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.

No @incredibleoverwhelm, I have explained that I personally find the drama some have made over extremely events, with notable absence of full information and context, to be irritating. I'm done with repeating that now, let's stop derailing someone else's thread.

@MotherOfCrocodiles

I did dress my daughter as Sarah Gilbert for superhero day at nursery too!

Love that!

@QuentininQuarantino

The research for the AZ vaccine was done at Oxford university so I can guarantee they won't be getting hefty bonuses, plus it's being distributed on a not for profit basis.

I'm so pleased to see a thread praising AZ for a change. I think that the development of this vaccine has given us two things to celebrate. First the determination of the Oxford team to produce a vaccine for the world that was easy to store and cheap to buy rather than a vaccine for the first world which is all Pfizer will ever be given it is so expensive and very few poorer countries could roll it out beyond the odd big city.

Secondly that AZ were prepared to buy in to the vision and get behind the vaccine.

A bit of me does feel that there is a lot of sour grapes elsewhere.....

@minniemomo that is disappointing - my Dh is a researcher in biomedicine and they get little bonuses when the big boss does.

But not for profit doesn’t mean they haven’t made lots of money on share prices and there’s obviously enough for the big boss!

Lovely to see this thread. I think Oxford/AZ did an amazing job to get this vaccine out so quickly, I'm another who is very grateful for it.

I had my second dose today.

I can't agree more - so grateful for my vaccine from AZ and so so grateful for the way they've approached the not for profit model until the Pandemic is over.

I'm so grateful for the AZ vaccine and have received both doses. I tested positive on a recent antibody test; to my knowledge, I haven't had COVID so this is almost certainly thanks to the vaccine.

And it is a GOOD vaccine

twitter.com/marcotrizzino/status/1392863328851177472?s=21

Me too.

I really hope Oxford/AZ win the Nobel Prize for what they've done (despite the issues). Their vaccine is the work horse of the world and is being done at cost price (I believe they are the only covid vaccine manufacturers not for profit).

Had my second AZ today, caught the nurses eye and had to do a big gulp as I was overcome with emotion for just a second.

Science is a wonderful thing, thank you to the wonderful boffins at Oxford.

Hear, hear, OP.

Thanks again to all our vaccines. 11,700 deaths and 33,000 hospitalisations prevented so far.

twitter.com/fact_covid/status/1393097422646153218?s=21

[quote MarcelineMissouri]Thanks again to all our vaccines. 11,700 deaths and 33,000 hospitalisations prevented so far.

twitter.com/fact_covid/status/1393097422646153218?s=21[/quote]
Awesome ❤

I agree, it’s fantastic. I always said this was the one which is going to save the world.

I’m under 40, so will be having Pfizer next week.

But I still applaud Ox-AZ for what they’ve managed to achieve, which in such a short space of time is truly beyond miraculous.

I'm adding my thanks. Delighted to have been given both jabs

Had both AZ jabs - no side effects at all.
A big Thankyou to everyone involved in this vaccines development, procurement and supply.

More amazing figures. So many people treating this like a second best vaccine.

twitter.com/thatryanchap/status/1393449636216639492?s=21

I agree - it's fantastic what the AZ team have achieved, I feel very grateful for my AZ jabs.

I agree Sarah Gilbert at Oxford should have been invested as a Dame. If Captain Tom bless him could get the queen out of her bubble surely she should get a gong.

I say this as someone with possible lingering side effects from my AZ jab (40+) but you only have to look at the figures to see the impact the Vax program had had.

twitter.com/devansinha/status/1395369672992870406?s=21

More data on effectiveness

Amazing! I’m still not sure what to about my second dose of AZ. Don’t worry, I’m having it! I’m not sure whether to have it after 8 weeks or wait until 11/12 weeks as I’ve read that it’s more effective after the longer interval. Added to that I have a needle phobia so getting it out of the way seems appealing!

Extraordinary achievement by Oxford AstraZeneca team.

I had my second dose today, and am bloody delighted to have had a vaccine that cost our country £3 rather than £12 a dose.

Lives are priceless, but lack of money overall causes deaths in other ways.

And I agree, it is Ox-AZ that will address the pandemic globally, and in the end that is of benefit to us all. Variants not given breeding grounds, world health = world trade and travel, in addition to the millions and millions of lives saved ion countries which do not have ICU or the facilities to store Pfizer et al.

I posted this on another thread at the end of April:

"I saw AZ described as "the workhorse vaccine for the world" in a report in the week - it's effective, inexpensive, and easily transported and stored. I am hugely grateful to every single person involved in any way whatsoever with it's development, trialling, manufacturing, distribution and jabbing!"

That's still the important thing, but on a personal note, I am 2 weeks post my 2nd dose tomorrow and I have a slot booked to visit a museum in London in the week. So, so glad to be able to get back to doing things I love - thanks to this vaccine.

I can't wait for my second jab.