Vaccines: Refusers versus aspirers

[PuzzledObserver]

I sometimes think I'm living in an alternate universe.

There are all these posts over social media, including mumsnet, about how vaccines are evil, they are all sent to kill us, DO YOUR RESEARCH you sheeple.

And then there are all the other posts about so relieved my Mum had her vaccine, it's not fair that I/my mum/my friend who is CEV hasn't got their vaccine yet and the EU are trying to shaft us.

It's a bit disconcerting, if I'm honest. But then I look at the takeup numbers, and it does seem that those who want the vaccine are the large majority.

So, which are you?

1. Had it/will have it when invited
2. No way, Jose
3. Mmmm.... still deliberating.

I'm a 1.

1, second dose in May

1. Had my first dose today!

But I'm not absolutely desperate to get it. I'm a healthy 30 year old and not scared of catching Covid at all. I will take the vaccine when offered, purely because I want to do my part in protecting others, but if they suddenly decided my age group doesn't need it for whatever reason I wouldn't be bothered.

@reformedcharacters

I’m option number 4 exercising my (currently still existing) right to keep my medical history private.

You know this is an anonymous forum, right?

I’ve had my first dose. No health conditions and not elderly, just an ICU dr who has looked after covid patients.

I literally laughed reading the post of the person who feels confident it would ‘just be a cold’ for her. I wish I was capable of being so very naive.

1 but I'm really a 3. Only getting it because if anything happened to me there would be no-one to look after DD. Booked for next Wednesday and I am a bit apprehensive about it (would have had it last week but I have a cold so couldn't).

2

@SunnySideAndMarmite

1 - although nothing to do with any personal fear of catching covid (think I've had it, likely to be low risk anyway) but a sense of getting the thing that will give me more freedom and stopping feeling like a disgusting disease carrier.

Totally unlike any other vaccination I've had (have had plenty for travel reasons previously) where it was just about the personal risk of disease.

Interesting.

I have diabetes, so Group 6 for the vaccine. Two days after I had my first dose, I got an email telling me I had been reclassified as being at high risk of becoming seriously ill if I caught Covid, so I was advised to shield.

Well, I had Covid at the very end of last year. I mostly had an annoying cough and felt very tired for 2 weeks before I even started to get better. Took about a month to throw it off completely. I had actually been quite anxious about catching it.

So, I have lost all fear of Covid for myself, because the chance of being more ill second time round, if you are unlucky enough to catch it a second time, is really vanishingly small. However, I still took the vaccine when called. Because that’s the advice, and because it will give me an extra level of protection and further reduce the chance that I might unknowingly pass it on to others.

Equally, if they had said that if you e had Covid you can afford to wait 6 months and you only need one dose, I’d have been happy with that.

@nofriend is right that a subset of the clots are of a particular type, and is being investigated to see if they may be caused by AZ.

In the most recent episode of How To Vaccinate the World on BBC Sounds, David Spigelhalter looked at the statistics on this. His conclusion was that if you delay taking the vaccine for one week, the risk of catching Covid and having a bad outcome was several times the risk of having one of these clots from the vaccine - even if it was proved that the vaccine caused the clots, which as yet it is not.

Of course you only have the vaccine once (OK, twice), but every week that goes by unvaccinated, there is a risk of catching Covid and having a bad outcome. Hence, having the vaccine is the lower risk choice.

1

1 - I’ll get it when invited, in the same way I’ve had all my other routine vaccines when invited. But like all my other vaccines, I’m not falling over myself to get it or jealous of those who have already had it.

1, still waiting for my second

I've had it, i didn't think twice. I do respect an individuals choice over their own body if they want to decline, but wish that the internet wasn't full of crap so that people could make informed decisions.

PuzzledObserver

It still doesn’t stop the abuse people get when they disclose their choices but that’s not the point, too many people forget that they are under no obligation (currently) to disclose this information or feel under pressure to disclose it IRL or online anonymously or not.

1- Very grateful to have had my 1st one.

1 had it already

Waiting for the day out!😄

1

1, second dose in June.

Although I’m a bit niggled that I know so many people much younger than me being invited for the vaccine and yet I haven’t received one bit of communication yet.

1. Waiting for my second dose.

I don't really understand how people can be more afraid of the vaccine than covid. Even the blood clots thing, well covid causes blood clots, as can the pill.

The other thing, is well, why all the fear around vaccines and hardly anything around other drugs?

1. Cos whilst I have very occasionally seen vaccine reactions in my professional life (as a vet), I've seen the diseases we vaccinate against and they are way worse. Same goes for covid I feel- and it's contagious enough that I will likely be exposed to it at some point anyway, no matter how careful I am, so may as well have vax on board first.

My personal view is that the younger generation should develop some natural immunity to it much like cold and flu viruses. Otherwise we will be forever dependent on vaccines to guard against new strains

Well if you're vaccinated then exposed to "real" CV it'll just act as a natural booster vaccination so you will still get that "field immunity". It's not as if your B cells will just say feck it nah we've done enough. Vaccination is like training soldiers before they go off to war, not putting some magic, time-limited forcefield around them while leaving them clueless and helpless in the meantime.

1. Had both doses.

@reformedcharacters fair enough. I’m not the government, I’m just some random person on the internet who was curious.