Choosing not to get vaccine

[InnerDiscomfort]

Not looking to start a fight, but interested if you have made the decision not to get the vaccine and have no condition that you know of that would stop you, why not?

Family members abroad have decided not to get the vaccine (Pfizer I think). Vague concerns about it not being safe and/ or tested enough. They both work outside the home and have families. Fairly fit and healthy so unlikely to be seriously affected by COVID, under 50 years of age.

It's not something I agree with but up to them I guess. I'm also unlikely to get ill but had my first vaccine mainly to help stop the spread (and I'd like to go abroad!)

So if you haven't had it, I'm interested in your reasoning if you would care to share.

@Blondiney

I wouldn't be at all surprised if you actually knew more refusers. Many people wisely decide to keep it to themselves, rather than being unfairly judged.

Yes! I was talking to someone I know and when I asked her if she'd had both jabs yet (she's 60) she made an excuse. Said she'd missed her appointment in Feb and hadn't got round to re booking yet. It slowly dawned on me that she wasn't going to have it. I judged, so perhaps she was right to pretend.

@foxyroxyyy I totally respect his decision not to have the vaccine, and anyone else's by that matter. The point is he doesn't think he'll die from covid one of the main reasons for him deciding to decline it. Of course I'd mourn him if he died what a stupid thing to say but given that there's a strong probability it won't happen I'm not going to get drawn into an argument about it. Hes against the vaccine, I'm for it (have had it) when I was feeling rough from the side effects there was zero sympathy from him either. It's just something we agree to disagree on.

Fear of needles is a bad excuse.
If you end up in hospital with Covid you'll have to get over your needle fear quickly.

Here we go again, the same crap directed at those of us with a needle phobia from people who don't have a clue what it's like to have a phobia.

Ppl with needle fears can tell the vaccinator and they will make it as easy as possible.

That part is true. DH explained about my needle phobia (I was crying too much to speak) and I was well looked after. I went to the front of the queue and had a lovely lady looking after me who stayed with me the whole time. DH could have gone in with me but I was ok with my chaperone. I was also able to have the vaccine lying down. I'll be in exactly the same state for the second one but at least I know I'll be looked after.

@foxyroxyyy my dh would never take the vaccine because he thinks I think he should nor would I ever make that expectation from him, nor would he expect me to decline it because he thinks I should

I really don’t want it, but don’t feel I have any choice but to have it if I want to have a ‘normal’ life.

Needle fear is definitely not a bad excuse if it is a phobia. My husband has it. I never thought for a moment I would convince him to have the jab. Would have not been happy but accepted his decision.

Luckily it turned out he realised at his age and having a little beer belly his risk level was higher than average if he got the virus. In the end he happy ish went off and got both jabs. Quite frankly I am amazed he did.

@JunesChild were most of your colleagues okay with it or any notable bad reactions that put you off?

I am always amazed by people who work for the nhs who don’t have vaccines? I would have thought that people who were close to the action or at risk every day would be first in line not to mention don’t you need to believe in “science as the answer” if you’re a medical professional?

I don’t know anyone who has refused the vaccine,

For me I have taken the vaccine not just to protect me but to protect older more vulnerable family members who we haven’t seen for over a year, we don’t want to put them at risk as covid would kill them.

Well done to your husband @TruelyWonder, especially for going on his own. DH had to take me as I wasn't safe to drive as I was in such a state.

I don't know anyone personally who is opting out of the vaccine. Online i've seen a few people who believe in the Agenda 21 depopulation conspiracies. They're terrified of this mass vaccination drive and believe it's the beginning of the end for sections of the population.

@JunesChild

I'm a nurse and I am not getting it. Certainly not anti-vax, medicine etc.... I am one of 3 where I work who hasn't had it and rest of staff are constantly telling us to get it! Concerns are about unknown side effects, fertility, etc. I have already had Covid, so I figure I already have as much immunity as I will get, a vaccine may extend it now it has been about 8 months since I had Covid. However there are new variants in this country the vaccine doesn't work for. That in combination with concerns about unknown side effects, not worth it to me.

You are a nurse and you believe that there are new variants in the country that the vaccines don't work for??? Jeez, you really need to refresh your medical training. There is no variant on the planet, at this moment in time, that the vaccines which have been approved for use are not effective against. Please stop peddling rubbish.

I'm not having any of the new vaccines.

