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.

You’re being an idiot. If you’re so worried, why not try reading the actual details rather than throwing around crap about “confidence.” Respectfully, it doesn’t sound like you have a clue what you’re talking about.

People are being incredibly rude. There is absolutely no need to insult someone’s intelligence or call them names.

@Ashleys63 you are under no obligation to have the second dose if you don’t feel comfortable with it. Currently the evidence shows that the clots have taken place after the first dose so if you have had it, with no serious effects, then they have advised that you continue as planned and have the second dose. However, the decision is entirely up to you.

As others have said, you can’t mix and match vaccines at the moment.

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.

“Speaking to Sky News, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, said there were “more than enough” stocks of the Pfizer and Moderna jabs for younger people to have them if they wished. But he said all three vaccines were safe and anyone who had had a first dose should have a second because there was no evidence of blood clotting after a second jab.”

I want a vaccine without these associated risks

You might find a vaccine without these specific risks, but a vaccine (or indeed medicine) without any risks doesn't really exist. Most vaccines will carry some risk associated with (very rare) adverse events. This has just been brought to the public awareness in a very different way due to the speed and scale of roll out, and the intense scrutiny going on.

If you’ve had the first dose and had no reaction then there’s probably no harm going to come of having the second dose.
You are well within your rights to refuse the second dose though, but please let them know rather than just not turning up.

I’ve always been in 2 minds about having the vaccine myself, even before the blood clot drama. However I’m in a low risk group and based on my age etc probably won’t get offered it for a while anyway.

Do people really think they will get the OP to change her mind by calling her "an idiot" and saying "she has no clue"?

It is understandable that people may be worried after reading the latest news. Yes, this fear may be irrational but it does not make it less real for the topic starter. The best thing to do is to look at facts:

• Blood clot events are very rare and more prominent in younger age groups.
• Side effects are common for all vaccines. They are unpleasant but temporary and they are definitely associated with significantly lower risk than having Covid.
• OP has already had one dose of AZ. Changing the strategy and embarking on a journey with a different vaccine with unknown side effects sounds high risk. Sticking with "the devil you know" appears a much safer approach.

They work different ways, it may be possible to mix and match following the trials they are doing currently, but it's an unknown- I wouldn't say confidence should be any higher in mixing than having the second dose of AZ.

Who knows what will be allowed in say 6 months time.
The government seem so desperate to vaccinate everyone, that I even wonder whether they will offer cash incentives at some point.
Speculation, but who knows?

If you were going to have side effects from any vaccine, surely you would have had them by now?

@user1493494961

There are blood clot risks with Pfizer too, all medication carries risk. The list of possible side-effects was horrendous for the last lot of antibiotics I was prescribed.

Right. This is what I don't understand. Is it because the media haven't banged on about it with the Pfizer?

Oddly there's profit in Pfizer and not in the AZ.

I'm cool with people not getting their second dose, means I might get mine a bit quicker. Take your chances.

Apologies for the confusion.
Poor choice of phrase on my part.
I meant the unknown rather than literally blind.

There won't be enough vaccines coming in for everyone to get their first dose and you want a second go at a first dose? Of course not. You either accept your lower immunity and stick with one dose you have already had or you take your chances with the second AZ.

@Ashleys63

Funnily enough I didn't take the pill because I was worried about the blood clot risk, I used a different form of contraception.

What is worrying me is the press reports, at first the blood clots were found in 7 men only. Then it went up to 25 women and then 79 people of mixed gender - or something like that? maybe I'm seeing reports from different countries I don't know, but I'm just so worried we're not getting the full facts.

Those numbers went up because you are getting the full facts. They went looking to try and find asmany of these types of clots post vaccine as possible so they had a better picture of the risks.

Your risk assessment is skewed. Your chances of dying from covid or getting a problem with clotting from covid are way higher than the chances of you getting a problem from the vaccine.

Bloody hell, why are people being such arseholes.

People are concerned for a variety of reasons, and it is difficult to get answers about individual circumstances.

I'm sick of seeing people being called idiots for being worried.

I think part of the problem may be that the human brain can find it difficult to deal with very large numbers. You may have experienced that when trying to buy a house - you have to stop yourself looking at the one you like more and thinking 'it's only another £30,000' for example. Which is normally a huge amount but not so much when you're dealing with hundreds of thousands.

So we hear 19 (deaths) and 18/20 (million) and it sounds like a lot of deaths. But if you heard that, over a three month period, 19 people out of all the people (including children) who live in London, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland died of the same thing, would you think it was a massive threat? That you were likely to succomb?

You'd be wise to watch it, of course, but not so wise to put yourself in the way of a vastly greater threat to attempt to avoid becoming number 20.

@TakeYourFinalPosition

No, it’s not allowed.

I had blood clot related symptoms and still have to have the second dose of AZ. I was initially told that I’d have Pfizer the second time instead, but they’ve corrected themselves and said that’s not possible.

But all blood clot related incidents were after the first jab, not the second, according to BBC news last night; and that fits with what we know about the AZ, which is that the first jab is the more brute and the second is generally better tolerated. The Pfizer is the other way around.

It is allowed. My friend reacted badly to the first vaccine (Pfizer) and was told not to have it again and given AZ instead as a second.

I also agree calling people idiots is uncalled for. There are risks involved with vaccination and it's fine for people to think through these and make decisions based on them.

OP, the second vaccine is not compulsory. You are already 70% less likely to get covid. That's great news. You don't have to have a second dose if you don't want.

I wouldn't have another vaccine, mixing and matching, til more is known about this.

That said, how do people think we get data? Someone has to be in the clinical trials, someone has to take it in the real world to know the risks. They are only known because millions of people took the vaccine and a small risk discovered. There isn't a magic way to get data on risks without other people taking the risk.

When you get tablets from the Dr, the leaflet usually has a bit about side effects. If it said 1 in 500000 chance of blood clot, it wouldn't even cross my mind not to take the medication because of this. I bet this goes for most of us. I think the media coverage isn't helping.

@Lovelydaybut

Shosha, do you know how many of those who had the clotting issues actually had a second dose? I don’t get the reassurance here, tbh

If you died due to a clot, you wouldn’t get a second dose.
And if you were very ill, would you get a second dose?

How many people have had a second AZ dose anyway? Enough to make statistical evaluation valuable?

Exactly

@sleepwouldbenice

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Rude & nasty

HTH

The second vaccine should boost the longevity of your protection. So it’s not just about decreasing your likelihood to get it badly now, it’s about ensuring that stays low over the winter.

I’m 55 and in the mixed vaccine trial. I had my second mystery dose 3 weeks ago, 5 weeks after my prime dose. Initial results are expected in June. I haven’t had any problems at all - no reaction after the first jab and only flu like symptoms for 48 hours after my second.

"Totally different sort of clot. Please stop referring to the pill as a comparison!"

Is the sort of clot of any importance? If you are dead of a blot clot, you're dead of a blood clot.

Is this going to be some new bracing remark to the bereaved, "It could be worse. At least s/he didn't die of the sort of clot you get after a Covid vaccine."?