Where's my thread gone?

[CovidJabToday]

I posted last night about how the vaccine centre I went to yesterday was not well ventilated, tea and coffee given in the waiting area after etc... Sharing of pens.

The thread was going ok, no rudeness or arguments on the thread, just people giving sensible comment. Some with similar experiences, some with better experiences.

Then this morning a thread pops up about 'beware the anti vaxers', dissing my thread and calling it fake.

Now my thread has gone???

Why are we only allowed to give one side of the story on Mumsnet? This is shocking. My post wasnt offensive or anything. All true. How are posters meant tom prove they r genuine?

Its 100% real my Dad had his first jab a week or more ago so he's 80 and they were serving tea and coffee at the local hospital and people weren't social distancing as they should!

I saw the original post and read it, I thought it was informative and plenty of discussion for and against.
It certainly wasn't anti-vax and I don't think it was spreading that sort of argument. I do think the title was a bit OTT, but titles often get amended or changed and I'm sure MNHQ could have just asked for/done a rewording.
I don't understand those posters who don't like threads which they consider 'depressing'.....if you find it depressing, don't read it. When a thread is based on reality, genuine discussion and isn't offensive it shouldn't get pulled.

I think one of the main issues is that there are clearly threads and posts on Mumsnet and all over the internet that are designed to provoke vaccine scepticism (either via safety concerns or by questioning efficacy) as part of organised disinformation campaigns. They often read like the OPs- e.g slightly wide-eyed disbelief about something that has happened/they have heard or read. The other type are the 'I'm not a Covid denier/antivaxxer but...(insert sceptical statement here)' threads/posts. It's really good that @MNHQ are being extra cautious

@GwendolineMarysLaces

I think one of the main issues is that there are clearly threads and posts on Mumsnet and all over the internet that are designed to provoke vaccine scepticism (either via safety concerns or by questioning efficacy) as part of organised disinformation campaigns. They often read like the OPs- e.g slightly wide-eyed disbelief about something that has happened/they have heard or read. The other type are the 'I'm not a Covid denier/antivaxxer but...(insert sceptical statement here)' threads/posts. It's really good that *@MNHQ* are being extra cautious

Absolutely agree.

It's very naive to just take OPs like this at face value, in the current climate.

Well my PILS must be part of a mass delusion then as they were offered biscuits and tea also!

I think the problem here is the arrogance of MNHQ declaring it ‘fake news’ with no other comment in the deletion message

I suspect they thought they were being clever and witty but it was really ill judged

As others have said, the title could easily have been changed as the content was not ‘fake news’

If you write a title that wouldn’t look out of place on the most ardent anti-vaxxer website you can’t be too surprised that MN decided not to give the benefit of the doubt.

Kill it and move on, there is plenty of scope for people to discuss experiences without resorting to ridiculous clickbait headlines.

Here's a piece from The Guardian and another from the US . and one from the BMA about how misinformation undermines trust in the vaccine

Posts like this one, even if they seem genuine, or provoke genuine discussion, are also designed to unsettle people and make them fearful - if not about the vaccine itself, then the process of its being delivered.

@Bluegrass

If you write a title that wouldn’t look out of place on the most ardent anti-vaxxer website you can’t be too surprised that MN decided not to give the benefit of the doubt.

Kill it and move on, there is plenty of scope for people to discuss experiences without resorting to ridiculous clickbait headlines.

Great post. The wide-eyed offence about the post being removed might potentially add to some people's suspicions that all may not be what it seems (worded carefully to hopefully avoid my first ever deletion )

@lesnittinsel

If I had been shielding successfully up until now (no carers coming in, no kids at school, no working outside the home, shopping delivered), then right now the question bothering me would be whether I really am better going to be vaccinated right now or whether I'd do better to wait until infection rates have gone down in my community.

What vaccine centres are like is crucial to this question. From the sound of that thread, some are great and not a worry, some are perhaps more of a worry. There's clearly a compromise between perfect covid safety and getting lots of people vaccinated fast. For some individuals, this might genuinely be their riskiest exposure to other people for months, even if a centre is pretty good.

You can be as pro vaccines as Bill Gates and still have reasonably questions about what your local centre is like for safety.

That is my exact situation, & my exact dilemma

@GwendolineMarysLaces

I think one of the main issues is that there are clearly threads and posts on Mumsnet and all over the internet that are designed to provoke vaccine scepticism (either via safety concerns or by questioning efficacy) as part of organised disinformation campaigns. They often read like the OPs- e.g slightly wide-eyed disbelief about something that has happened/they have heard or read. The other type are the 'I'm not a Covid denier/antivaxxer but...(insert sceptical statement here)' threads/posts. It's really good that *@MNHQ* are being extra cautious

Exactly this

For everyone banging on about freedom of speech etc MN is a business. A private business. You are here by invitation.
It is not a public space where you can do as you please. Or where you have any ‘rights’.
If you don’t like the rules - start your own site.

