Oxford vaccine - blood clots

[emilyjane29]

Hi all,

So I'm due to get my vaccine on Friday, due to vulnerability caused by some health issues.

Have been reading about the issues surrounding the Oxford vaccine, and at first I wasn't overly worried but now more and more countries are pausing it, I'm feeling quite anxious.

My health issues include being diagnosed with venous sinus thrombosis a couple of years ago, and as far as I can tell this is what they are saying is the risk here with the Oxford vaccine. I'm fine now and not on any blood thinners.

I get that it hasn't been pulled by the UK gov, but should I check with my GP just incase, if this would be a safe option for me? Or should I just go ahead, given I have been invited to get it anyway and if it wasn't safe surely I wouldn't have been put forward for it?

Again you are trying to stamp out anybody unwilling to follow the UK. It is arrogant to suggest that so many EU countries are writing g because a few people with science degrees on this thread think they know more!!!

I am the MN poster who rather infamously at the time, 7 years ago, had a 'live' pulmonary embolism develop whilst posting and was sent to A&E by lovely Mumsnetters.

A life saved.

I'm also a scientist who understands that (apparent) correlation is not causality.

I've had my first dose of AZ, and will have the second next month; and I'm glad of it.

It's clearly everyone's personal choice, but $$$$ are at play here, and I would urge people to read the latest science and political finance on this. The game's afoot with 'big pharma' maybe. AZ is cheap and without profit for the makers; the other vaccines are not, as I understand it.

LineRunner Please don’t buy into this conspiracy theory. The cost of the vaccine is not as high as the cost of shutting down the economies of so many countries, especially so many who depend on tourism. The EU want to vaccinate its population.

The cost of shutting down our economies has been and is catastrophic. It's not an either/or situation.

Other catastrophes also exist in our midst in the UK. And these will have ramifications beyond these shores.

The cost of the vaccine is not as high as the cost of shutting down the economies of so many countries, especially so many who depend on tourism

Interesting you say this when in a previous post you suggested it would be fine for lockdown to last a few more months pending investigation

Again you are trying to stamp out anybody unwilling to follow the UK. It is arrogant to suggest that so many EU countries are writing g because a few people with science degrees on this thread think they know more

I have at no point suggested I am following the UK stance on this, nor am I attempting to stamp anything out. I have done my own research based on the available evidence and my knowledge of how to interpret these as a medic and scientist.

Isn’t it arrogant of these European countries to suggest they know more than the EMA or the WHO?

Personally I’d reconsider it. There are a number of posters on MN who are trying to stamp out anything negative being said about AZ. I am starting to wonder what is going on here.....

I think you meant to say: there are a number of posters on Mumsnet who disagree with me, so I’ll try to undermine them by referring to some mysterious conspiracy theory which only I am clever enough to have noticed.

Well, I've had the AZ vaccine, and I'll carry on carrying on I guess.

Not long ago we were told by politicians and experts in various other countries:

12 week gap between doses was wrong

AZ was no good for over 65 year olds

Well Whitty and all his mates in SAGE, Oxford and AZ, plus all are other experts were right . So I reckon we should listen to them this time.

Also the WHO and even the EMA agree that no connection has been found so far. The incidents are actually way below normal levels. As one poster on another thread said " At this rate they could use it as a blood thinner"

Yep. Racing heart, high blood pressure, nausea among my symptoms after AZ. But I dont regret the jab, had to call doctor out cos of thrombosis history. But upping Aspirin from 75 to 300 sorted out any blood clots I was having. When I get 2nd dose will still be on 300 so covered for clots anyway

@Bluenightowl

Personally I’d reconsider it. There are a number of posters on MN who are trying to stamp out anything negative being said about AZ. I am starting to wonder what is going on here.....

Weirdly, could also ask “what is going on here?” with all of your posts on multiple threads!

@Bluenightowl

I have no intention of retracting anything and I find it incredulous that posters are attempting to stamp out any negative posts about AZ. It is this sort of blinkered following at all costs that makes for eerie reading. Why have the EMA instigated the investigation?

It’s been pointed out that roughly the same number of clots have occurred in those vaccinated with Phizer. Yet you don’t seem to have acknowledged that at all on other threads.

@Bluenightowl

People can read what the EU are doing and make up their own minds. It’s called balance!

I’d take an educated guess that you’re not very balanced in your thinking, you are ignoring the links people have provided which show the way you word some of your posts are incorrect.

for those people who are advised to take asprin daily to lesson stroke risk etc, would they be more protected against clots?

I had the AZ yesterday. The nurse administering asked if I was in warfarin, I’m not, but if I was maybe there would be extra information provided.

What’s interesting is that the Doctor in the room said there is not Pfizer in the UK at all at the moment, so if you want the jab it’s AZ or nothing.

