Ireland halting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine

[Kaylasmum49]

This just came up on my phone. I had the AZ vaccine 10 days ago. I'm concerned about the news of blood clotting issues.

There might be a relevant mechanism, one interesting fact is that taking aspirin lowers your risk of getting Covid-19 in the first place:

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210310150429.htm

I'm in Ireland, high risk and was really hoping to get the vaccine in the next few weeks.
Gutted at the news this morning as AZ seems to be all we have.
I don't think this will be a political decision, partly as so far it's only reported the public health authority have recommended it. Not that the government have decided to go with the decision.
Also, our vaccine rollout has been beset with delays and changes, we have been in lockdown since December with very little indications of that changing soon and protests have started.
The protests are small so far, but road traffic monitoring/group clusters have shown that people are gradually breaking the rules on the quiet.
The government will not want to have to give more bad news.

I'd be interested to know if the people who had clot episodes had an underlying clotting disorder, as they're quite common but largely untested for unless a clotting event has occurred before, or someone in the family has had more than one clot. The commonest clotting disorders are found in 5% of the UK population, for e.g. - 1 in 20 people.

I've just checked - luckily my family both had the Pfizer vaccine (we all have a blood clotting disorder) - and apparently my sister was asked whether or not there was any known blood disorder before being vaccinated. But that was a couple of weeks ago.

@MrsFezziwig

had the AZ vaccine and my normally low bp was too high for a few days afterwards, logically that's because I was...ill with a virus...

I think I will refuse the second one.

Yes, that’s going to get us out of this, a lot of half vaccinated people running round the country.

If you think a country of fully vaccinated people will get us out of this, you're dreaming.

Let me guess - you thought original lockdown was for a few months?

I don't think there's been any evidence given so far which is worrying. Some EU countries were discrediting the vaccine and putting restrictions on it before any of this came to light so to me that undermines their credibility on this. I wouldn't be surprised to see similar health issues with the other vaccines but so many people and organisations aren't against them. Also doesn't help that the vaccine isn't for profit.

my normally low bp was too high for a few days afterwards

I hope this passes for you.

This is a complete [merail] because it passes across into an area of interest.

May I ask what your normally low BP is because there are contemporary questions about whether the current levels are set to 'default male' mode and too high for women's actual levels - and so the risk management of hypertension as part of CVD is less successful for women.

Are you being allowed to self-monitor your BP? Too many people don't have the recommended quiet time before measuring the BP (fair enough - it would add a lot of time onto an appointment) nor do they have the recommended repeat measurements at different times of day.

www.bloodpressureuk.org/your-blood-pressure/how-to-lower-your-blood-pressure/monitoring-your-blood-pressure-at-home/how-to-measure-your-blood-pressure-at-home/
[/merail]

@AcornAutumn

If you think a country of fully vaccinated people will get us out of this, you're dreaming.

Err that's EXACTLY what will get us out of this, and realistically, the ONLY thing that will get us out of this.

There'll remain risks of course - a new mutation arising abroad for example, but it will be far easier to contain something like that in a vaccinated population, than it is now.

They do ask at the appointment if you are on any blood thining medication. I expect it's because they need to have an inr blood test shortly afterwards like they do when having a flu jab or antibiotics.

@BIWI

I'm very glad that you went for the vaccine *@Kaylasmum49*. But the posts you have made before, and now this one, push you perilously close to anti-vaxx territory.

Perhaps think, and do some research, before you post stuff like this again?

We need to be encouraging people to have the vaccine, not putting them off.

It’s not individual people it’s governments blocking them, it’s ok to discuss the merits (or not) of these actions

@MRex

I've looked up the MHRA yellow cards reporting. It's available to everyone here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting.

About 100 cases linked to stroke or embolism from each of Pfizer BioNTec and Oxford Astrazeneca if you tot up across all categories, a few more reported for Pfizer than for Oxford.
Call it 230 from 23 million doses. That's 1 per 100,000. You'd normally expect 1 in 10,000 per year, so in 3 months of vaccination that's 1 in 30,000.
It's actually lower risk for vaccinated people than unvaccinated. Good news!

And yet it’s never Pfizer which is reported in the media, but AZ. Every time

But very good news, thank you

@BIWI

I'm very glad that you went for the vaccine *@Kaylasmum49*. But the posts you have made before, and now this one, push you perilously close to anti-vaxx territory.

Perhaps think, and do some research, before you post stuff like this again?

We need to be encouraging people to have the vaccine, not putting them off.

The thread is about the decision another country has made to suspend use of a vaccine. How is that ‘anti-vaxx’?

