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.

@Schrutesbeets I couldn’t agree with you more. In fact, the blatant coercion and suggestion that you will be treated differently and have access to less parts of normal society if you aren’t vaccinated puts me off even more.

I am not having it (yet!) a few years under 50 and no known severe illness, although I am concerned about potential autoimmune issues for various reasons. I am not an anti-vaxer or conspiracy nut - although have always loved a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person pre-covid. I do feel guilty as I know this is a joint social enterprise for good that relies on a good proportion of people to taking up the vaccine. I am therefore saying not yet.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/983475/COVID-19_vaccine_AstraZeneca_analysis_print.pdf This government report table of reported side effects, including fatal (744 as of end of April) has been helpful to me in making my decision not to have the AZ jab.

Everyone is entitled to make their own risk assessment. I'm not prepared to take the AZ gamble. If others are, then great for them (my husband had AZ a couple of weeks ago and is totally fine so far).

I am aware that the likelihood of dying as a results of AZ is absolutely tiny. But people are doing.

@DinosaurDiana

I know two people and it’s because one of them has had Covid, so doesn’t think they need the vaccine 🙄, and the other is scared of needles 🙄

They’ll have to put up with a lot more needles if they get COVID.

I’m currently not getting it but I might in the future when we have choice over which ones we can get.

@EnidSpyton

But *@FireworksAndSparklers*, it’s not ignorance to make an informed choice about what is right for your body.

I know coronavirus is real and that it kills people. I’m not an idiot.

But I also know the vaccine is not the straightforward choice it’s being made out to be.

Me personally not getting the vaccine isn’t going to have an effect on anyone else. I am not going to accept responsibility for ‘giving’ anyone coronavirus. This whole rhetoric that we individually are responsible for making other people ill or ‘killing’ them due to the behaviour of an inanimate virus is disgusting. Honestly the way people’s thinking has been distorted by this pandemic is so utterly disturbing to me. All humans are now being seen as nothing but potential vessels of a virus. It’s madness.

I couldn't agree more! Everyone (most people) are doing their best to make informed decisions but they are making them with skewed and flawed information and that's what I'm angry about. And, I'm afraid, yes, I do think that those who actually have all the right information who still choose not to have the vaccine are selfish. But I also can see from this thread that there is a lot of fear based mainly on poorly delivered information about both the virus and the vaccine so most people are not making an informed decision at all.

Again, your body, your choice. No one has the right to shame or coerce anyone else into medical treatment they don’t want. The rhetoric that you’re ignorant for not getting this vaccine is ignorant in itself.

Agree with this. After a year of being manipulated and guilt tripped, I am pretty immune to that shit now.

To those who call vaccine refusers selfish, are you just expressing your frustrations or are you trying to influence people to change their minds? If its the latter it won't work. People see the "selfish" word and switch off. That tactic has been overused and is no longer effective.

Meant risk benefit

For those saying we should have the vaccine to protect our grandparents and ‘everyone else’ (strangers)
So i should put my own life at risk, so Sue sitting behind me on the bus doesn’t get Covid... (well actually I can still pass it on even if i’ve been vaccinated so ....) Sue is NOT my concern. My concern is my health, my children, my husband and our family. If Sue has decided to get on that bus she should be wearing a mask, and use hand sanitiser and take the usual hygiene precautions. If she’s vulnerable she should have had her own vaccine which will protect her further. I have not been put on this planet to save others, or the NHS for that matter whilst I’m at it. We pay a ton of taxes for that. The NHS are here to protect us. We are one of the highest taxed workers in the world.
What I WILL do is keep 2m distance, wear my mask, and keep my hygiene levels up. I will not go out if I have Covid symptoms or think I have Covid. But you cannot ask much more than that. I highly doubt anyone sitting by me on the bus or tube also gives a flying F about me. Why would I expect them to? We all take responsibility for ourselves.

Grandparents have all had the vaccine, in my family’s case both doses. We are sensible as a family that if any of us have a cold we do not meet. But what I have found is grandparents do not even care about the odd cold, they have been vaccinated and are as careful as can be but also know they need to start living, and it’s their choice if little Emily has a runny nose if to see her or not. I can only inform them beforehand and they then decide (and in our family they no longer care!)

I disagree young people under 40 are getting severely sick. Unless they have additional factors putting them at risk. We know more about covid recoveries then about vaccines so i’ll take my chances with covid again.

@FireworksAndSparklers I am so fed up of hearing we shouid have it to protect others - those 'others' will have been vaccinated so they are ok why do younger people who want to wait to have the vaccine need to protect others?

Genuine question because it's all I hear right now.

[quote Lostinacloud]@Schrutesbeets I couldn’t agree with you more. In fact, the blatant coercion and suggestion that you will be treated differently and have access to less parts of normal society if you aren’t vaccinated puts me off even more.[/quote]
Absolutely. The unethical, coercive tactics that have been used - bribing, blackmailing, and blatent bullying - should make people outraged. Instead people are outraged at people making informed decisions for themselves. The media has a lot to answer for.

@FireworksAndSparklers we’re just going to have to agree to disagree.

I would never consider anyone selfish for choosing not to have a medical procedure they don’t think is right for their body.

Ultimately in a free society we should all have the right to do what we wish with our own bodies. As such, the level of coercion involved in this vaccine drive is frightening to me.