I was listening to a programme yesterday (can't remember which one it was) but they were saying the amount of people having blood clots have been lowing in the last year because we aren't flying anywhere. But no one is calling for all flights to be stopped as that is one of the main causes of blood clots.

I have no idea why the EU are so desperate to not to use the Oxford vaccine. And while in France they are not vaccinating their population they are having to move Covid patients out of major towns because they are being over run.

I think it is pretty clear that the vaccine itself is not the cause of this, as is clearly shown by the UK's data. We would have expected 500 such events here at this rate.

But it could very well be an issue with specific batches/EU's manufacturers' quality control. The cases in Norway are very suspicious, with young and healthy people experiencing the same rare symptoms at the same time. It might be something else (environment, vaccine wrongly injected etc) but we definitely need to investigate this further to find the cause.

The EMA, WHO, MHRA and other have all said the vaccine is safe. They will of course investigate whether there is any link but that is just par for the course to make sure / double check to say they have done it.

The EU doing this is purely political and likely has an anti British element stemming from brexit. The EU have screwed up their own program and are now somehow the all seeing eye on vaccine safety. It’s laughable. AZ is safe and carries no other risks than other vaccines. Macron hates the British and others have taken his lead. First it was being said not to work on over 65’s now it causes clots. It’s pathetic and politically motivated!

Op DH & I had the OA vaccine yesterday.
We were lucky enough to be phoned and offered a cancellation at our GP centre, and had the jab from one of our GPs.
He asked if we had any severe anaphalyactic allergies, ie epi pen and rushed to A&E type events (rather than my allergy to strawberries 😁), and if we were on any blood thinning meds.
Also checked that we hadn’t had any other injections/vaccines in the last 7 days.

So it’s only been 12 hours but at the moment I feel absolutely fine. And relieved to have had the first jab. And happy that we were called and able to have the vaccine as otherwise they would’ve been wasted.

Regardless of it being related or not, it’s still frightening news. I suspect the general public don’t have access to all the information surrounding it which will be discussed in this meetings.

I had Pfizer but my family had AZ. I hate them having to see this in the news.

OP what was the trigger for your thrombosis? I would think this is very relevant.

As an aside I have had several clots over the years, first triggered by the contraceptive pill (nearly killed me) that left me susceptible to others and I take anti-coagulants daily. No one spoke to me about that when I was prescribed them.

I’m astounded how quick people are jumping on the AZ one being a risk factor given the data involved. Everyone seems an armchair GP or PhD on the vaccine these days yet drugs they perceive ‘safe’ aren’t given a second thought. There are risks with any drugs you take but my belief is we are mixing correlation with causation. You could easily argue with lots WFH and being less active the rates of DVT have naturally increased.

Also - everyone is asked if they are in blood thinning meds irrespective of what vaccine you take. It’s to do with the injection site and bleeding afterwards.

@Bluenightowl

OP I wouldn’t have had AZ if the info had come to light previously. Thankfully our country has pressed pause for now. I am hoping it is precautionary because I am now very scared about what is in my body. I wish I hadn’t had it. We have been in lockdown for most of one year. Another few months would have been fine.

I definitely will not be taking a second jab of AZ.

I don’t care what the UK is saying/doing. I place my trust in all the European countries instead of just the UK.

The AZ vaccine is not still "in your body".

It transiently caused the production of some protein molecules which your immune system reacted too.

This idea - that vaccines stay in the body - is a hallmark of conspiratorial thinking.

@doireallyneedaname

Regardless of it being related or not, it’s still frightening news. I suspect the general public don’t have access to all the information surrounding it which will be discussed in this meetings.

I had Pfizer but my family had AZ. I hate them having to see this in the news.

There are a lot kept frights coming your way then..

The EU doing this is purely political and likely has an anti British element stemming from brexit. The EU have screwed up their own program and are now somehow the all seeing eye on vaccine safety. It’s laughable. AZ is safe and carries no other risks than other vaccines. Macron hates the British and others have taken his lead. First it was being said not to work on over 65’s now it causes clots. It’s pathetic and politically motivated!

What a load of anti european nonsense.

Why would the EU, being way behind the UK on vaccination & and entering further and prolonged lockdowns, then make matters worse by blocking the AZ vaccine unless they genuinely thought something was worth investigating?

Lets see what the EMA say later today? before coming to any conclusions.

The EU doing this is purely political and likely has an anti British element stemming from brexit.

As you rightly say the EU's own medical organ, the EMA, has advised continuing with the AZ vaccine...

What you haven't mentioned is it's various countries some of whom are EU members who have made a decision at national level to temporarily halt their national use of the AZ product (I think that decision sucks but I''m no expert).

When I read some posts that shoehorn "the EU" and Brexit into this topic I'm reminded of the saying about when the only tool in the tool box is a hammer....