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Original poster

To think you wouldn’t get vaccinated if you knew your risk from covid was low

270 replies

Coveed · 27/02/2021 21:36

Just imagine for a moment there was a calculator that could predict your risk of getting seriously ill or dying from covid. If it turned out you were low risk would you still follow all the advice such as socially distancing and getting vaccinated?

YABU - yes I would still follow the rules and advice even if I were low risk
YANBU - no I wouldn’t endure the hardship of not seeing friends/family and I wouldn’t bother with getting vaccinated as my risk of becoming unwell would be low.

OP posts:
MajesticWhine · 27/02/2021 22:52

Be honest @bigtom have you actually researched if there are long term effects of the flu vaccine? If not why not? Why are you more worried about a covid vaccine?

EileenGC · 27/02/2021 22:53

@Bigtom

Genuine question: how are people so confident the vaccine is safe? There is no way of knowing whether there will be long term effects of having it. Isn’t anyone at all worried about that? I’m usually the first in line for vaccines (I have the flu vaccine every year etc), but I can’t help but be a bit worried about having the Covid vaccine.
I was 12 when the HPV vaccine first came about. My mum decided I wouldn’t be having it because it was too new. I had it about 6 years later, the vaccine is perfectly safe. I particularly don’t know of any new vaccines (last 30 years let’s say) that have actually been proved harmful in the long term.

I’d rather take the unknown long term effects than keep living this shitty half-life. I want out of this, I want to go back to normal. I’ll do anything - even take a vaccine I don’t know much about. I know enough to feel comfortable having it and protecting the vulnerable around me.

I know this is not a super explanation and it could sound like I’m not very bright but to be honest, I’m past caring. I just want to go back to normal.

lurker101 · 27/02/2021 22:53

@Bigtom I believe it is safe because I trust the scientists that developed it to do their job and develop a safe vaccine, and those approving it at the MHRA to assess the data in a way that I cannot and they concluded it was safe and effective. In life nothing is certain, if I buy a car I expect it to be safe because the manufacturers assert it is safe and it is NCAP rated for safety, this is similar in my view. I do my job and leave them to do theirs.

Bigtom · 27/02/2021 22:53

I thought the Covid vaccine was different to other vaccines in the way it works? “Doesn’t tend to have long term effects” isn’t that reassuring to me ...

SleepingBeaut · 27/02/2021 22:54

Have the vaccines been proven to reduce transmission

Ethelfromnumber73 · 27/02/2021 22:55

[quote lurker101]@Bigtom I believe it is safe because I trust the scientists that developed it to do their job and develop a safe vaccine, and those approving it at the MHRA to assess the data in a way that I cannot and they concluded it was safe and effective. In life nothing is certain, if I buy a car I expect it to be safe because the manufacturers assert it is safe and it is NCAP rated for safety, this is similar in my view. I do my job and leave them to do theirs.[/quote]
Absolutely brilliant post

MustardMitt · 27/02/2021 22:55

I don't really understand why you're asking.

Children get all manner of vaccinations in their first few years of life, there's low risk for most of those illnesses. They still get them to 'protected the herd'.

I already know I'm low risk and I will get the vaccine as and when it becomes available to me, for the same reason.

Thimbleberries · 27/02/2021 22:56

Because vaccines affect physiological processes in the short term, so any effects will be apparent very soon afterwards. There's no biological mechanism for them to start to cause effects later on. And as they have now been given to millions of people, we would likely have seen any rare effects occurring by now (like the rare allergic effects, for example).

minniemoocher · 27/02/2021 22:57

I know I'm very low risk because I've already had covid and was almost asymptomatic (lost taste and smell). I'll be vaccinated to protect others and to ensure I can go on holiday

Bigtom · 27/02/2021 22:57

The way I think of it is that I know my risk from Covid is very small. But I don’t know what my risk is from the vaccine. To me, the unknowns are more scary.

sunnydaleslayer · 27/02/2021 22:58

Most people ARE low risk from Covid. I am (mid thirties, BMI higher than it should be but not high risk, no underlying conditions)

I had it last month and it was unpleasant but no worse than a bad cold or tonsillitis (I get that a lot and I'd say it was worse than covid for me).

I'm still getting the vaccine because
a. It helps to protect others
b. I want all these bloody lockdowns to end and c. If I need a vaccine passport to go on holiday then jab me up.

Sunshinegirl82 · 27/02/2021 22:58

Vaccines do not have "delayed" side effects. That is not to say that side effects are not possible but they happen quickly after the vaccine is given. There has never been a situation where a vaccine is given, nothing happens for years and then side effects suddenly start occurring as a result.

Vaccines are biological in nature and are broken down by the body, they don't hang around or build up in the way that drugs (which are generally chemical in nature) can.

The vaccine has been tested in the same way as every other vaccine and is as safe as every other vaccine.

