Alternatives to AstraZeneca vaccine for under 40s “will be considered” amid rise in blood clots Thread 3

[Whichjab]

New thread as the MRHA report is out today.

Note this is not an anti vaccination thread.

Hang on so the guidance now says Pfzier or Moderna for pregnant women. Are they offering that for 2nd doses after AZ too? I would love another baby

Ah thanks @Grellbunt hmmmm interesting!

Also, and I'm not sure how to put this, but does anyone else find that other people (and unfortunately this conversation seems to come up an awful lot) treat you like you're absolutely neurotic and selfish?

I know a fair few people who've had the second AZ, even with pretty unpleasant side effects first time round, and their attitude is very much, 'Oh, but the risk is so small. I'm sensible, I know how to calculate risk, and besides, it's so important to protect other people.'

Whereas I feel that the risk may be small, but it's there in a way it isn't with the other vaccines. And if it does go wrong, it's very wrong.

I genuinely can't get my head around why other people aren't scared or angry, and then I feel like one of the anti-vax Covid-deniers, which I'm not at all.

I'm just angry I suppose that we're being expected to take this risk unquestioningly and are vilified when we express concerns.

@SheilaTakeABow i agree. I think people have been so worn down and hyped up over the last year they accept things they wouldn’t before. I feel gaslighted on a daily basis.
I used to get jabbed up to travel all the time without a care, now I have to worry the cure is worse than the cause.

*@SheilaTakeABow i agree. I think people have been so worn down and hyped up over the last year they accept things they wouldn’t before. I feel gaslighted on a daily basis. *
I used to get jabbed up to travel all the time without a care, now I have to worry the cure is worse than the cause.

Yes to all this. I am sure more women in their 40s are currently dying or becoming seriously ill after AZ than from Covid yet we are still not given a choice and then made to feel bad for not being vaccinated.

I have stopped talking about it with people. I am more or less forced stay at home because I am not yet vaccinated.

But this is causing me so much stress and because of what you say I cannot even discuss it with anyone to get support in real life. I feel so isolated and angry. So many of the men in my life over 50/40 got Pfizer but no, we women over 40-49 given no choice. And they won't release figures broken down by sex.

The risk is small but brain damage or death is no joke. I won't be coerced. It's unethical.

I've had covid.

It was like a mild sore throat.

I'll take my chances with it again.

Some of the under 40s I saw at the vaccination clinic were puffing and vaping away and many really didn't look as though they looked after their health. Yet I'm told my risk from covid is greater than theirs as a justification for taking the risk of a flawed vaccine? I'm not buying that.

If you had AZ as a first dose, can you actually get a different vaccine as a second dose of ticking the pregnant box. Or does the system still take you to AZ centres?
Does the ticking the pregnant box only get you to mRNA vaccination sites if it is a first dose ???

@Grellbunt

I've had covid.

It was like a mild sore throat.

I'll take my chances with it again.

Some of the under 40s I saw at the vaccination clinic were puffing and vaping away and many really didn't look as though they looked after their health. Yet I'm told my risk from covid is greater than theirs as a justification for taking the risk of a flawed vaccine? I'm not buying that.

I've had Covid too and, while it wasn't pleasant, at least some of that was due to the sheer terror I felt after being bombarded with tales of how dangerous it was for the preceding six months.

It has left me with lingering smell and taste issues, and I am fully aware it is extremely serious for some people, but my experience really does make me think there should be a degree of discretion when it comes to vaccines, rather than all this shaming and pressure.

Plenty of scientists are saying that a natural infection protects as well as a vaccine. In France, I believe if you've had Covid, you only need one jab if you've been previously infected, to act as a booster.

Why are we so fixated on giving everyone two jabs of a vaccine with potentially deadly side effects? Why is that the only socially acceptable solution, even for people who have already had Covid and been fine?

Anyone still waiting for a first dose, have a look for walk-in vaccination clinics in your area or nearby. Lots were advertised in my area this week (a London borough) and some specifically say "Pfizer clinic, open to everyone over 25, no appointment needed".

@Leaveitonthefloordrobe I joined Mumsnet this morning to post exactly what you've written, as I am in the same situation.

I've been following this discussion for a while. I've tried many of the tips suggested here (thank you all!) to try and get an alternative to AZ for my first dose but with no success. I've got no walk in centres near me, and my GP is no longer running vaccination clinics, so my only option is the central booking system. I booked one place as I read on another thread that they were offering Pfizer, but I got put in the AZ queue based on my booking, and despite asking and speaking to the head clinician there, there was no way they'd move me to the Pfizer queue.

From playing with the central booking centre options, I have found if I tick that I'm pregnant I get offered centres that aren't available if I'm not pregnant. Likewise I can book locations that I know offer AZ, which aren't available if I tick the pregnant box. I can only assume that based on my age (43), the central booking system won't even let me select Pfizer only vaccination clinics. I've talked to my GP and they say their hands are tied. So I'm stuck with AZ as the only option, despite the data showing the occurence of clots in my age group going up weekly.

So I've done what you've done Floordrobe and have ticked to say that I could be pregnant. My plan is to say, if asked, that I'm hoping for a lucky accident as a last chance this year, but haven't tested yet. I'll have to wait and see what I'm offered at my appointment this weekend.

Good luck with yours Floordrobe, and thank you everyone for the supportive messages on this thread, and the links to the data. I'm the only unvaccinated adult I know, and this thread has helped me feel that I'm not alone and that my concerns are shared by others.

