One dose of AZ?

[Bluenightowl]

For my own reasons I do not want to get a second dose of AZ (there is plenty of debate on other threads about AZ and I don't want this to turn into another anti EU/pro AZ thread ).

I read previously one dose of AZ will give 12 weeks protection against covid?

Can I then get a second dose of another vaccine e.g Pfizer or start again with a different one shot vaccine?

Or as AZ gives 76% protection for up to 90 days, and a second dose will increase protection up to 84% for an unknown time period - is it necessary to get another vaccine at all?

That’s fair enough @Anonawoman although I think I would be concerned (based on nothing official, just my own opinion) that it may not be particularly easy to access if you wait too long. There is a global demand for resources that have a finite capacity for production.

At the moment countries are prioritising getting their vaccination programmes into gear, all being well, they may not be pushing as hard for supplies once they hit an ideal number covered. Or we’ll encounter a variant which needs an adjusted or new vaccine meaning we go back to the beginning.

I think the OP is stirring emotions because even though it’s absolutely her right not to have a vaccine there are many people who view her position as very fortunate and would happily swap places. I can see how the idea of a wasted vaccine is galling to many at the moment.

I don’t know about the country OP resides in, but certainly here in the UK there is no picking and choosing. Your options would be to complete the course or don’t and the idea scare and much wanted resources could have been wasted (because we have no idea how long any protection she does have will last) won’t be popular.

*a scarce

Agree with PP here. Madness this vaccine was wasted. I had my jab at the weekend, I'm 34, asthmatic and EXCEEDINGLY grateful that the NHS were able to provide this. I am not worried that 5 people from 11 million had a blood clot.. I mean seriously.
But OP is set in their ways. As I said, shame. my brother who is becoming more anxious by the day to NOT get an astrazeneca jab would have ripped their hand off for it (and that's a more realistic circumstance than the blood clot risk)

Getting an anticoagulant would be spectacularly unhelpful as the blood clots are appearing along with thrombocytopenia which is a drop in platelets. I guess that is what makes it so unusual.

I know that thrombocytopenia can happen as a result of immune response to vaccinations. It is known as a rare side effect of both MMR and flu jabs. My child developed severe ITP (platelets at zero) a week after a flu jab a few years ago. They are not yet old enough for any covid vaccination but you bet I will be bloody anxious and weighing up pros and cons beforehand, and probably requesting bloods before and after. It is a tiny risk at a population level but at individual level it is not insignificant when that person is someone you love. Denying the possibility of any issue is just as disingenuous as asserting that the vaccination is so dangerous that no one should have it.

Yes vaccines are marvellous and have saved countless lives. Yes I have been vaccinated as has my mum, sister and husband. Yes I am in no way confident that my child should stick it in their arm when they turn 18 without a second thought; because for them, it's risky. As is covid.

@lightattheendofthetunnel2021

With all due respect, most GPs and doctors in the NHS are no trained when it comes to drug development. To ask advice, you would need to access expertise among drug developers involved with vaccines.

Just heard that some countries have moved to two doses 9-12 weeks apart (previously 4). AZ is a very good vaccine but we need to be open to the fact that most vaccines will have some (rare) side effects if given to enough people.

Btw just to make clear, this was not aimed at OP but to those who were saying that OP should ask doctors in her own countries. I.e. doctors/GPs/health professionals are not trained in drug development (few exceptions). I agree, her question is valid and in order to make sure that we keep the vaccine train going is if we are open to concerns...I am not in the risk zone so will take the AZ 2nd dose. Also note that some countries have moved to 9-12 weeks apart, presumably because maybe having them too close together caused the unusual immune responses that led to the unusual low blood platelet/blood clot combo.

the op is on seceral threads giving her opinion on az -its more like a conpspiracy than her personal choice

@WhiskersPete

People with no underlying health conditions die from brain haemorrhages every year. The number dying this year is no higher than the background population.

This.

I know several people who have died from sudden brain haemorrhages at a relatively young age.

Why do you want the Pfizer when apparently more people have had clots after that than AZ?

OP, which EU country are you in where there is a 12 week gap between AZ doses? Because no other country is doing that, so your whole paranoid anti-vac story seems a little suspicious to me.

Eh, is UK not doing a 12 week gap between doses?

Yes, the U.K. obviously has a 12 week gap. Only the U.K. . OP claims she isn’t in the U.K. and is having a 12 week gap between doses. I think it’s all bollocks.

@AvaCallanach

I know very little about blood clotting (not my field), but my understanding was that the drop in platelets was DUE to lots of clots forming around the body which essentially used them up.

I will be bloody anxious and weighing up pros and cons beforehand, and probably requesting bloods before and after

This won't help - the vaccine certainly isn't causing the clots - if there's a link, it's what the immune system does in response to it's brief exposure to the vaccine. It may not occur until days after the vaccination. NB There's a school of thought that IF there's a link here, those affected would have been at least equally affected by the live virus - if THAT's the case the individuals impacted were doomed either way.