@MimiDaisy11

I don't think there's been any evidence given so far which is worrying. Some EU countries were discrediting the vaccine and putting restrictions on it before any of this came to light so to me that undermines their credibility on this. I wouldn't be surprised to see similar health issues with the other vaccines but so many people and organisations aren't against them. Also doesn't help that the vaccine isn't for profit.

Only a handful have stopped the program. Several more have stopped using a particular batch of the vaccine.

The health authorities that are responsible have NOTHING to do with the EU - indeed the EMA is continuing to state that the vaccine is safe.

But these authorities contain normal people who don't want to be accused of taking unnecessary risks. The fact others have stopped puts pressure on them to do the same. It was the same during the trials, the Oxford vaccine was stopped everywhere because of two issues in the USA. After a few weeks, the CDC declared the events were unconnected and the trials continued.

I had my AZ yesterday.

I was asked if l took Warfarin or any other med line that.

@EmbarrassingAdmissions

my normally low bp was too high for a few days afterwards

I hope this passes for you.

This is a complete [merail] because it passes across into an area of interest.

May I ask what your normally low BP is because there are contemporary questions about whether the current levels are set to 'default male' mode and too high for women's actual levels - and so the risk management of hypertension as part of CVD is less successful for women.

Are you being allowed to self-monitor your BP? Too many people don't have the recommended quiet time before measuring the BP (fair enough - it would add a lot of time onto an appointment) nor do they have the recommended repeat measurements at different times of day.

www.bloodpressureuk.org/your-blood-pressure/how-to-lower-your-blood-pressure/monitoring-your-blood-pressure-at-home/how-to-measure-your-blood-pressure-at-home/
[/merail]

I can answer some of your questions about BP. In hospital, I often have low BP, sometimes very low. They seem happy when it gets to about 70/50 or so and give you fluids. However, despite being in hospital, drinking and eating fluids, my bp will drop low again, even when being in hospital for several days. Then they won't let me out of the bed but tell me to drink more water (I'll have drank all the water they gave plus a 2ltr bottle during the day). Nurses seem to have a thing they do where if it goes under 90 twice in 15 minutes, they have to call a doctor.

I have not had the vaccine yet though.

[quote notrub]@AcornAutumn

If you think a country of fully vaccinated people will get us out of this, you're dreaming.

Err that's EXACTLY what will get us out of this, and realistically, the ONLY thing that will get us out of this.

There'll remain risks of course - a new mutation arising abroad for example, but it will be far easier to contain something like that in a vaccinated population, than it is now.[/quote]
A country full of immune people will get us out of this - whether it’s immunity from the vaccine or from infection. We can hurry things along by vaccinating the groups most likely to end up in hospital because the lockdown was to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed, not to prevent anyone from ever getting the virus.

I’ve had it and am not worried, I think there is no more to it than the EU have politicised the whole thing after the vaccines row. I’m extremely cynical that all the negative things about the vaccine are seemingly about this one and nothing about the Pfizer.

2 experts on TV the other day said 11 million UK people have had AZ with no corresponding increase in blood clotting disorders

Covid 19 has a significant risk of causing blood clots and even if there was a small increase in risk with the vaccine ( which so far there doesn't seem to be) it will be less risky than getting covid 19, particularly since I think it would be the same people at risk.

@Kaylasmum49

minchinfin I am actually overweight due to a condition called lipoedema and due to severe depression and anxiety over the last few years my activity levels have been very low. I don't smoke. My mum died from a stroke aged 45. I am very concerned about this news.

Kaylasmum, I have lipedema and am morbidly obese. I had the AZ vaccine two weeks ago and I had no side effects at all apart from a sore arm. I will definitely still have my second jab in May too. In my opinion the risk to me if I get covid is far higher than a miniscule risk of a bloodclot. If you are really worried speak to your G.P, they may give you a check up to reasure you.

Very few blood clots recently will have been reported on the yellow card system as it's a new thing to have been publicised and most people (including doctors in A&E) will not immediately make the connection.

To add to pick up on some of the posts, I’m obese. If I get a clot it’s much more likely it’s been that that’s caused it and not the vaccine.

@MimiDaisy11

I don't think there's been any evidence given so far which is worrying. Some EU countries were discrediting the vaccine and putting restrictions on it before any of this came to light so to me that undermines their credibility on this. I wouldn't be surprised to see similar health issues with the other vaccines but so many people and organisations aren't against them. Also doesn't help that the vaccine isn't for profit.

My thoughts too

A country full of immune people will get us out of this - whether it’s immunity from the vaccine or from infection. We can hurry things along by vaccinating the groups most likely to end up in hospital because the lockdown was to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed, not to prevent anyone from ever getting the virus.

Yes, if we closed all borders. We haven't. So every other strain of it is coming in and out of the UK every day.

To put the numbers into context