I've had all my routine vaccinations and a few extras for foreign travel, so not anti-vax. Although all the news articles I've read about people like me charactarise us as uniformly mad or "anti-vaxx" - I find this such misinformation/propaganda as it's simply not true. For example, the couple of people I know who won't be taking "the vaccine" are also highly educated and fully vaccinated. The smear campaign is bad enough that you probably do know CovidVaxx refusers but they are just quiet as they know how hysterical it makes people to mention it.

My reasons are:

It appears to still be in a testing phase and under emergency approval. Vaccines are being withdrawn or reallocated to different age groups around the world in recent weeks/days, which demonstrates that it's not yet "fully tested" enough for me. I'm aware the AZ blood clot issue is statistically small but it seems the other vaccines have side effects just as alarming or more so. I know vaccines have side effects but I've never seen anything like this and such a wide gap between what I am told in the media/social media and what I see in real life. My concerns are amplified by the number of very pro-vaccine people I see posting on my social media accounts- extreme stuff like vomitting, period problems, "the most ill I've felt in years" "shooting pains in my boobs so bad I can't breathe" are just some I read and see people commenting below the posts saying it's all normal and they had the same but don't worry it's just your immune system working!!! That just doesn't feel normal to me. I also know someone my age who was hospitalised after her vaccine and another person with ongoing investigations into a popping effect in her leg.
In contrast I don't know a single person who's been hospitalised or died from Covid. Maybe that's contrary to official statistics but I have to go on what I see around me in real life.

I make my own risk analysis from that really.

The push to get vaccinated also seems really creepy to me. I read uptake is high so I don't understand why I'm being bombarded with advertising for it. I don't like the heavy handedness. It's everywhere. The government's whispered "your vaccine is waiting for you" advert- it is really clever but why necessary to go in with all the psychological tricks to convince people to have a vaccine if it is so self-evidently necessary? There's a weird desperation to it.

I'm happy that other people are getting the vaccines they want but it's not for me.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

Well done to your husband *@TruelyWonder*, especially for going on his own. DH had to take me as I wasn't safe to drive as I was in such a state.

I was plotting to go along and sit on him😂

When he came home I demanded to see his vaccination card. To make sure he wasn't fibbing.

I'm not having one either, because it's still in the testing stage. My husband doesnt care, he's booked in for his!

@TruelyWonder DH said he was going to have all the exits guarded in case I tried to make a run for it! I did milk the ‘hurty arm’ as I called it for all it was worth!

[quote PinkSparklyPussyCat]@TruelyWonder DH said he was going to have all the exits guarded in case I tried to make a run for it! I did milk the ‘hurty arm’ as I called it for all it was worth![/quote]
Hope he brought you chocolate or a glass of wine to make it feel better❤

@JunesChild

If you have the right not to be vaccinated as a nurse then your patients and your employer have the right not to be treated by you/employ you. I'm vaccinated because every day I'm in contact with elderly vulnerable people, those on chemo are unlikely to develop antibodies even if double vaccinated. I expect healthcare workers to be just as responsible

I don't know anybody who says they won't get it, but then again I haven't asked.
I'm very pro-vaccine but I am also very pro-autonomy so I fully support peoples right to refuse to get it for whatever reason they want, however crazy I may think they are.

DH hasn't had it as he has a needle phobia, he really wants it but the thought of it is affecting his mental health.

It doesn't help that people keep saying to him 'well you have to get over it' and 'it doesn't hurt'.

Interesting to know that the staff have been sympathetic. I might have a word with them when I have mine done.

Fear of needles is a bad excuse

Nobody needs an excuse to decide against the vaccine

@JunesChild as a nurse, you have a responsibility to your patients to be vaccinated. I don’t judge others who decide not to have it, but those in healthcare, it’s incredibly selfish. You should get another job if you feel that strongly about it, so you aren’t putting others at risk.

I will not be getting it for sure neither will my partner or son

McDonalds for lunch @TruelyWonder!

@scrivette, the staff were amazing when I had mine. As soon as they knew about my phobia they couldn’t do enough to help me. As I left the lady who’d stayed with me told me not to worry, they’d look after me for the second one as well. It meant a lot to know they didn’t think I was cured!

On the subject of it hurting, I wanted to scream ‘I’M NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT!’ every time someone ‘helpfully’ told me they didn’t feel it. I know they were trying to help so I smiled and said thank you instead.

“There's a weird desperation to it.”

Has it really not occurred to you that might be because of the pandemic? The fact that people have been effectively grounded for over a year now? Not to mention the loss of lives/livelihoods and the huge debt created by closing down the country?

My god 🤦‍♀️