I for one would like to say a big thank you to Oxford and Astra Zeneca

[MarcelineMissouri]

Oooh I hate the tone of so many of the threads on here about this vaccine.

I’m 41 and I had my first dose last week. I am incredibly grateful to have had it.

Let me be clear, I’m not a diehard patriotic fan of the British vaccine. It’s not the best vaccine that’s been created, that is clear. But it is a highly effective and safe vaccine. The main reason people are turning away from it is because we are so incredibly fortunate that the other even better vaccines were also created. If we didn’t (which was a high possibility) then I rather imagine people would be able to better put the tiny risks into perspective. But we have alternatives and we are so lucky to be in that situation. If you want to wait for Pfizer or moderna then go for it but please stop being so incredibly dramatic over the risks relying to the Oxford vaccine!!!

This vaccine is one of the main reasons we are now in such a good position as a country, and it will go on to help many other countries get out of this as well. If we’d been relying on Pfizer and moderna we would be so much further behind. I can well foresee in this country that Astra Zeneca will end up getting phased out as the immediate danger of the pandemic passes and that’s ok. But it did a job and it did it well, and it is needed in many other countries.

And I for one would like to acknowledge what an amazing job they have done. The work and pressure involved must have been immense. And now to see people acting like they’d be getting a dose of poison and guaranteed death if they get this vaccine must be so hard. Never have we been in this situation were millions and millions of people are getting the same dose of something in such a short period of time. If we’d been seeing the tiny number of clots come in over the course of years, again I think it would be much easier for people to rationalise the numbers.

So thank you to the team that created this. I appreciate all you have done. Thank you for getting us to this position where we can hopefully begin to put our lives back together again. Thank you for being willing to supply this amazing vaccine so cheaply that poor countries can afford to use it unlike the others. Thank you.

I work in two high contact jabs, and had a massive sense of relief on receiving both my AZ doses. Moving on, I have contact with many who we don't expect to wear masks, but also those quite a few who don't care about others, won't distance, don't wear a mask - I'm so careful I have some protection and hopefully protection for my family.

Here here!

It is the Oxford/AZ vaccine (and probably J&J and Novovax) that will ultimately overcome this pandemic as it is cheap and stable at warmer temperatures.

The AZ vs Pfizer discussion is extremely narrow in perspective and transient in nature.

We still haven’t reached the peak of this global pandemic. There is such a long way to go globally.

I am a scientist and I will freely admit that when I heard Prof Gilbert banging on in early April 2020 about the vaccine, on every bloody TV channel one week, I was furious with her!

I felt she was massively misleading the public as a new drug in pre clinical phase is really unlikely to be successful. She was already talking about having it “ready” by autumn 2020 (by which she meant completed Phase 3).

“This is unethical!” I said. “She knows the scale up and manufacture will take many months if we’re lucky!”. I was really down on her.

A few weeks later the government announced they would invest in Oxford’s and (imperial I think) programmes. Then I realised she was just trying to secure the investment.
She did it and AZ and the government invested massively up front to develop manufacturing in parallel. Previously unheard of and at massive risk.

It could so easily have gone wrong (like Sarnofi)

When the study results came out I could not believe my eyes. We couldn’t have dreamt of such success.

We really witnessed a miracle.

I eat all my words and I am incredibly grateful that someone like Sarah Gilbert (and of course all her colleagues) had the sheer brass ovaries to make this happen, because being brilliant simply isn’t enough.

I really hope the whole study team is richly rewarded with the respect they deserve.

Couldn't agree more! I'm 35 and off for my second dose of AZ tomorrow and thankful for it.

Agreed.

AZ is the vaccine game changer. Not for profit and a vaccine for the masses. We hand out the contraception pill with a similar/if not bigger risk to girls with bad skin

I agree.

@Iceniii

They have done a great job, really they have, but I don't think it is 'whinning' if people are concerned.

The risk profile continues to change, the plans for administering it continue to change, and entire countries have completely different advise around who should have it. All based on medical expertise. All with different outcomes. I dislike the dismissing nature and superiority of people who can't acknowledge this.

Agreed.

@everythingthelighttouches

Here here!

It is the Oxford/AZ vaccine (and probably J&J and Novovax) that will ultimately overcome this pandemic as it is cheap and stable at warmer temperatures.

The AZ vs Pfizer discussion is extremely narrow in perspective and transient in nature.

We still haven’t reached the peak of this global pandemic. There is such a long way to go globally.

I am a scientist and I will freely admit that when I heard Prof Gilbert banging on in early April 2020 about the vaccine, on every bloody TV channel one week, I was furious with her!

I felt she was massively misleading the public as a new drug in pre clinical phase is really unlikely to be successful. She was already talking about having it “ready” by autumn 2020 (by which she meant completed Phase 3).

“This is unethical!” I said. “She knows the scale up and manufacture will take many months if we’re lucky!”. I was really down on her.

