I've decided not to go ahead with my 2nd dose of the AZ vaccine. I'm happy having the Pfizer - will this be allowed?

[Ashleys63]

I've just lost all confidence in the AZ vaccine and regret having it at all.
I know the risks are tiny etc etc but I want a vaccine without these associated risks.
I'm 56 so in one of the top groups but just feel so uneasy about it all now.

@Roonerspismed

I agree bumble

The only vaccine I will take is one that has been reviewed and passed for my (young) age group by the German authorities!

The U.K. is shit at this stuff

Check out the various headlines of the Daily Mail in the U.K. today versus Australia, on this issue. I get the impression the government has asked them to play nicely

I'm not a big fan of the UK media at the best of times to be fair

@Roonerspismed

overit I’m sorry to hear that

Was her case included in the “79” figure do you know? I have heard of similar other cases and don’t think they have so I think the issue is possibly larger than thought

No I do t think so as they stopped any clot forming. I wonder how many more cases like this are out there.

@Ashleys63

I'm not sure about being an idiot, I'm happy to be vaccinated ( many still are not happy about being vaccinated at all, and never will get the jab regardless of any clot link ) All I go on is what I read in the media and I'm not seeing anything negative about any other vaccine. it's all about the AZ. The EU have always been a bit sceptical of it.

Anyway, thank you all for your replies, I'll read them all later when I'm back from work.

Don't read the media then, read the facts reported by the media. I watched the briefings from the European regulators yesterday. It's a very rare risk, I think given that over 30 millions of that vaccine have been used, it's understandable there's more reported on it than others.

Get your second vaccine. If you were going to have an issue, it would have happened by now.

@Overit20 That sounds awful. Your poor DD. It must have been so scary for you all. I hope she makes a full recovery very soon.

I am so frustrated with people being so dismissive regarding the risks. The risks of actually dying from COVID are also low.

@Overit20, I'm very sorry about what happened to your dd, and hope that she makes a quick recovery.

However, what you have said doesn't quite make sense to me. You said that you're frustrated by people minimising the risks of the vaccine, but you have also stated that the risks of dying from covid are low. Given that we know that the risks posed by the vaccine are very much smaller than the risks posed by covid itself, it hardly makes sense to minimise the risks of covid while talking up the risks of the vaccine. Both are very low, but one is much lower than the other, especially for people over 30.

Of course, I realise that it will be difficult if you have been affected by this issue. However, I was very impressed by the pharmacist whose brother died after receiving the AZ vaccine, who was nevertheless able to step back from her own loss, look at the situation rationally and encourage people to keep taking the vaccine. Very public-spirited of her to speak out in this way at what must be a very difficult time for her family.

overit that is worrying in itself.

It sounds like me neighbour’s case.

The risk could be much, much more and we wouldn’t know and I wouldn’t trust the U.K. press to report on it either

No wonder people become anti-vaxxers!

The risk is higher from flying and the pill, indeed even from Covid-19.

Thing is we know the risks from flying - they've been documented over 100 years. The vaccines were a bit of a rush job and have been in use for a couple of months. I'll be taking, it but you're analogy doesnt quite work.

@Ashleys63 ever taken a long haul fight? More chance of a clot through that than the vaccine.

No you can’t swap

Just have the second jab, all issues are from the first

The MHRA have drawn up a very specific policy on this. Cerebral sinus thrombosis is specifically mentioned along with other risk factors. Everyone involved with the vaccine programme will be following the protocol very carefully.

I expect that Beverly Hunt will have been on that particular committee and she knows everything there is to know about clots.

I hope this reassures anybody who has concerns.

The vaccine was rushed in that it was sped up because funding was made available up front. No short cuts were taken to test and trial it, it was just as rigorously tested as any other vaccine that it available. All vaccines, and medicines, have side effects. The fact is that the risk to all of us from people not taking the vaccine far, far out weighs the tiny risk of a rare clot by having the vaccine.

The only vaccine I will take is one that has been reviewed and passed for my (young) age group by the German authorities!

Good luck with that.
Initially, Germany wouldn't give it to the elderly, now it has reversed the guidelines.
We are all trying to do our best in an emergency with very little and growing knowledge. Some risks will have to be taken and nobody will be able to give any guarantees.

