Why are people still accepting AZ? Will it be stopped?

[Bitzyboo]

DH went for his Covid vaccine today. (Under 40 so he got Moderna)

The queue at the vaccine centre was enormous.
The attended in the car park told us they were running behind on appointments and the queue was for second doses.

Dh got chatting to the guy that did his vaccine, he told him that in their vaccination centre they were using moderna for first doses and AZ were all for second.

It’s really surprised me that there’s such a huge uptake of AZ given the risk associated.
I thought by now it would have been stopped.

Are people still happily accepting it?

Im getting astrazeneca on wednesday. I will take my chances thanks.

You're not 'genuinely surprised'.

You're genuinely shit-stirring is what you're doing.

17 cases out of millions of 2nd doses. Tiny risk! I've had both az , the efficacy coming out of real life trials is putting it pretty much on par with Pfizer plus there is no sign of efficacy declining unlike Pfizer. No data yet on moderna as its relatively new in the UK.

@musicalfrog

You're not 'genuinely surprised'.

You're genuinely shit-stirring is what you're doing.

Yep. Have to agree.

@Bitzyboo - it’s quite simple really. People have weighed up what they perceive the risks to be and what they perceive the benefits to be and the benefits won.

Interesting first post from the OP...

(A) there's not a huge risk and (B) second doses need to be the same brand (they are looking into mixing but no results yet). I'm having mine tomorrow, there's no option of a different brand

It’s probably because I’m not very good at perceiving risk (which I have always put down to being autistic, and the way I process information) and thankfully no, my job doesn’t involve explaining risk

I'm also probably autistic and my job does involve explaining risk to people. I could probably tell you a hundred things you do every day OP without thinking about it that are statistically more dangerous than the Astra Zeneca jab. Have you ever used stairs or had a shower, crossed the road, ridden a bike, taken a painkiller had an X-ray, been out in public during a pandemic etc etc etc? All probably statistically more dangerous than the Astra Zeneca jab.

For all the under 40s who had the AZ before more information came to light, there are only 2 options; have a second AZ or have no second vaccine as they are only mixing vaccines in very exceptional circumstances.

Surely you do some risk assessments in your line of work.

@musicalfrog

If you know you’re not good at assessing risk @Bitzyboo then you maybe should not have started a scaremongering thread.

@pinkearedcow

Interesting first post from the OP...

Yup, yet again.

I don't see any reason not to have my second. The risk is tiny.

In principle not a fan of censorship, but the OP's post does make me wonder.

And ‘OP’, risk comes from many directions.

The risk of blood clots from AZ or really tiny.
Though possibly a tiny tiny bit higher than the chance of an U40 or U30 yo dying from COVID.

All teeny tiny.

BUT even if the (tiny) risk of the vaccine is a tiny bit higher than the tiny risk of the virus, the virus will fuck up all our lives if we don’t get it under control. Wrecked economy means lower standard of living, means worse health care, higher mental health issues, higher crime rates..

We want life, and we want quality of life.

AZ costs £3 a dose and can be stored and distributed without complication. Pfizer costs £15 a dose and is hard to store and distribute.

Which, overall, will support lives and quality of life?

The age cutoff is too low. It should be 60, possibly 50. The 40-49 bracket have been found in other regions to be the most at risk of the clots, it’s just this government has decided to weigh up overall Covid risk against that.

PinkSparklyPussyCat
I don't see how they can stop it. What about those of us who have had one dose? I don't want to be half vaccinated or take the risk of mixing vaccines

They won’t stop it in the short to medium term. I think they’ll tweak or replace it in the long-term.

(Just the record I think the risks of AZ are tiny and I would have had it if it was what was offered to me.)

OP, on the off chance that you actually want to increase your level of understanding, rather than position yourself as yet another irrational member of the public who thinks they know better than educated professionals, can I suggest that you read the work of David Spiegelhalter, professor of the public understanding of risk (spoiler, they don't, mostly), eg www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2021/mar/21/do-not-fear-the-astrazeneca-covid-jab-the-risks-are-minimal

The risk is infinitesimal. That is why people are continuing to have it. They have weighed up the comparative risks and concluded that it is right to have it.

I think you are over-reacting and need to consider the risk to others' lives in perpetuating these threads.

At some point people will surely get bored of this shit-stirring. I wouldn't mind so much for the UK where enough people are comfortable with risk assessment, but it's affecting global take-up in many countries where people are vulnerable and will wait years for anything else to be available. I hope they can live with the responsibility for the deaths they will cause, it would weigh too heavily on me.

I'm a big picture person, I look at the near identical mortality rate for all UK vaccine options, and I look at the high mortality rate from covid, and I look at the near certainty that we will come across covid in coming years with our lives; simple choice. So yes, of course I had the second dose to be fully vaccinated. Then I took the time to thank the Oxford and Astrazeneca teams too for all their work to make this happen, because I'm well aware we could all be sat here with no working vaccines of any sort to hoist us out of this pandemic.

I’m double jabbed with AZ and delighted about it! Yes, I understand there’s a risk. However, it’s a really small risk and I understand that all medical procedures carry risk. I’m having a routine surgery very soon. I understand that the general anaesthetic has a risk (a greater risk than the AZ vaccination) and I am happy to proceed with that too; if we are to live life, we need to accept risks.

Between 3 and 10 women per million die due to blood clots caused by contraception. That's far higher than the Az jab

I cancelled my second dose.

Why?

I'm in two minds whether to have my second dose of AZ. After the first one, I had several episodes of "visual migraines" lasting about 40 minutes, one a day on several days (but not all days) up to two weeks after the jab. I also found an unexplained dark purple bruise on my leg just above the knee. I booked a GP phone appointment but had to wait more than a week for it. After the phone consultation the GP called me in to the surgery for the next day. He looked at the bruise, which was by that time fading and partially healed, asked whether I had any pinprick-type bruising and when I said no seemed to lose interest. He exerted all his charm, persuading me to have the second AZ jab. I have been dithering ever since, but haven't cancelled the appointment for the second jab. What would I do if I didn't have it? That would leave me exposed and at risk of the virus. No one has made any suggestion as to what I should do. No one has suggested I should do anything but take the second jab, although don't my symptoms after the first suggest that I might be at more risk of a blood clot than other members of the population? One consideration I have is that judging by the long time it took to be seen after the symptoms, what hope would I have of getting help in time if they should prove severe the second time?