If offered a vaccine I'm not happy with can my partner refuse it until another is available?

[Cheddarcheeseandsodabread]

Given that Pfizer can not guarantee protection if the 2nd dose is given more than 3 weeks after the first dose, would my partner (who is due his jab on Thurs) be able to refuse the Pfizer jab if offered, but stay on the 'list' until the Astra Zeneca jab is available instead?

Well I suppose it's his right to refuse it but IMO anyone who does refuse a dose should go to the end of the queue and be done after everyone else.

they must know what vaccination is arriving, the pfizer needs specific conditions, the AZ just needs a fridge.

It would be really bizarre to reject the 89-95% effective vaccine for one which is a maximum of 70%. And to take the risk of being unprotected for longer.

My Dad was vaccinated with the AZ one yesterday. I was grateful he was vaccinated but I’d much rather he had the Pfizer one as clinical studies have it as much more effective.

The 3 week thing is of an abundance of caution as they didn’t test it with a longer gap. However, AZ didn’t have test results for the over 70s and that’s what we’re using. In both cases, I think going ahead is the right decision but lack of results does not mean that it doesn’t work.

I did not know which vaccine I'm getting until right before and TBH knowing how busy it was, I felt it was unfair to put more work on the people who arranged one when in fact they did not know themselves. If more people were to ask, the delay to get a jab would double if not treble, easily.

@Skipsurvey

they must know what vaccination is arriving, the pfizer needs specific conditions, the AZ just needs a fridge.

If the pzifer one is getting used that day it doesn’t need anything too special I guess. So our local vaccination centre doesn’t have a super cold freezer but still does pzifer (and Oxford).

The vaccines arrive in a van from the hospital in the morning. If it’s pzifer they will have been taken out in enough time to defrost. I believe they come in cool boxes which will mean they can last the day.

Vaccine snobbery....whatever next!
Any is better than non. If there is a choice and someone chooses not to have a particular brand that should then put them right down to the bottom of the list.

You are getting a free vaccination I’m not sure you have the right to pick and choose
My mum has had hers, I asked which it was (Oxford) I asked any reason she was having that one and was told it was the one they were given

I don't see the logic in refusing a vaccine that confers a high level of immunity, just because the booster, which confers another (5%?) is being given later than in the first clinical trials. There will be more data and trials in the future on the 12 week schedule. Won't you be kicking yourself if it confers the same, or higher/longer immunity?

Surely they need to know which vaccine will be offered because of the issues with allergies for the Pfizer one? I know a couple of people who will only be able to have AZ - are they going to have to turn up and refuse it if it turns out to be Pfizer? (I'm slightly worried about this as one of them is my dad!)

Also beware of playing games with your partner's vaccination. If he/she gets Covid and is seriously unwell because you convinced him/her not to get the vaccine being dispensed on the day, how will you feel? It isn't a sensible calculated risk to take with someone else's life. It's different if his medical doctor says he shouldn't have one or the other.

OP do you research for information on topics beyond Mumsnet? I’d suggest you do.

No one is going to force you to have a vaccine but as clearly described you may not know which brand until you turn up for the appt.

It’s laughable you seem to be making decisions based on a total lack of research into the efficacy of the vaccines and why the Pfizer one (or any other drug for that matter) isn’t guaranteed beyond the very specific conditions it’s been tested for. That does not mean it is not effective. Do you think some of the drugs given to COVID patients were tested for that use and given they weren’t does that make them ineffective so presumably you’d refuse them too.

Interested to see the number of posters saying it's potluck which is available on the day - that will need attention before second jabs fall due and the current large numbers all re-present at the clinics, because then it becomes important which one people have.

@Skipsurvey

they must know what vaccination is arriving, the pfizer needs specific conditions, the AZ just needs a fridge.

The Pfizer can go in a fridge to be defrosted, as long as it’s used that day. The hub I work at has freezer and fridges.

i think you are wrong op about the pfizer, ok the company are not guaranteeing the protection but the scientists have faith that it will

Thank you all for your replies, it's good to get a debate going to hear all sides.

I apologise for my thread title - it should have said "If offered a vaccine HE's not happy with, can my partner refuse it until another is available?

As it is, he had his vaccination yesterday. It was the Pfizer one, but he had come to realise that some immunsation is better than none at all.

He was a brave soldier or so he told me!

I'm quite a bit younger than my OH so not due for a jab for a while - maybe we will have more information in the coming months.