You have a much higher risk from Covid than you do from the vaccine

OP - Unless the government buy more Pfizer, there won’t be Pfizer jabs for people who had AZ the first time round, even if it was safe to do. I’m a GP doing vaccines and we only have enough Pfizer for the second doses, in people who had Pfizer as their first dose.
It’s possible you may be able to have Moderna, but only if it’s considered safe to mix, and I don’t know if it is.
Or you can stay as you are, with reduced immunity. You’ll probably be fine as long as Covid numbers continue to fall, but obviously you’ll be limited in what you can do, if vaccine passports become a thing.
Having read all the official data (not filtered by a tabloid journalist) I’d advise you have the second AZ jab.

OP, what makes you think that Pfizer carries zero risk?

As someone said upthread, you've had your first AZ dose and you've been fine (as it's to be expected as the risks are tiny). I would have the second if I were you.

I think this has been overhyped making us feel uneasy , I will have my 2nd one as I feel covid is a much bigger risk .

lweji well therein lies the problem. I won’t take a vaccine until I am happy.

And if that means I can’t go to pubs then so be it. There will be millions of people like me

I’m 35 and I will have my second dose of AZ when I am due in June. The risks of a clot are tiny and I have already had the first dose with no serious side effects.

Initially, Germany wouldn't give it to the elderly, now it has reversed the guidelines.

I don't understand what point you are making with this? The reason lots of countries didn't give it to the elderly was because they felt that AZ hadn't tested it enough on the elderly to know that it was safe and effective. In the initial testing only 2 people in that age group out of 660 participants of that age were actually infected. They were just waiting on more data which seems very sensible to me.

Lots of people make it sound like it was just plucked out of thin air not to use it on the elderly but it was a considered decision based on the lack of data.

@Overit20 that must have been incredibly scary and difficult not being able to be with her. I’m glad she’s well enough to be back home and I hope she makes a full recovery and you’re all doing ok after such a scare.

The AZ vaccine's benefit outweighs the risk for older people. For those under 30 the risk outweighs the benefit as they are only really taking the vaccine to keep others safe and minimise the spread of the virus.

All non-AZ vaccines should be now redirected to the younger generation. There should be no more Moderna jabs going into anyone's arms over 30.

I say this as someone waiting to take my 2nd dose of AZ. It is the least we can do for the younger generation. They have given up too much already to protect others.

@Bagamoyo1 are you able to advise the best place to access the official data? Thank you.

@Aloethere

Initially, Germany wouldn't give it to the elderly, now it has reversed the guidelines.

I don't understand what point you are making with this? The reason lots of countries didn't give it to the elderly was because they felt that AZ hadn't tested it enough on the elderly to know that it was safe and effective. In the initial testing only 2 people in that age group out of 660 participants of that age were actually infected. They were just waiting on more data which seems very sensible to me.

Lots of people make it sound like it was just plucked out of thin air not to use it on the elderly but it was a considered decision based on the lack of data.

The details were plucked out of the air - remember the "8% effective" - Handelsblatt and "Quasi effetive" - Macron, comments?

And this, which is the kind of shit we see here too:

Handelsblatt’s political correspondent, tweeted, “I understand that some would like to see the story substantiated with actual data. However, this is not an academic preprint but a sourced piece of political reporting.

www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n414

Ashleys63 Bit of a personal question, have you ever taken the oral contraceptive pill ? If so, you were more likely to develop a clot by taking that than from having a covid vaccine.

@Ashleys63 Absolutely ridiculous. So you'd rather put yourself at risk by buying into the bullshit and scaremongering?!

Don't know if this has been said, coz I cba to RTFT, but if you had NO side effects from the first AZ vaccine, you won't get any from the second!

FFS I wish people would stop listening to this dangerous scaremongering bullshit. Someone somewhere has an agenda probably the EU and its minions to berate and badmouth our vaccine, and the excellent, gifted scientists who created it. It's fucking me right off.

As some people have said (in real life and on the news,) you have more chance of getting a blood clot from the birth control pill! (And any other bastard vaccine, like the flu vaccine!)