I am on day nine after my second dose, marking time until I can relax about the blood clot risk . It is quite stressful. I had mine done in the GP’s and I was trying to ask about alternatives (they refuse to discuss anything to do with vaccination over the phone) when my GP just jabbed me, so that was that!
Interesting about France only giving one dose for those who have been infected. I haven’t been tested for antibodies so I don’t know if I was infected early on or not. Certainly I have had a big reaction to each vaccine, and I feel that I probably didn’t need this one. I am worrying about blood clots but also the long term effects on me as I already have autoimmune disease and I don’t want to aggravate my immune system further.
Is it possible to get tested for antibodies 16 months on ? As my eldest dc is 16 and may be offered the vaccine soon, but if she has antibodies then I won’t get her vaccinated.

My plan is to say, if asked, that I'm hoping for a lucky accident as a last chance this year, but haven't tested yet

That's what I'm thinking. I'll say that I always could be pregnant because I'm notnkn contraceptives. They don't need to know that DH andni aren't exactly at it like rabbits!

Anyway, I'm leaving now, I'll let you know how I get on. I've already decided I'll walk away unvaccinated if they say it's AZ or nothing.

My plan is to say, if asked, that I'm hoping for a lucky accident as a last chance this year, but haven't tested yet

I was thinking this but at nearly 47 I'm not sure they'd believe me!!

I'm pretty much resigned to not having a vaccine if it is AZ or nothing, I have stopped considering AZ as an option.

I'm so angry that there are still women over 40 struggling with this issue. I got lucky and got a no show Pfizer by pure chance but I'd still be waiting if I hadn't. For people to be told it's AZ or nothing, for a GP to say my hands are tied, for people to be filtered off and put in AZ queues at Pfizer clinics... what the hell do we call all that? As a group we have been massively let down by this system.

We shouldn't have to wait for the numbers to get bad. They should have listened sooner. And the mind boggling thing? There ARE safer alternatives! They will never admit to all the lesser symptoms. The brain fog, extreme tiredness, aching joints. They'll say that would have happened to you anyway. In years to come we will look back and say that at least we listened to each other even if those in charge didn't.

@SirVixofVixHall, I've just taken an anti-body test thanks to the Zoe app, but my results aren't back yet. I had confirmed Covid in October, but I have heard a lot of people in the same position testing negative for antibodies .

I can't believe you were jabbed while you were asking - that's dreadful!

I just feel I don't know where to turn, as all HCPs say the same line about how small the risk is.

Everyone says us second-dosers should just put our big girl pants on and get it done, but I just feel the risk is something I'm not personally willing to take while the situation is still evolving.

@Maia77 I’m in my 30s and have had my first. Second is due this weekend. I cancelled it a few weeks ago, then rebooked after last week’s MHRA report due to rising cases of covid and having children in school / preschool but after last night’s report I have no idea what to do. My anxiety is through the roof.

Good luck @Leaveitonthefloordrobe I hope you’re able to get an alternative. Don’t feel bad if you need to lie about being pregnant people in their 40s have been left with no options.

@AppleJane, this analogy I read on Twitter perfectly sums it up for me...

Me: I would like to buy a car seat

Vendor: The Pfizer seat is good. AZ seat less good in certain kinds of collision + 1 in 200k chance it spontaneously explodes on the 1st drive but costs £10 less

Me: Thanks, I’ll take the Pfizer

Vendor: OMG WHY ARE YOU SO ANTI AZ??

[quote SheilaTakeABow]@SirVixofVixHall, I've just taken an anti-body test thanks to the Zoe app, but my results aren't back yet. I had confirmed Covid in October, but I have heard a lot of people in the same position testing negative for antibodies .

I can't believe you were jabbed while you were asking - that's dreadful!

I just feel I don't know where to turn, as all HCPs say the same line about how small the risk is.

Everyone says us second-dosers should just put our big girl pants on and get it done, but I just feel the risk is something I'm not personally willing to take while the situation is still evolving.[/quote]
Yes I completely understand and sympathise. I have two children at school so I was very torn. I would have definitely waited a bit longer and continued being extremely careful, if I wasn’t also juggling the needs of both dc. I was very reluctant to take the risk, I was dithering up until the last moment, and thought I would discuss it with the GP, then suddenly too late.
I would have preferred to have Pfizer as the second dose, or had antibodies tested and not had a second dose at all. I have weeks of worry ahead, my older dd is so worried she can’t sleep.

It's 14 weeks since my first AZ, it's so difficult but I think I might just wait it out and hope they will offer me an alternative in the near future 😬

When I arrived I gave my date of birth and the guy said "you're down as Pfizer but we'll be putting you into the AZ queue" I said I'd checked the "may be pregnant" box but he said it doesn't matter. I'd have to have AZ. Cue tears from me. They led me to the rooms, and had a Dr come out to me. He said because I was pregnant it would be Pfizer. I told him I wasn't pregnant but am having unprotected sex and hoping. So I got Pfizer but it wasn't without s fight. And now I'm wishing I had just stayed unvaccinated. What's this all about? Isn't covid a mild illness for most people? When did it change into this 100% death causing disease??

I also felt like they knew I was only saying I might be pregnant to get Pfizer. But they've forced us into this position haven't they?

And I'm not going to get into having annual boosters if that becomes a thing.

@Farmer5505

My plan is to say, if asked, that I'm hoping for a lucky accident as a last chance this year, but haven't tested yet

I was thinking this but at nearly 47 I'm not sure they'd believe me!!

I'm pretty much resigned to not having a vaccine if it is AZ or nothing, I have stopped considering AZ as an option.

Doesn't matter what they think. It's still possible 😊