Anybody been invited and declined the jab?

[Devlesko]

Beginning to think I did the right thing now.
Anybody else?

I've had my first vaccine and I'm looking forward to my second. I've known people who have died of covid and others who have been very ill and, in some cases, hospitalised. I don't know of anyone who has had anything other than a mild reaction to the vaccine.

I declined the vaccine. No, I wouldn't change my mind for reasons such as overseas travel (or going to the pub). Yes, I expect to be treated by the NHS if I get Covid again. I also expect to be treated by the NHS for smoking related illness, alcohol related illness and in the event of a car accident. No, I do not expect to be put on a ventilator for Covid as I have legally-binding, written instructions in place stating that is not to happen. No, I don't feel I have a civic duty to protect others - although I might feel differently about that if such overwhelming concern for others had been so apparent in our society pre-Covid. Yes, I'm a selfish, heartless, granny-murdering bitch but at least I'm not a hypocrite - unlike many posters on this thread.

I've had my first vaccine and I'm looking forward to my second. I've known people who have died of covid and others who have been very ill and, in some cases, hospitalised. I don't know of anyone who has had anything other than a mild reaction to the vaccine.

This ^

A friend in her late 30s had Covid and suffered kidney failure...husband nearly died with breathing difficulties, neither are back to full time work and both have ongoing health problems...
There are so many like them aside from those who have died.

With the exception of those with autoimmune conditions, or other medical concerns, l think anyone who declines is lacking intelligence and critical thinking skills.

@MummyPop00

If take up is running at ca. 95%, not sure why refusal is still getting peoples backs up? Highly likely this figure will drop amongst the young, granted, but the young aren’t running the same risks & are already being warned off AZ.

‘But, the variants’

Vaccines seem to protect against these thus far in the main do they not?

Yes hopefully take up is remaining high, I haven’t seen recent stats. Some demographics (eg ethnicity) have lower uptake.

If it stays high and people who don’t have it who are hospitalised (or worse) are still low in numbers it’s not as bad than if any restrictions need to counteract it.

Public mood will be moving on.

No but I think people who have refused to try and prevent becoming seriously ill during a pandemic shouldn’t be treated over someone who has taken precaution against it. If hospitals become overrun again and we had to choose which patient to treat, an older man who has been vaccinated vs a younger man who refused it- I wouldn’t want to choose the younger man. Yet protocol would advise me to. Extremely frustrating.

@Dragongirl10 I agree.

@Gertie75

Those who refused it are you happy to take up a hospital bed and ventilator if you become ill with covid or would you rather it be given to someone who has had the jabs and need the bed and equipment for other reasons?

Such a slippery slope to be on with this way of thinking. Plus, that is not how the NHS works. If you need treatment, you get it. There are a ton of vaccines that the general population are not offered. Should you be denied treatment if you don't have those too? I am not sure hospital staff even have access to your vaccination record anyway.

I struggle to understand why people think that 4 in a million is a risk worth worryig over (blood clots). I take meds which have a 10% risk of fatal side effects and I don't even give that a second thought other than hoping I'm in the 90% ! People need to stop feeding into the media panic and have a bit of a think about the actual stats and what they mean

@Checkingout811

No but I think people who have refused to try and prevent becoming seriously ill during a pandemic shouldn’t be treated over someone who has taken precaution against it. If hospitals become overrun again and we had to choose which patient to treat, an older man who has been vaccinated vs a younger man who refused it- I wouldn’t want to choose the younger man. Yet protocol would advise me to. Extremely frustrating.

Hospitals treat whoever has the best prognosis.. and that is if it came down to who was having the last ventilator, which didn't happen in the UK. Thankfully, you are not in charge of such things.

‘To those who have refused the vaccine; would you expect nhs help if you became seriously ill with covid?’

‘To those who took the vaccine; would you expect the manufacturer to be liable if you suffer serious side effects?’

I was lucky to get the Pfizer vaccine, I would have taken AZ if offered though.
I want to spend time with my elderly parents and this is the safest way.

I booked it and then cancelled and I'm glad I did

@Checkingout811

To those who have refused the vaccine; would you expect nhs help if you became seriously ill with covid?