@BIWI

Here's a piece from The Guardian and another from the US . and one from the BMA about how misinformation undermines trust in the vaccine

Posts like this one, even if they seem genuine, or provoke genuine discussion, are also designed to unsettle people and make them fearful - if not about the vaccine itself, then the process of its being delivered.

Exactly @BIWI.

I read the title, felt foreboding, clicked on it & read an experience which confirmed my fears.

True or not, I automatically don't trust anonymous internet posters unless they have a good solid posting history.

But the doubt sets in.

The Fake News deletion message then made me feel foolish, and also angry that someone would post something like that if it wasn't true.

I'm now on the fence about whether the OP is kosher or not, but either way, the thread had an adverse affect on me as an ECV person.

It was not helpful.

I can understand why people were worried by it and that we need to encourage people to be vaccinated. However, my PILS were most definitely offered tea and biscuits which they declined. They've had both vaccines and were very happy with the whole process.

The 'fake news' message was a bit snotty, but it's up to them.

I'm going to tell my parents to take a pen, wear a new mask properly and say no to refreshments. They are still going, I just see it all as risk minimising.

I think the risk is that some people believe without question what they read. One thread I read on here had someone who worked for the NHS claiming that she and her colleagues were so ill after having the vaccine that they were 'bedridden' the next day. I've seen several people say they were very unwell and couldn't work afterwards for a day or two. This could be alarming for some people.

In real life I now know of over 20 people who've had the vaccine. None had more than a sore arm, or in one case, a bad headache.

It's made me very wary of posters on Mumsnet who claim to be medics or work for the NHS.

@OhBabooahka

You actually expect us to believe they were serving refreshments at a vaccine centre?

Not rtft yet, but I can assure you some do.

Or ones who pop up on social media.

Stepping back a little though, what is it that posters are going to warn their elderly parents to do that they wouldn't already have been doing?

Surely everyone would expect to maintain social distancing and wear PPE of some kind?

If no-one else is socially distancing, then you move away yourself, don't you?

If you're worried about the tea and biscuits, then you just don't accept them.

It's the level of fear and suspicion that this kind of post engenders, especially when supposedly written by an NHS worker, that's the real concern here.

I'm sure some centres will be better run than others - but if it's not being run well, you complain to the centre/the NHS - you don't come running to join a social media site to do so.

MNHQ are allowing this thread, which is a TAAT to run - but they have already made it clear that the OP is new to MN and that's what makes this so dodgy.

@Pimlicojo

I think the risk is that some people believe without question what they read. One thread I read on here had someone who worked for the NHS claiming that she and her colleagues were so ill after having the vaccine that they were 'bedridden' the next day. I've seen several people say they were very unwell and couldn't work afterwards for a day or two. This could be alarming for some people.

In real life I now know of over 20 people who've had the vaccine. None had more than a sore arm, or in one case, a bad headache.

It's made me very wary of posters on Mumsnet who claim to be medics or work for the NHS.

I promise I am genuinely NHS staff, I have posted a few times on this thread saying I agree with the deletion and that the op behaved very unprofessionally posting on here with such hyperbole if they actually are NHS staff.

However... I genuinely was unwell after the vaccine! I assumed it was because I already have had covid (like so many NHS staff), so my body launched a quick and robust immune response. Anyway, regardless of the reason, I wasn't in the least bothered, I was incredibly unwell with covid and still am not 100%, one day of feeling crap post-vaccine is nothing!

@Seeline

I am sorry it was deleted.

Whether it was true or not (and I personally didn't doubt it), it raise a few issues that I found very useful and will be remembering when I take my 83 year old Mum for her first jab in 3 weeks time.
-take own pen
-make sure I have hand gel and use it regularly
-take a bottle of water and a snack in case she needs it.

I have to say my MIL had hers yesterday - she said she was in and out so fast she couldn't believe it. The doctor wouldn't even let her stay for 15 minutes after - there was nowhere to wait for that!

This!!

It was useful. I told my Mum yesterday. Bring your own pen, wipes, hand gel, water and snacks. Maybe disposable gloves too.

Not things we thought of prior to thread

Privatehall I'm sorry you were unwell. It hasn't been my experience, but it doesn't invalidate yours.

Obviously people can choose whether to believe me or not, but I can confirm what the OP said about the specific vaccine centre she mentioned.

I already posted yesterday about going to that same hospital yesterday morning. I wasn't going for a vaccination, but I have spoken to someone who did, and they confirmed the tea and biscuits thing. And having waited 90 minutes in that same hospital for something else, I can confirm that the waiting room for that felt really unsafe. The numbers were supposed to be limited, but it still seemed too many. I hung around in the corridor instead.

I too think that it was ridiculous for MNHQ to claim that it was fake news. They should have simply changed the title of the original OP (which yes, was fear-mongering)

Fake news, wow trump has taken quite a step down from being president of the US to moderating on MN.