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Original poster

For those of you who are double jabbed, I'd appreciate hearing your feelings on this

61 replies

Fernando072020 · 04/08/2021 07:46

Hi everyone,

For context, I live abroad where we still have some safety measures in place. I am due to get my second jab in 2 weeks. Until then, we are still being as careful as we can for the pure fact I don't fancy catching covid as it sounds horrendous. I'm also writing my master dissertation and have a 1 year old at home with no family nearby so I can't afford to get ill.

After we (DH and I) get our second vaccines in two weeks, we plan to take our little one swimming / to the zoo / playgroups etc. But I still feel nervous about going out and doing things, despite the fact we'll be double vaccinated as I know you can still catch it.

Does anyone else feel like this?
My logical brain tells me covid isn't going anywhere and with having both doses, we need to start "living" again. I'd love to go out and do things once more especially with an active 1 year old who loves seeing the world after only seeing the inside of our flat his whole life. Then I feel nervous again about catching it and becoming very ill. This has been exasperated by the fact that two friends told me recently their siblings have caught covid with one vaccination and have been very ill regardless.

I guess I'm just looking for tips and advice on how to relax about it all and carry on with my life after getting my two doses, or just to hear if anyone feels similarly to me!

Thanks all

OP posts:
PostMenWithACat · 04/08/2021 08:21

We are both double jabbed and have been since late May. We feel perfectly safe. DH goes up to London every day on public transport and uses the tube. I have been going into work a couple of times a week. We have eaten out, been to the theatre and even to church.

DS caught covid 4 days after his first jab. I took a chance and brought him home.from uni before he developed symptoms. I sat in the car with him.for three hours. He became symptomatic the following day. But, there was just one day when he felt really rough and it was all done and dusted in 4/5 days.

We self isolated and followed all the rules once he was home. Neither DH nor I caught it - we took lft tests daily.

AngelsWithSilverWings · 04/08/2021 08:24

DH and I both fully jabbed but still taking lots of precautions against Covid. Still wearing a mask in shops ( avoiding shops as much as possible) even though it's not required , still hand sanitising and keeping a distance from people when we can.

My teenage DCs are not vaccinated and one is on immunosuppressants.

We are now doing a lot of normal things though. We are camping at the moment and going to pubs/restaurants but choosing to sit outside. Where we feel safe we carry on as normal but if we feel we are at risk we remove ourselves from the situation.

I know quite a few double gabbed people who have been quite ill with the virus after catching it from their kids.

Topofthepopicles · 04/08/2021 08:24

I had covid quite badly, then have had two jabs. I try to continue with good hygiene, masks in busy places etc but otherwise I’m taking my children out and about to do fun things as I would have pre-covid in the school holidays. I think their needs have been so squashed during this whole period that as long as I’m allowed to, I will prioritise having fun with them.

YouthfulIndiscretion · 04/08/2021 08:26

IF you were in the UK I’d say that by the time you’d waited 2 weeks for full vaccine efficacy the case numbers would be down, but maybe that’s not the case where you are.

It’s not a great disease to catch, even mildly, and I’m kind of dreading it myself, but you’ll probably never be safer than you will be now - as a double vaccinated young woman with no health conditions I think it’s a case of “if not now then when?”. Yes they might invent an infallible prophylactic pill, but you could wait decades for that.

Hissysnake · 04/08/2021 08:26

I would and have done those things without even being vaccinated at all. I am now double jabbed, but was doing all of those things last summer when we could.

There is an element of risk to everything. Just because you are aware of someone anecdotally who did something, doesn't necessarily mean it will happen to you.

dottiedodah · 04/08/2021 08:28

We are both double jabbed here .Went on public transport (with my mask still on)! I think you need to get out and about with your LO if you can .Yes it is scary at first ,but you cant stay locked up for ever! A friend caught Covid after being double jabbed .Felt ill for about a week .then fine!

Daisy829 · 04/08/2021 08:29

Double jabbed but still cautious although ive been doing more bits the last few weeks. It’s a case of building confidence up again and just trying. If you feel uncomfortable just come away from the situation. The thought of it is often worse than the actual doing. I still wear my mask in shops.

TheWholeJingbang · 04/08/2021 08:31

Gradual e posture would be helpful I think

I still can’t go into a shop without a mask, just can’t do it - we all got used to the restrictions so quickly

ActonSquirrel · 04/08/2021 08:31

I was never afraid even without vaccines.

It is so nice to see mask use dropping in shops and people returning to normal. Life has to go on.

HeronLanyon · 04/08/2021 08:37

Good friend of mine is double jabbed and is currently extremely unwell with Covid - at home - far far worse than full blown proper flu (I’ve only had flu once in my life). This plus all the data about double jabbed still getting Covid and still transmitting Covid are all really sobering. I am being hugely cautious. Considering retiring early as have vulnerable partner and family. lawyer and doing mostly remote hearings. Courts and judges are increasingly insisting on in person hearings only. Just don’t feel ready to volunteer myself to unknown risk levels etc. Good luck op and support.

Stormyequine · 04/08/2021 08:37

I think once you get out and about it will start to feel normal very quickly. It is bound to feel weird at first, as you have been staying in for so long, so I would not over think it, just get on and do it.

JustMeAndWheatley · 04/08/2021 08:39

The honest answer is no, I don’t (or didn’t) feel like this.