PoochiePlush · 27/02/2021 22:58

@Thimbleberries

Because vaccines affect physiological processes in the short term, so any effects will be apparent very soon afterwards. There's no biological mechanism for them to start to cause effects later on. And as they have now been given to millions of people, we would likely have seen any rare effects occurring by now (like the rare allergic effects, for example).
^this
JM10 · 27/02/2021 22:58

I would have it still

1useonly · 27/02/2021 22:59

@Whyisitsodifficult

I’m struggling with this as I really don’t want the vaccine. And I know I’ll get flamed as it’s to protect others etc. However I’m concerned about the risk to me, am I not allowed to be worried about that anymore? It seems that anyone who expresses this opinion is deemed selfish or an anti vaxxer! I get in my car everyday and I don’t worry about potentially hurting anyone which is probably a high chance considering the road fatality statistics! Is it selfish that I drive? What’s the difference?
This is how i feel as well. Also my understanding is it does not stop you getting covid but it means the symptoms are not so bad? So you can still get it and pass it on? Unless I have misunderstood that.
PoochiePlush · 27/02/2021 23:00

@Sunshinegirl82

Vaccines do not have "delayed" side effects. That is not to say that side effects are not possible but they happen quickly after the vaccine is given. There has never been a situation where a vaccine is given, nothing happens for years and then side effects suddenly start occurring as a result.

Vaccines are biological in nature and are broken down by the body, they don't hang around or build up in the way that drugs (which are generally chemical in nature) can.

The vaccine has been tested in the same way as every other vaccine and is as safe as every other vaccine.

Exactly. People that are worried about vaccine side effects unfortunately just don't really understand about vaccines.
Sunshinegirl82 · 27/02/2021 23:01

It is now looking almost certain that the vaccines significantly reduce transmission of Coronavirus.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKBN2AQ1A7

MintyMabel · 27/02/2021 23:03

My risk doesn’t matter.

The risk to others is more important.

I’m betting the same people whining about vaccination will be the first to whine when we go back in to lockdown next winter.

My risks from pretty much everything I’ve been vaccinated against is very low, I’m still glad I had them.

People just need to grow up and get the vaccine.

Bigtom · 27/02/2021 23:04

I read that some people developed long term side effects from the swine flu jab. Is that incorrect? I’m not trying to be argumentative, just trying to figure this one out!

PoochiePlush · 27/02/2021 23:04

@SleepingBeaut

Have the vaccines been proven to reduce transmission
Well nothing is ever "proven". If you read scientific journals, it is always about weighing up probability.

There is very good evidence that the vaccines reduce transmission, yes.

Thimbleberries · 27/02/2021 23:05

Because even if you are low risk for Covid, you still have a small chance of getting very ill from it, or having long-term effects. the vaccine is lower risk than that - there have been very very few allergic effects apparently immediately after.

Otherwise the vaccine is destroyed by the body and won't start to cause effects later on.

What kind of evidence are you looking for, and what sort of duration would you feel comfortable waiting for? Realistically, it's the number of people being given vaccines that is the reassuring bit, not the time duration. Yes, most vaccines might be tested for 10 years, but that's not because they're looking for side effects that are apparent after 10 years, but because it takes that long to get through the testing of the same number of people. And it's the greater number of people that are needed to show up any rare effects. If something is going to happen to 1 in a million people, then the sooner you vaccinate a million people, the sooner you will find that rare event. If it takes 10 years to get to that point, it doesn't make it safer than if it takes a few months. And the vaccine has been given to millions and millions across the world by now, so rare adverse effects must be really really rare. They could happen, yes, but they will be really rare, and they will become apparent soon after the vaccine is given. If you are the unlucky person who gets the one in ten million or whatever adverse reaction, that would happen to you now or in several years - it would still be just as unpredictable.

sonnysunshine · 27/02/2021 23:07

Having read the articles around transmission of course I would. I've had covid and though I'll wasn't on death's door. I've had the jab to protect those around me.

Thimbleberries · 27/02/2021 23:08

People also mix up long-lasting effects, and effects that occur at a much later date.

An adverse reaction to a vaccine would be apparent quite early on. The effects of that could potentially be long lasting. That's different to a new effect showing up some time after the vaccine was given, which there is no real mechanism for.

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 27/02/2021 23:09

I'd say my risks are pretty low. I was still offered the vaccine because I get carers allowance although d's isn't vulnerable either.

I took it because it's not about my risk

Sunshinegirl82 · 27/02/2021 23:10

@Bigtom

It's important to recognise the difference between "long term" as in long lasting and "long term" as in delayed.

There were some (disputed) suggestions that narcolepsy very rarely resulted from the swine flu vaccine. Even in that case though the effect was noted very soon (as in within a few months) of the vaccine being given. Narcolepsy is a long lasting condition and so could be described as a "long term" side effect but that's because it is a life long condition as opposed to it lay dormant for years following the vaccine before becoming apparent.

I am not aware of there ever having been a vaccine that caused delayed side effects.

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