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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:
RedcurrantPuff · 27/02/2021 23:10

@Bigtom

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 ...
Well I’m not a scientist but I was watching someone who was on the news and he said vaccines don’t hang around in the body, any after effects are likely to be short term ie within the first 4 weeks.

Plus where would we be if everyone just sat around for years waiting for “long term effects”? We don’t have time!

RedcurrantPuff · 27/02/2021 23:12

I’ve had the vaccine not only to protect me as I am higher risk but also I have done nothing but moan about lockdown and restrictions for the past year, it’d be a bit rich if I refused to partake in the only thing that is likely to help bring those to an end!

Bigtom · 27/02/2021 23:15

Thanks for all your comments and apologies if I’ve derailed the thread. Lots of food for thought and I am feeling a bit more confident about having it. I have had bad experiences in the past with side effects from anti-depressants which the medical profession seemed to be in denial about. So I have my reasons for being wary!

Dustyboots · 27/02/2021 23:16

Please don't shout at me -

I'd like to ask this to those knowledgeable in science:

How do we know that vaccines don't have long term effects on our health? It would be impossible to prove wouldn't it? I can see that immediate reactions are clearer to measure and identify - but is there a definite study and proof that vaccines do not affect our health in longer term ways?

AnnaSW1 · 27/02/2021 23:18

YABU

RedcurrantPuff · 27/02/2021 23:18

@Dustyboots

Please don't shout at me -

I'd like to ask this to those knowledgeable in science:

How do we know that vaccines don't have long term effects on our health? It would be impossible to prove wouldn't it? I can see that immediate reactions are clearer to measure and identify - but is there a definite study and proof that vaccines do not affect our health in longer term ways?

Do any of the other loads of vaccines we get from baby hood have long term effects? Well, long term adverse effects I take it you mean. They have the good effect of stopping nasty diseases taking hold in society.
PhylisNightsIsAwesome · 27/02/2021 23:19

Why so many conspiracy theories about this vaccine?

Bigtom · 27/02/2021 23:21

I’m not sure concern about the long term effects of a new vaccine is a conspiracy theory is it?

Dustyboots · 27/02/2021 23:22

By long term I mean something like cancer - occurring several years later. Something that was triggered by the vaccine - but took years to show up.

DumplingsAndStew · 27/02/2021 23:22

If only there were a way of calculating how often a first time poster with an anti-covid or anti-vax agenda starts a thread on MN. I reckon it's probably about 1 in 3

Thimbleberries · 27/02/2021 23:26

@Bigtom

I’m not sure concern about the long term effects of a new vaccine is a conspiracy theory is it?
But how would they do that - what sort of process could cause effects like that, that would be triggered by an immune system producing antibodies to a vaccine, that wouldn't happen with it producing antibodies to a virus?
Bigtom · 27/02/2021 23:27

@DumplingsAndStew full disclosure, I’m definitely anti-Covid Grin - isn’t everyone? Not anti-vax though.

Dustyboots · 27/02/2021 23:27

@DumplingsAndStew - you are being unhelpful.

This thread is not anti -covid or anti - vax. It is opening a discussion. A discussion which is actually really helpful for those on the fence like myself and Bigtom.

If we can get straightforward helpful answers that are reassuring we will most likely go ahead with this vaccination. If we are laughed at and sneered at and called conspiracy theorists my guess is that we'll remain scared and avoid the vaccine.

So it would be good if people could be allowed to discuss this please and refrain from throwing accusations around.

CyberGhost · 27/02/2021 23:28

There is literally a way to calculate it already. We don't need to imagine.

RedcurrantPuff · 27/02/2021 23:28

@Dustyboots

By long term I mean something like cancer - occurring several years later. Something that was triggered by the vaccine - but took years to show up.
But has this happened with the myriad of other vaccines we have?

If not, why would it happen with the Covid vaccines?

Sunshinegirl82 · 27/02/2021 23:28

Vaccines do effect our health long term in a positive way.

It's almost impossible to conclusively prove a negative but when looked at as a whole the scientific evidence strongly advocates for vaccination. It is a balance of risk, the risk of the vaccine versus the risk of the disease. The risk ratio overwhelmingly favours vaccines.

In countries that do not routinely vaccinate against measles for example and where healthcare is less accessible and sophisticated approximately 10% of people who contract measles die. Hundreds of thousands of people (mostly children under 5) die from measles worldwide every year. Clearly vaccination will always be a lower risk than that.

It's not completely risk free but life isn't risk free.

Bigtom · 27/02/2021 23:29

@Thimbleberries I don’t know. The vaccine is not the same as the virus though, is it?

RedcurrantPuff · 27/02/2021 23:30

[quote Bigtom]@Thimbleberries I don’t know. The vaccine is not the same as the virus though, is it?[/quote]
Well no. It’s better in that you get the immunity of having the illness without having to have the illness.

Bigtom · 27/02/2021 23:31

@Sunshinegirl82 Covid has nowhere near a 10% death rate though, does it?

Bigtom · 27/02/2021 23:32

@RedcurrantPuff I get that, but I mean in terms of what is in the vaccine. It’s not a weakened version of the virus is it?

Sunshinegirl82 · 27/02/2021 23:32

@Bigtom

It is a part of the virus (the spike protein) and in the case of AZ a harmless adenovirus. So it's pretty much the same as being infected by coronavirus but only a bit of it so it can't make you unwell.

ExcusesAndAccusations · 27/02/2021 23:33

Yes of course people have moderated their behaviour depending on their personal risk and the risk of people they come into contact with. That’s completely obvious.

I’m a healthy middle aged woman. I’ve been cautious but not paranoid. I’ve pretty much stuck to the legal restrictions throughout, sometimes I’ve been a bit more cautious, sometimes a bit less.

If I were 75 years old like my mum I’d have stuck to on-line shopping and not dashed out to the corner shop when I fancied a bar of chocolate, I maybe wouldn’t have chatted for so long with mates at the park. I certainly wouldn’t have got the tube into town for pre-Christmas shopping. If I knew that I was going to be seeing my mother in the next fortnight then I temporarily adopted the enhanced levels of caution that I would if I were her.

If I were a healthy eighteen year old student, in halls of residence with other healthy eighteen year old students, and having all my lectures online, then you know what? My social distancing might have been less than perfect.

The nice thing about the vaccine rollout is that because they’re doing it in order of Covid risk, the evidence of safety improves and hence the risk of taking the vaccine reduces in parallel with the reduction in benefit of the vaccine. So by the time they get to the people for whom the personal medical benefit of the vaccine is lowest, there will have been hundreds of millions of people vaccinated against whom you can calculate its risk.

Spottybluepyjamas · 27/02/2021 23:33

Of course. I'm young and low risk, but it's to protect those who aren't. Plus there are always the exceptions who look like they shouldn't have extreme effects from Covid, but do

imamearcat · 27/02/2021 23:33

It's really pissing me off that people are on about safety of the vaccine. Seriously have you heard one single intelligent person say there is any kind of danger?? Massively high levels of selfishness and / or lack of IQ in anyone who won't have it.

Dustyboots · 27/02/2021 23:35

It's not completely risk free but life isn't risk free.

I see that Sunshinegirl - I suppose in life we tend to balance out the risks.

I was terrified of driving and thought every time I got in the car we'd have a crash. But once I got over that fear the balance changed and now I can drive.

At the moment my fear of cancer and other illnesses (formed by losing several family members to them) outweighs my confidence to put unknown medicines into my body. My experiences have made me fearful and lacking in trust of mainstream medicine.

That's why I'm nervous about this vaccine.

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