Is anyone having second thoughts about AZ vaccine?

[IloveSooty424]

I know there are quite a few threads on the AZ vaccine and the suspected blood clots link. I’m booked in to have my first vaccine on Friday afternoon and I’m feeling extremely nervous should I be offered the AZ. I’m very pro-vaccine and always thought I would have it without hesitation but this is making me having second thought, especially when the most incompetent and untrustworthy PM we’ve ever had comes on the tv and says everything’s fine folks, have the vaccine.

My situation is I’m 42 so not very young but not in the older age group either, I have a family history of blood clots and it’s the reason I’ve never wanted to take the pill. I’m slightly overweight, dress size 14-16, but have no underlying health conditions but suffer from debilitating generalised anxiety disorder which I take medication for. I know my GP practice will offer me AZ on Friday. Everyone who’s been there has received AZ so far. I don’t know whether to wait until I can get a Pfizer vaccine at a vaccination centre. I just don’t know what to do. I’m hoping by Friday the picture will be clearer.

No, no worries whatsoever. Happy to take your place.

I’m 43, on the pill and also size 14-16. Had2 doses of AZ and very grateful for them.

I'm.a bit twicty but only because I had suspected stroke at 46 within 20ndays of my first shot. I'm awaiting a MRI but a CT was clear at the time.

They cant rule out a clot yet. So I do feel a bit worried and I feel that's valid until I know for sure I didnt have a clot.

So I'm intending to get my second shot and praying my MRI is before then

I’m on my 30s and would still have it - although I’d probably stop taking the pill a few weeks before I booked in. Prob make no difference but it would psychologically make me feel better!

I also have a family history of blood clots in female and male relatives.

I have had first AZ jab but after 4 days had a very scary episode with my eye, like a focal seizure almost and loss of vision and severe pain in my eye, also awful headache for eight days after. Of course I cannot say it was definitely linked to the jab but this episode was like nothing I have ever experienced before and for that reason I am concerned about having the second dose.

The risk is the same as if you don't have it, so why wouldn't you?

I would have it.

Everyone at my GP surgery had AZ. I turned up and it was a batch of Pfizer, so you never know.

I wouldn’t have it until the U.K. regulator have concluded their investigation. I’m very pro vaccine but given that most of Europe seem to have halted it for younger people and they are beginning to understand possible cause they can’t expect younger people not to be a little nervous. I realise my viewpoint is probably skewed by the fact that I and my kids have had covid recently with minimal/zero symptoms.

Honestly. Yes. I've had one dose of it and was very ill. I wasn't allowed the pill because of thrombosis in my family. I am now so troubled about getting the second dose. I know I "should" and I'm very pro vaccine ...but...

I'm 49 and have never taken the pill as have factor 5 leiden,which can increase the chance of blood clots.
I called my dr and asked for his advice and he said he had no concerns over either vacine.
I'm really not convinced now and wondering what to do when I get the call for the jab.
Im very tall,size 12/14 and no other health concerns.

I've had Covid which luckily was a mild case with no after effects. I do have reservations about the AZ vaccine which carries risk for the age group I'm in. I'm just hoping by the time I'm offered it, we have a bit more clarity around the issue.

Nope

Nope. You're more likely to come a cropper driving to the appointment. People are crap at assessing risk.

No, looking forward to my second dose so I can be fully vaccinated

I've been following the news about this closely. I think on balance I would still definitely take the vaccine because even if there is a link to this rare blood clot, it's so rare that your chances of getting unwell from covid are much much higher. Also it's not like we have a choice of different vaccines really- it could take many months until you'd be able to have a Pfizer/Moderna etc vaccine instead (most places don't even seem to advertise it in advance so you wouldn't know what you'll get on the day anyway). And with restrictions being lifted your chances of getting covid are going to go up if you wait...

Well, if we consider only 7 deaths for clots in more than 30,000,000 vaccinated people, I would say you are far more likely to die of covid, being hit by a bus or be struck by lightening, but each to their own.

@ConeHat do you mind if I ask what happened please?

My mum had very similar not long after her vaccine. She was admitted to hospital via ambulance as a suspected stroke, but was discharged a few days later following a clear MRI. She has been left with weakness down one side, some neurological issues, a tremor and extreme fatigue.

It has very much put me off getting the vaccine.

I understand your concerns, OP. I'm also a bit anxious, and I'm following the news on this carefully. I'm 48, overweight and have a family history of blood clots, so it is a worry.

I had my first jab around 10 days ago. So far, so good. I do believe that they will probably find evidence of a small risk with the AZ vaccine, but as things stand at the moment, I will still have the second jab because I know that the risk from covid is significantly greater. If anything changes between now and then, then I'll obviously review it at the time.

No. I'm 47. I'm on day 9 so still not out of the woods, but I had no side effects and I feel massively relieved to have had it

@IloveSooty424 @AlexaShutUp @Stillgoings are you all group 6 otherwise how are you getting first vaccines in your 40s?

I'm actually quite pleased the vaccine pause to 40's first vaccines has happened now as am watching the evidence this week as it appears 'younger' women may be the cohort that the clotting concerns are over - but I will still be taking whichever vaccine is offered first.

@VaVaGloom

Lots of people in groups 1 and 2 are in their 40s or younger (care and NHS staff)
And group 4 includes the CEV, which is not defined my age and includes plenty of younger people

Covid itself is a risk for clots.

www.hriuk.org/health/your-health/lifestyle/people-with-coronavirus-are-at-risk-of-blood-clots-and-strokes

However, higher rates of strokes in patients with COVID-19 is somewhat unusual because it also seems to be happening in people under 50 years of age, with no other risk factors for stroke.

@VaVaGloom, no, I'm group 10, but I was offered the vaccine in late March by my GP. I think quite a lot of under 50s have been offered it in different areas, it's a bit of a postcode lottery.

@DrDreReturns

Nope. You're more likely to come a cropper driving to the appointment. People are crap at assessing risk.

Not true.

If you are a woman aged under 50 I make it roughly:

One in 8 million chance of dying on your way to/from the surgery
One in 50,000 risk of having a major clotting event
One in 25,000 risk of catching and actually dying of Covid in a 6-month period

Note that most clotting events will not lead to death. Many covid cases will result in long-term health problems.

Or to put it another way, I am 41 and suffer from (severe) migraine with aura and a family history of stroke and DVT. I will still have AZ if offered (although I’ll be hoping for Pfizer!)

Dodgy back of envelope maths as follows...

The risk of dying in a road accident in any year in the UK is around 1 in 20,000. If you travel the average annual mileage of around 7,900 miles per year and your round trip to the surgery is 20 miles you have a roughly 1 in 7,905,138 chance of dying during that particular trip, or 1 in 8 million to keep things neat.

So far in the UK around 1 in 600,000 have suffered a major clotting event. Because younger to early middle aged people are more likely to be affected, the EMA believes it may occur in up to one in every 100,000 under-60s. Because it mostly affects younger women, let’s say a 1 in 50,000 risk if you are a woman under 50 years old.

This is still better odds compared to the risk of dying of Covid which for 25 to 44-year-olds who catch Covid is 0.04 per cent – or one in 2,500. Of course this assumes you catch Covid. You need 2 jabs per year of AZ, so let’s say a 10% chance of catching Covid in any given 6-month period, or a one in 25,000 chance of dying.