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?

@doireallyneedaname

EMA have said they can’t rule the vaccine out and so will be adding a warning to the patient leaflet apparently.

Like with the contraceptive pill then. Good news because that is far more frequent.

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum Sort of. I know the pill can cause thrombosis but the cases they discussed today weren’t the same, they were rare syndromes that rarely occur.

I just hoped they’d be able to rule the vaccine itself out.

[quote doireallyneedaname]@MRex Did you actually watch the briefing?[/quote]
Why do you think I gave you the link?
A) To watch it
B) To continue failing to hear their message that the benefits outweigh the risks?

Do you think we'd have had a year of lockdown for 6 deaths and 25 hospitalisations?

[quote doireallyneedaname]@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum Sort of. I know the pill can cause thrombosis but the cases they discussed today weren’t the same, they were rare syndromes that rarely occur.

I just hoped they’d be able to rule the vaccine itself out.[/quote]
Was it CVST they mentioned? If so, it's not as rare as they're making out.

This is what I had, and I actually know two other people who have also had it in the past few years. Plus there seems to be a few on this thread too!

Various reasons for all of those I know, including the pill, surgery, genetics, or just "one of those things" as a friend of mine was told.

So I'm satisfied after watching that, to believe that this vaccine is safe.

@MRex I didn’t even see that you’d given me the link - I ended up finding it on Twitter.

Yes the benefits outweigh the risks but that doesn’t mean it’s “safe”, does it?

Everyone thinks it’s just a blood clot, who cares, the pill increases the chances of that too. In reality some of these people developed serious health issues that are extremely hard to treat and in most cases, fatal. A simple blood clot in your leg can be treated fairly successfully.

I wanted certainty, I understand I can’t have that right now but surely you can see why this is frightening?

@emilyjane29 Yep, there were a couple of them but that was one.

No @doireallyneedaname, in life you really can't get "frightened" by 1 in 2 million chance events, that's going to drive you crazy.

@MRex You’re not wrong there, but it does worry me and many others.

Where do you draw the line? It's only a little over the specific risk of being run over by a.bus in the UK (1 in 2.7 million per year), that's not taking into account all other types of road traffic accident. You've faced that risk most days of your life going out and about.

@MRex I think it’s crucial that you understand where others may be coming from with this and why they feel the way they do. I remember you from the old thread I made about AZ efficacy and people being given a choice, which is why I want to say this.

To you it may be simple, but for those who are more anxious generally or suffer anxiety disorders, the uncertainty is unbearable.

In lots of psych literature you’ll read about “intolerance of uncertainty” with comparisons to allergies. Uncertainty can make some people feel extremely unwell psychologically even if the risk is small. Many will develop extreme physical symptoms in response to uncertainty.

I appreciate nothing is 100% certain but Coronavirus is a disaster for people like me, because even though statistically I’d survive it, I’m still anxious about dying from it - and then comes the confirmation that it’s actually Russian roulette and nobody knows how it’s going to affect them, the young are dying too etc. It’s impossible to rationalise this.

Same with this news. It may be the case right now that they don’t have enough evidence to say either way but that is extremely uncertain and therefore extremely distressing for people who are already anxious.

I would have preferred them to have enough evidence to rule out the vaccine completely, and I don’t know how they can say it’s safe without being able to do that.