking to people who likely have no knowledge of how the various vaccines work and as a result are more likely to be anxious. Most medical professionals or scientists I know are very comfortable with the vaccine as they understand the process. Maybe you could ask a friend to explain it to you if you don’t understand it. You don’t need to frame it as anxiety over the vaccine just ask if they can talk you through it which might help with your anxiety too

Having an irrational "not too sure feeling" is anxiety. Recognise that it's not a feeling based on fact or science.

Yes I absolutely realise this!! I haven’t said that there’s a problem with the vaccine. I’ve said that I personally have a problem. I’m scared about it. I know it’s silly.

This explains in detail how mRNA vaccines function:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597572/#!po=25.0988

What is it about Pfizer specifically that you don't trust?

@Xerochrysum

Op, I am sure people in medical profession do have anxieties. But you not having a trust in your work place to confide in anyone about it, is not our problem. You could have said you are worried and could have asked for opinion without saying you are medical professional, who maybe in position to encourage others to take vaccine.

@bobbiester, I definitely get the vibe. That is why post like this is so harmful.

I have not said I don’t have ANYONE to confide in.

Do you know what, I’ve just typed out a long answer and deleted it. There’s no point. Just bog off.

I don’t need this. I just wanted to anonymously talk about this, see if anyone else is feeling the same, get and maybe share some reassurance. It’s a scary time.
But I don’t need this crap. I’m tired.

Judgemental, nasty, holier-than-thou attitudes like this are what’s doing harm. Don’t talk to me about ME doing harm, you have absolutely NO idea.

Thanks to anyone who didn’t feel the need to insult me, much appreciated.

I understand how you feel but felt more comfortable having researched it. Both myself and my husband have had it. In the end I was happier to have the Pfizer one than I would have been the Oxford one.
Can you put into words the exact thing about it that bothers you?

Oh and I specifically DIDNT say I worked in the NHS, someone assumed correctly as I’m having the vaccine.