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.

Blimey @Leaveitonthefloordrobe, what a humiliating and degrading experience. Well done for standing your ground, and I'm pleased for you that you managed to get Pfizer.

Why do they think it is ok to treat women like this? When I tried to argue my case with a clinician at the central vaccination hub I went to, they wouldn't provide me with somewhere private. I had to stand in front of both queues and shout my concerns about my medical history of menstrual clots and fibroids so I could be heard through my mask, where I suspect I could also be heard by a colleague in the queue.

I spent the whole of the past year looking forward to getting vaccinated. I can't quite believe I'm now in the position I'm in.

@Leaveitonthefloordrobe what a stressful experience for you but well done for standing your ground. That’s exactly what o said to my husband last night. Last year it was thought to be silly worrying about covid if you’re in your 30s but now I’m worried about the potentially serious side effects of a second AZ it’s all about how small the risks of the vaccination are. As I reminded my husband the risks of the vaccination may be small but so are the risks of covid and in my case I may be more likely to die from the vaccination than covid, what a mare! I hope you are able to relax a bit this afternoon and feel ok.

What's this all about? Isn't covid a mild illness for most people? When did it change into this 100% death causing disease??

Yes we should hold onto this thought.

Just read this on Sky News:

As of 7 June, there have been 42 deaths in England of people confirmed as having the Delta variant and who died within 28 days of testing positive.

Of these people, 23 were unvaccinated, seven had had their first dose more than 21 days before and 12 had their second dose more than 14 days before.

news.sky.com/story/covid-19-delta-variant-60-more-transmissible-than-alpha-and-more-resistant-to-vaccines-phe-reports-12330068

12 had had both doses (though I accept these are probably likely to have been elderly / vulnerable people) so this leads me to think that if I were to take the risk of having the AZ, it might not protect me anyway.

This is absolutely disgraceful.

Women's dignity does not seem to be a priority!

So angry.

@Leaveitonthefloordrobe sorry you had to go through that, awful

what a humiliating and degrading experience yes, exactly that. It did feel humiliating and degrading. To have to keep saying "I might be pregnant, I could get pregnant, I'm having unprotected sex" . Why put someone in an AZ queue if they've been marked down as Pfizer just based on their age? I don't understand why they're so aggressively trying to vaccinate women over 40 with AZ.

@Leaveitonthefloordrobe

what a humiliating and degrading experience yes, exactly that. It did feel humiliating and degrading. To have to keep saying "I might be pregnant, I could get pregnant, I'm having unprotected sex" . Why put someone in an AZ queue if they've been marked down as Pfizer just based on their age? I don't understand why they're so aggressively trying to vaccinate women over 40 with AZ.

Leaveit...may I ask if you are in Scotland? Interested to know where this is happening.

I'm not Grellbunt, I'm in England.

Ok so I went and had my 2nd az. I had a melt down but did it. I felt surprisingly more calm after.
Now I have to deal with the wait. I may have some blood tests over the next week or so.
They are still doing AZ for 2nd doses even if you are pregnant where I went btw they showed me the rcog leaflets they had.
It’s disgusting what they are doing to us to be honest.
I am happy you got Pfzier @Leaveitonthefloordrobe but the way you had to get it is ludicrous

Apologies for the bad grammar its been a bad morning!
I think they have limited Pfzier so just foster the crappy AZ on middle aged women as we don’t count.

Well done Jabbinell I'm glad you're feeling calmer now. As I understand it the risk is far greater for first vaccinations but I don't know if that will quell your anxiety (it wouldn't for me! I don't give a stuff how small the chances are; it doesn't make a blind bet of difference if you're the one! I have little to no chance of winning the lottery but I still buy a ticket!). It's done though, so at least the worry of whether to havebitnor not will be gone. That's how I feel today. I got vaccinated just so that (a) people would stop asking me and (b) so that every waking moment wouldn't be consumed with worrying about whether to have it or not.

Drink lots of water as I've heard that can help keep side effects at bay. I'll be doing the same.

[quote SheilaTakeABow]@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]

Perfectly summed up! 😂

Thanks

They seem determined to make it as difficult as possible don't they?

I had my 2nd AZ last Friday, I am on edge every day waiting to see if I get a blood clot. This is a nightmare! My mental health is already awful because of severe health anxiety and depression. Just about managing to get through each day.

@Leaveitonthefloordrobe you will sleep well tonight! I had the best night's sleep after mine and didn't care about the sore arm, it reminded me of the fight!