Even before having the vaccine I didn’t worry about catching Covid. Insofar as I did worry, it was about inadvertently passing it to someone else. And I’m someone who worries about almost everything,

OliveTree75 · 04/08/2021 08:39

We have had covid and are double jabbed. We are trying to live life to the full atm. Zoos, cinema, theme parks etc. Me and DP are having our first child free night away tonight in 18 months tonight and I can't wait!

PostMenWithACat · 04/08/2021 08:44

I can't help wondering if some of the perceived problems about the seriousness of covid are due to the conflation with flu. So many people say they have flu when they have a heavy cold that I think the severity of influenza is underestimated.

I also think the covid stats have been misrepresented to keep people at thime. The chance of a fit and well person under 50, with a normal BMI, dying from covid are vanishingly small.

AliMonkey · 04/08/2021 08:45

We all make different decisions and there’s no right or wrong here. We are still wearing masks indoors 99% of the time (eg didn’t yesterday when we walked into restaurant where all windows open and staff not wearing and we were only people in there). We are doing all normal outside things but avoiding crowded indoor places unless necessary eg not going to theme park but going in supermarket. We are socially distancing from strangers (unless they eg walk right up behind us in a queue but at least that’s facing different ways) but I did give my best friend a hug last week.

My advice is to start slowly with outdoor things and once used to that gradually try some non-crowded indoor venues. In my area at least, most people over about 30 are still wearing masks indoors and most under 30 aren’t so maybe also first go to places you don’t expect to see many young adults.

Sisisimone · 04/08/2021 08:46

See it as a nasty dose of flu and get on with your life
It was nowhere near as bad as flu for me if it helps you. Just tired for a couple of days. Now I've had covid I don't worry at all about getting it again and have been double vaxxed so it feels like it's behind me. Although I know the virus is likely to be around for a long time there is no fear at all around getting it again. I think actually getting the virus was a bit of a blessing for me in this respect. I have health anxiety so before actually experiencing it I worried that I would be one of the minority that got really ill. Its just fear of the unknown isn't it. Remember 1 in 3 people have no symptoms at all. My DH didn't.

Sisisimone · 04/08/2021 08:48

I can't help wondering if some of the perceived problems about the seriousness of covid are due to the conflation with flu
Exactly. I've had flu twice in my life and it is fucking brutal. I felt so ill. Covid didn't even come close to it.

RobinPenguins · 04/08/2021 08:51

I felt the opposite and was chomping at the bit to get back out. Last week I sat in a bar with a friend and ordered drinks at the bar, without a mask on, having random conversations with the barman and the people next to me and completely forgot the shit show that the last 18 months has been. A little slice of normality has done absolute wonders for my health. Being double vaccinated, as I and all my family are, takes this down to the level of risk of other diseases / conditions - yes there’s a small chance I could get very ill, just as I know people my age who have been very ill with pneumonia, or sepsis, or flu. But I’d never restrict mine or my children’s lives for that.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 04/08/2021 08:54

I’m still wearing a mask in shops, and on public transport (where you’re obliged to in London) but not elsewhere.

FWIW we visited a stinking hot and extremely busy Legoland with GDcs a couple of weeks ago - no masks and often close to masses of other people, all still well.

Barton10 · 04/08/2021 08:54

Both DH and I are double jabbed. My DS tested positive last week and despite us all living together neither of us caught it from him. I am much more relaxed and feel safer now.

EarringsandLipstick · 04/08/2021 08:57

@Billandben444

See it as a nasty dose of flu and get on with your life. There are millions in the world who haven't got the luxury of doing this as they haven't got access to the vaccine.
Surely you realise for many it's a lot more serious than a dose of flu?
godmum56 · 04/08/2021 08:59

@Sisisimone

I can't help wondering if some of the perceived problems about the seriousness of covid are due to the conflation with flu Exactly. I've had flu twice in my life and it is fucking brutal. I felt so ill. Covid didn't even come close to it.
double jabbed here but with risk factors, one of which is being older. I don't think you can say "oh flu is worse than covid." There seems to be quite a range of outcomes in covid that. unlike flu doesn't always depend on how frail the person is. The young fit and healthy do get bed outcomes, even death which is not usual with flu. There is also the issue with the excess deaths...if flu is worse than covid over the population where did all the extra deaths come from? anyway I digress. I don't go to raves and pubs so much of the stuff that I can do wouldn't involve me anyway. I am going out maskless and letting workmen into my house maskless (another disaster story involving a leaking radiator and a squelchy carpet) I think be kind to yourself....change your behaviour by degrees and go easy on doing things that make you anxious.
Happy36 · 04/08/2021 09:00

Continue masks and social distancing measures when you go out and avoid crowds, poorly ventilated spaces, and those without masks. Stick to outdoor spaces.

Bryonyshcmyony · 04/08/2021 09:01

@Happy36

Continue masks and social distancing measures when you go out and avoid crowds, poorly ventilated spaces, and those without masks. Stick to outdoor spaces.
Or don't do any of this?
EarringsandLipstick · 04/08/2021 09:02

I'm in Ireland. Our vaccination programme has now outpaced the UK, with 12 - 15 year olds due to start being vaccinated in coming weeks.

Unlike the UK, thankfully, restrictions remain. There are varying views on this.

Gatherings are limited, especially indoors. Mask wearing continues and social distancing.

However I can do most of the things I want to, as can others and I don't feel restricted.

In your country what restrictions will be there?

Once vaccinated, you can make individual choices eg with outdoor activities being low-risk, and perhaps indoor ones less so. So you can graduate the choices you make, in line with your own preferences & local restrictions.