A few weeks later the government announced they would invest in Oxford’s and (imperial I think) programmes. Then I realised she was just trying to secure the investment.
She did it and AZ and the government invested massively up front to develop manufacturing in parallel. Previously unheard of and at massive risk.

It could so easily have gone wrong (like Sarnofi)

When the study results came out I could not believe my eyes. We couldn’t have dreamt of such success.

We really witnessed a miracle.

I eat all my words and I am incredibly grateful that someone like Sarah Gilbert (and of course all her colleagues) had the sheer brass ovaries to make this happen, because being brilliant simply isn’t enough.

I really hope the whole study team is richly rewarded with the respect they deserve.

I love this post

Always good to say thank you if you’re grateful for something but maybe you’d be better to send some sort of thank you to AZ, rather than post on mumsnet or at least as well as.

I have already sent various grateful tweets to relevant parties thank you @KaleSlayer

Hear hear! It's the easily produced at high volume, easily stored and transported and inexpensive AZ vaccine that will save the world from coronavirus. Pfizer and Moderna will be useful in the countries that most need fast efficient universal roll out of vaccines. And they're non-profit!

Word

Couldn't agree more. It is awful that they have had such bad press when they have done so much for us all.

I hope in time they will receive the credit they deserve (currently waiting for my second jab).

I’m extremely grateful, too, and I will be having my second dose of AZ when it’s my turn.

Here here! I'm 35 and had AZ, second dose this week and I'm so so grateful to be in this position, to feel safer and be getting some life back as a result of the vaccine success.
Thank you to all the scientists

Me too. Just had my first dose and I’m so glad we have this vaccine: it’s put the UK in a much safer place than we would have been without it. In India there are signs that it is effective even against the variant there, which is really reassuring.

The low cost and the fact it can be stored in a normal fridge means that this is far more significant for far more people than Pfizer and Moderna, which are made for developed-world conditions.

Agree

I agree. Life saving breakthrough

Really relieved I’ve had first dose so far

Yep I agree with you all

Baffling they way people slag off a vaccine that works so well. It is on a par results wise with Pfizer in real world data. Proven to work against the India variant.

We will start using it again across all age ranges if the cases get higher again. The regulators have already started that. Nothing wrong with the vaccine. Other countries are desperate for it.

What a great post, agree so much. The whingeing on here about AZ is unbelievable.

Tell that to the families of the people who have died because of the side effect that they failed to predict and still don't understand.

I have already sent various grateful tweets to relevant parties thank you @KaleSlayer**

That makes more sense then. I was thinking how would AZ know you were grateful by posting on mumsnet.

I haven’t seen much slagging off of the vaccine. It’s clearly working which is many people’s only concern. I have seen people having questions about safety for example but people are right to question things.

Anyway, I won’t derail the thread, being as the aim of the thread was of course to thank AZ and nothing else.

@Ninefeettall those deaths are obviously extremely sad but it remains a very small number out of millions and millions vaccinations given and is certainly also significantly smaller than the already thousands and thousands of lives that have been saved by this vaccine.

Nothing in life is risk free. All medicines/vaccinations/illnesses come with potential consequences.

What a nice thread. I wholeheartedly agree. Eagerly awaiting my second dose and being able to get together with family again this summer and see the babies who were born last spring and who I haven't had a go of yet.

[quote MarcelineMissouri]@Ninefeettall those deaths are obviously extremely sad but it remains a very small number out of millions and millions vaccinations given and is certainly also significantly smaller than the already thousands and thousands of lives that have been saved by this vaccine.

Nothing in life is risk free. All medicines/vaccinations/illnesses come with potential consequences.[/quote]
That's true and the risk is still small, but for some cohorts the data shows that the risk of catastrophic brain blood clots is the same as or greater than an ICU admission with Covid (hence the switch of jabs for the under-39s).

I'm extremely pro-vaccination, but I'm not sure that means that I should rush to have one that actually gives me a greater risk of CVST (brain) clots than dying of the disease itself! It's openly acknowledged by the JCVI that the risk profile for many people is very finely balanced, and that it isn't a negligible risk. The risk profile is changing as more data emerges for younger people getting vaccinated.

If the risk profile isn't right in younger cohorts, its important that other vaccines are offered - or vaccine hesitancy and loss of confidence will affect not just this vaccine rollout, but also prevent people from having what looks likely to be regular boosters.

That doesn't mean at all that the AZ isn't great, and it may well be far and away the best vaccine for most parts of the world where the risk may again look very different due to lack of good acute medical care compared to here and increased risks of death from Covid.

@Passthesauce

Couldn't agree more. It is awful that they have had such bad press when they have done so much for us all.

I hope in time they will receive the credit they deserve (currently waiting for my second jab).

Agree with all of this.

My second dose is next week. My daughter debated holding off as she was just 32 when she was offered her first, and then the news broke that it wasn't going to be given to younger people any more, but she went ahead and had it - no regrets, looking forward to her second dose.