But gawd, how you had to fight. I'm truly gobsmacked. This pandemic has shown us a nasty side to those with a little bit of power.

Kaylasmum49 I'm so sorry you're feeling that way and I understand completely

This pandemic has shown us a nasty side to those with a little bit of power Indeed. It's also made me realise that if this were Gilead of have been shipped off to the colonies 😢

This is so wrong what they have done. The last few posts read as though people felt truly forced to be vaccinated and are now living with the fear of the possible side effects. In what world is this ok?
People should out and out have the choice. It’s all gone very quiet on the transmission of covid amongst vaccinated people but it was definitely the case that they were saying earlier on it didn’t stop spread. Well in that case, it is purely for one’s own self protection and therefore it should be up to each individual to make that decision for themselves. There should be no coercion, no scare tactics, no social disadvantage and no shame.

If you have a medical issue that requires surgery you are given all of the possible outcomes and negative side effects and left to make the decision for yourself. Why is covid treated so very differently? It wrong on every level and personally I refuse to engage; almost as a matter of ethics and principle.

I am early 40’s and had symptomatic covid last October. It was like a 3 day long mild hangover for me and I am perfectly satisfied that my immune system - handed down and refined via a millennia of ancestors - is now ready and waiting should I encounter the same or similar virus again.

And I’m also currently in france and it is correct that if you have previously had covid then you only need one vaccine dose for a possible booster effect. With a record of one previous infection and one dose of vaccine you are registered as fully vaccinated on their EU wide health pass setup. Furthermore, they even advise not getting the vaccine for at least 6 months after infection because they consider it a “waste” of vaccine when they know that you will already have natural protection. You can also choose to have whichever vaccine you want.
If all the facts you are fed in the U.K. is true then why does the information and advice differ like this?

@Jabbinell I’m glad you’re feeling calmer. I hope you feel ok. @Kaylasmum49 I’m sorry you’re struggling it’s so hard isn’t it. I’m a mess today trying to decide what to do about my second, the impact of all of this on our mental health isn’t good. I struggled so much after my first and I’m not sure I can face another 4 weeks of that again. I’m also not sure I can actually manage to go and get it done without making a complete fool of myself I’ve cried lots of times this morning just at the thought of it and trying to make the decision. I can understand why you’d feel calmer once it’s actually done.

The last few posts read as though people felt truly forced to be vaccinated I think that's how a great many people feel I genuinely don't understand this mass vaccine drive, and I'm annoyed now that I went along with it instead of feeling confident in my body's ability to fight the infection should I come into contact with it.
That's it for me. I'll complete my vaccination but I will not be having annual boosters.

@SirVixofVixHall that’s surely a disciplinary matter that you were jabbed before you’d had a chance to discuss it. Had you signed consent forms?

It's so bloody shite isn't it? There is no way on earth i will getting a AZ booster. I'm 50.

There are a lot of people being gung-ho about AZ vaccination - usually those who had their first vaccine before the link with clots was known (I think they don't like to contemplate it might've been them) or because of some perverse sense of national pride (because Oxford was involved in it) or because they think they aren't buying into the nasty profit-making pharmaceutical industry by going with AZ or because we should just be bloody grateful ...

Most people I know who's had covid had very mild symptoms, even older people. Only one person ended up in hospital extremely ill.

@lostinacloud I agree the stats on reduction of transmission have never been very convincing. There was a big headline announcement at one point saying with the great news that transmission amongst vaccinated people is reduced by ‘up to 50%’ . Even 50% isn’t enough to warrant all this coercion.

I’ve got a feeling that natural immunity will turn out to be more useful than its being given any credit for. I was someone for whom AZ was a completely unacceptable risk due to having had a mild case of covid. I’be been in high risk environments (in an enclosed room 1-1 with 50+ different people a week, on buses, on tubes, in close contact with family members who had covid a few months after I did) and I never had a symptomatic infection again. Cases of second confirmed infections being worse than the first are ‘vanishingly’ rare to steal a popular phrase and yet this isn’t acknowledged when people discuss their own risk/ benefit profiles.

Excuse typos

Indeed. It's also made me realise that if this were Gilead of have been shipped off to the colonies

You'd have all of us for company!

I know you're not supposed to compare situations to Nazi Germany but all this pulling people out of queues and injecting before they've even had a chance to consent. It really makes you realise just how frightening the war years must have been for Jewish people and anyone else who did not agree. Heart breaking.