Also note that some countries have moved to 9-12 weeks apart, presumably because maybe having them too close together caused the unusual immune responses that led to the unusual low blood platelet/blood clot combo.
Please don't make up random information and post it as though it has meaning. There have been a few cases of blood clotting, sometimes people get blood clots. A few of those cases may or may not have been caused by the vaccine, but not enough for any provable link to separate those cases from the many millions who have been vaccinated and been absolutely fine. Quite apart from which, the cases identified were first doses.

The reason some health services have moved to longer gaps between doses is because it was proven to have a larger immune effect (Oxford Astrazeneca) or no particular immune impact (Moderna) leading to a judgement of giving as many as possible some protection to try to reduce overall hospitalisations and deaths. MHRA and JCVI provided all the logic publically, so you can just read it.

Yes, the U.K. obviously has a 12 week gap. Only the U.K. . OP claims she isn’t in the U.K. and is having a 12 week gap between doses

Other countries, including Ireland, are now waiting for 12 weeks before giving the second dose.. Why do you write non factual information as 'fact'. It discredits everything you write.

@CavernousScream

OP, which EU country are you in where there is a 12 week gap between AZ doses? Because no other country is doing that, so your whole paranoid anti-vac story seems a little suspicious to me.

Spain is doing 12 weeks for az

Btw just to make clear, this was not aimed at OP but to those who were saying that OP should ask doctors in her own countries. I.e. doctors/GPs/health professionals are not trained in drug development (few exceptions). I agree, her question is valid and in order to make sure that we keep the vaccine train going is if we are open to concerns...I am not in the risk zone so will take the AZ 2nd dose. Also note that some countries have moved to 9-12 weeks apart, presumably because maybe having them too close together caused the unusual immune responses that led to the unusual low blood platelet/blood clot combo

Thank you lightattheendofthetunnel2021. You are one of the few who seem to have thought about this and who has knowledge about this.

Btw Spain has always done 12 weeks so nothing to do with the clots
www.lamoncloa.gob.es/serviciosdeprensa/notasprensa/sanidad14/Paginas/2021/060221astrazeneca.aspx

OP, you sound very silly. See your doctor and talk through your health worries.

This does remind me why I am so proud to be British right now. All these scientists, logistics people, NHS, everyone who has had the vaccine or planning to have it - I am just so damn proud of the level-headed lot of you.

"- if THAT's the case the individuals impacted were doomed either way."

Thanks. That's my 13 year old child you are talking about. There are ways of saying things that are profoundly insensitive.

Bloods I was talking before, to check his platelets are in a decent state assuming that there may be a drop after vaccine. Better for this to be from 250 to 100 than from 150 to 0. And then a week or two after so we can monitor what his immune system is doing.

Yes the balance is, the disease is even more likely to drop his platelets, but it's difficult when it's a deliberate choice you are making.

As per itp support page:

"It may be appropriate to obtain baseline and post vaccination platelet counts in certain ITP patients, particularly in those with ongoing thrombocytopenia or a history of unstable platelet counts."

Friend of mine can’t have the second dose, medical reasons...has been told by her immunologist she can have it. She was told the first jab which she’s had should give her approx 70% protection for as long as the protection lasts.....which nobody is sure kf yet but sounds like hoping for at least a year. She was told the second dose doesn’t extend the time period of protection but increases it from approx 70% to approx 85%.

But I think it’s educated guesses at present.

She was told the first jab which she’s had should give her approx 70% protection for as long as the protection lasts.....which nobody is sure kf yet but sounds like hoping for at least a year. She was told the second dose doesn’t extend the time period of protection but increases it from approx 70% to approx 85%.

Thank you so much for this.

I understand that is is all second guessing, as is how long the vaccine will last, what strains it will work against and numerous other things that are unknown at present but you have reassured me with what you have written ie 70% - 85%. Considering some vaccines are

Just a medical question - I assumed you got your protection from 21 days after jab for a period we don't know - 4, 6, 12 months. So surely a second jab starts your clock again in terms of length of protection and the only thing that varies is that between 1st and 2nd jab the % chance of protection is lower and after jab 2 is it higher.

@Derbee will you and everyone else on here belittling and bullying OP into having hesitation about the AZ apologise now? I found this thread so horrible and I have already my first dose and I also am reconsidering having the second.
Why do you all automatically assume anyone with hesitation is a hypochondriac or has a fake account. My dr friends abroad and their family have hesitations about the AZ and they're the most logical people I know.
@bluenightowl you deserve a lot of apologies for the bullying you received here especially after the JCVI have now changed their rollout in age groups.
Can the AZ promoters please calm down now. Most of us will go ahead to get the second dose and just because we ask for reassurance or opinions does not mean we are all bots or anti vaxxers.