I expect those who refuse the vaccine rely on multiple sources of information to make this decision not trusting everything that they hear on the news or from vested parties. Who will the NHS be treating for COVID when majority have vaccinated and would have no risk?? There's no logic to this question which I'm sick of seeing regurgitated here again and again

@Sparrowcrane I wish they did but from what I see it's mostly media fuelled hysteria

@Checkingout811.

Let’s not treat pregnant woman who refuse the vaccine, yeah? In fact, let’s not treat pregnant women full stop. They chose to either get pregnant or keep a baby when they found themselves pregnant knowing full well it’d result in them needing hospital appointments which is the place with the highest risk of exposure to Covid and where they’d also use up NHS resources. They didn’t take the precaution of doing whatever they could to limit the chance of needing a hospital visit, so it’s selfish and we shouldn’t treat them.

@Checkingout811

No but I think people who have refused to try and prevent becoming seriously ill during a pandemic shouldn’t be treated over someone who has taken precaution against it. If hospitals become overrun again and we had to choose which patient to treat, an older man who has been vaccinated vs a younger man who refused it- I wouldn’t want to choose the younger man. Yet protocol would advise me to. Extremely frustrating.

@Checkingout811 do you work in the medical profession? It's just you've said 'protocol would advise me to'. Why is it frustrating? Would you like to be in a position where you could decide who came where in the pecking list for treatment?

It is not recommended to women who are trying to conceive / may want to try to conceive in future, so it is a valid point

Not recommended by who?

I expect those who refuse the vaccine rely on multiple sources of information to make this decision not trusting everything that they hear on the news or from vested parties.

There has been so much clear independent advice, peer reviewed studies and trials, and facts from scientists and epidemiologists from all over the world....do you really think they all have some 'vested interest in damaging peoples health? Do you not see how illogical that sounds?

This is what l mean by lack of critical thinking.

@indy2please

I booked it and then cancelled and I'm glad I did

I’m teetering on doing precisely that.

How much immunity will you have if you’ve had covid? Are there any studies?

It would seem reasonable to elect to take a test to see if we actually needed the vaccine. Is one of these in the making?

Why is the vaccine an issue if you have an autoimmune disease?

[quote Flyonawalk]@Divebar2021 I expect most people who refuse these new vaccines are not particularly anxious about covid. Probably many of us would have preferred to see a policy of focussed protection rather than blanket lockdown.[/quote]
Exactly this, Flyonawalk.

Declining the vaccine is in part a protest at the approach we've taken. Another part is that I don't feel particularly at risk.

There's another part though, which is that I want to create a space for people to safely question the social pressure to be vaccinated by setting an example. I don't particularly want my kids to feel like that 'should' only out of social pressure.

(For avoidance of doubt, if they said they wanted to and showed they'd thought deeply about it, that'd be cool with me.)

@TulipsInAJug

I'm not an anti-vaxxer. Always have my vaccines and my kids are fully vaccinated.

But the covid 'vaccines' are experimental gene therapy, not traditional vaccines. They are technically still in trial stage (not finished until 2023) and are still unlicensed - they were rushed through and given emergency approval. The long-term effects are simply unknown. For people who are under 55 or so it's madness to take the risk of this experimental medical procedure when the risk of dying from or being seriously ill with Covid is so incredibly low.

@MumsnetHQ this needs deleting. Everything she said is false, fake news and antivax

I was all for it at first.

However now they’ve said under 30s should be offered other than AZ due to risk outweighing benefits. I’m only slightly over that age group, and already had covid with barely any symptoms. Surely it’s also more of a risk then a benefit for me to expose myself to potential side effects of AZ then? The virus didn’t harm me, I’m potentially immune now.

@MaxHanno What part of the comment is false?

Moderna and BioNTech both make reference to mRNA technologies being considered gene therapy by regulators in their SEC filings

The vaccines are all still in trial phases

They are unlicensed by the FDA but have been granted Emergency Use Authorisation in the USA. (However this is not the case in the EU or in the UK)

We have no long term safety data for any of the vaccines

People under 55 have a low risk of complications or death from covid.

Again, which part of that person’s comment is false?