And if you believe that the side effects people are experiencing are all being accurately reported, then I’m afraid you’re the ignorant one. The vast majority of side effects never get reported. We have no accurate picture of how people are responding to the vaccine. If the vaccine effects were being as rigorously statistically reported as coronavirus deaths, then we’d be in a position to make a truly informed choice. But they’re not. I’m not saying there’s anything nefarious behind it, but it is a fact.

I am pro vaccine, in my 40s, do not want AZ and do not know how to book an alternative so have no choice but to wait. I’ve always believed that our government should have matched other countries guidelines by cutting off the age recommendation for AZ at 50/60.

I follow Michael Makris on Twitter, Professor of Haemostasis and Thrombosis at The University of Sheffield. He is increasingly frustrated that the number of doses per age group under 50 is not being released which would allow for better analysis of risk.

On 7th May he said:

“So the data on persons less than 50 years vaccinated with AZ in the UK is available, it is shared with the EMA and the Winton centre but the UK public are not allowed to see it. Why not? If they do not want to show the data they should explain why not?”

https://twitter.com/ProfMakris/status/1390742898195501059

I know one vaccine refuser. He’s an antivaxx nutter. A teacher who knows nothing about medicine but thinks he’s right. He also tried to stop his vulnerable wife from having the jab but thankfully she saw sense and ignored him.

I now have a policy of asking if HCPs have been vaccinated before they treat me. If they’re refusers then I reserve the right to say no to being treated by them. Shocked that a nurse on this thread has admitted refusing the vaccine - should be sacked! Hopefully the NHS will shortly bring in a “no jab no job” policy to protect patients.

@Lightout

I had covid in the first wave. On Wednesday 31st March, I had my first AZ vaccine, I was was swept along in the euphoria of the vaccine distribution, I was delighted and relieved to receive it. Especially as I was returning to work the following week, and I work with the public.

My friend was vaccinated the same day, unfortunately she developed a blood clot which has been confirmed as vaccine related and tragically she passed away, leaving young children without a mum.

I am now petrified of getting second vaccine, and seriously considering not getting it.

Statistically you have a 1 in 500,000 chance of getting a clot with your first vaccine and a lesser chance with your second vaccine.
I have read that with your first AZ vaccine you are 64% covered, after your second vaccine it increases to 70% cover.
I don’t think I am willing to take that chance for only an increase of 6%.

And this is the exact reason I am so scared of getting the AZ vaccine.

I agree that the media campaign has been troublesome. What happened to bodily autonomy?

I had my vaccines for the same reason I have the Flu vaccine every year, to try and prevent spreading something that could cause significant harm to my patients.

@LondonWFuck that’s an interesting figure because as far as I’m aware, that is actually a higher number than the amount of under 50’s with no underlying health conditions who have died of/with covid since last March - 14 months later, as opposed to 5 months data on vaccine related deaths.
Once again, why would I swap a statistically lower risk of getting seriously ill with covid with a slightly higher risk of vaccine side effects? I appreciate we are talking about tiny risks on both parts but they count when I am considering what to do with my body and my own freedom of choice.

I couldn’t agree with you more. In fact, the blatant coercion and suggestion that you will be treated differently and have access to less parts of normal society if you aren’t vaccinated puts me off even more.

Absolutely. The unethical, coercive tactics that have been used - bribing, blackmailing, and blatent bullying - should make people outraged. Instead people are outraged at people making informed decisions for themselves. The media has a lot to answer for.

Those tactics are all over this thread. Posters saying that people should be shamed for not having the vaccine

[quote Lostinacloud]@LondonWFuck that’s an interesting figure because as far as I’m aware, that is actually a higher number than the amount of under 50’s with no underlying health conditions who have died of/with covid since last March - 14 months later, as opposed to 5 months data on vaccine related deaths.
Once again, why would I swap a statistically lower risk of getting seriously ill with covid with a slightly higher risk of vaccine side effects? I appreciate we are talking about tiny risks on both parts but they count when I am considering what to do with my body and my own freedom of choice.[/quote]
Indeed. And this isn't fearmongering, it's literally the government's own report.

The focus has been mostly on these blood clots but there's actually a lot more problems according to that report.

Anyway I am now heading round to my vaccine centre to try to find out what's on the menu for today! My appt is much later on this afternoon but if they are dishing out AZ only, I can cancel my appt with enough time for someone else to book in if they want it...

But it's not about protecting you, it's about protecting the world. I really don't understand this 'I'm not at risk so I won't have the vaccine' reasoning. My teenagers aren't at risk but they want the vaccine because they have a social conscience and they love their grandparents and both their parents work with vulnerable

Stop with the emotional blackmail. It's so boring now

I am a nurse and vaccinator. I can honestly say I was leaning towards not having the vaccine ( risky, so quick to develop, any unknown long term side affects etc) until I completed the training to vaccinate. The information is so thorough on the development of the vaccine that it made me realise how thoroughly it was tested and how safe it is. I have very happily had both my doses. Family members have since had Covid, coughing over me (kids!) and I have regained Covid free 😊 I would recommend thoroughly reading up on it and making a thoroughly informed decision.

I have read up on it and made an informed decision.

@BonnieDundee I totally agree with you! It's boring.

The grandparents are vaccinated why do thier grandchildren need to protect them??

@Donitta genuine question....why would you take that stance? If you are vaccinated then even if the unvaccinated HCP managed to give you covid, you ate protected against serious illness. I just can’t understand this argument. Those who are worried and want to take the vaccine, fine, no problem! Why do you care about what risk a HCP is potentially taking personally?