Anyone had delta, but unvaccinated?

[BrokenArrows]

I've posted before about my extreme anxiety to get the vaccine. Every time I think 'ok, I'm going to get it' I panic a few hours later and think I'll be messing up my menstrual cycle forever (I will start a separate thread about that), and stress out about the potential for getting a blood clot (slim I know, and not my biggest worry until I start thinking about the people who have died from a clot). I also worry about the dozen or so women that I follow on social media who have lost movement in their limbs, or are living with spasms and tingly limbs and fingers as a result of nerve damage. The side effects are a constant worry. As is actually catching covid. I've managed to dodge it so far, but I've got a young child in nursery and another in school. He's had a few children in his class come down with covid, but so far he's managed to dodge it. I'm a bit stressed this evening though to know that his friend's dad has tested positive for it, but the child in his class will still be attending. I'm petrified of the vaccine, and of covid itself. My husband (also unvaxxed) is insistent that no healthy person actually dies o covid (I think this is a ridiculous statement btw, but last time I mentioned an article I read about a young fit and healthy doctor who died 9 weeks after contracting it and spending that time in ICU he got really angry with me and threw it in my face yelling at me calling me ignorant and that he's read many peer reviewed journals on the subject blah blah blah. My point I was trying to make to him was that many seemingly healthy people die, and perhaps they had undetected underlying health conditions. Maybe I do as well? He certainly does, but I'll give him credit that he has an amazing immune system and mine is not the greatest. A simple cold for me last 2 weeks on average which is quite frustrating.

Ramble over. What I basically want to know is - if you (or anyone you know) is unvaccinated (and willing to admit it), and you've caught covid in the past 6 months, how did you feel with it? On deaths door? In the ICU? Just a cough? Completely asymptomatic? I feel like we just hear about the unvaxxed people dying, but not how many have recovered, which I'm almost certain is more than those dying!

I’m 42 and unvaccinated. I have delta- I’ve had flu like symptoms for a week and body aches. Day 7 and mornings are ok but feel rubbish again by the evenings. Ive had regular flu which so far was far worse.
With Delta I’m unwell but can watch tv snd wfh a bit etc.

Wanted to add that my colleagues have also got delta snd the majority are vaccinated. All have similar symptoms to me. One is close to hospital and no underlying health needs

@TaraLewis

My cousin was a massive conspiracy theorist complete with a tin hat and refused the vaccine, he died after 3 weeks in icu. he was in his 30s.

I have researched this by the media of the tabloids and have scientifically concluded that there is a high correlation between being anti vax and dying of covid. Where do I ge this peer reviewed?

2 of my work colleagues are unvaccinated and have recently had Covid. One is in his 30s and he has recovered OK. The other is 53 and is currently in ICU.

It’s best to protect yourself by getting the vaccine but also get yourself some vitamin d and k2, eat lots of fruit and veg, do some moderate regular exercise, lose some weight if you need to, get good sleep and help yourself to stay as healthy as possible to give yourself a good chance against the virus.

Nobody can say how Covid is going to affect you we are all different good chance we will all find out as it’s not going anywhere
Now I for one don’t wish to find out how bad it could be without vaccination had both vaccinations plus a booster And it’s not all about me vaccinations decrease the risk of transmission as well as serious illness
Young fit people can end up in ICU and a good chance if they were vaccinated they would not be there The NHS really doesn’t need it’s beds to be filled unnecessarily

I have researched this by the media of the tabloids and have scientifically concluded that there is a high correlation between being anti vax and dying of covid. Where do I ge this peer reviewed?

Given that being anti-vax tends to correlate with not taking up the vaccine, and that unvaccinated people are more likely to get ill/go into ICU/die of coronavirus, I think you'll find this "finding" has been published elsewhere... @AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair

2 unvaccinated relatives in their 40s/50s died.

@BrokenArrows
On Mumsnet you're going to get two groups of people answering you, the very pro and the very anti.
For transparency, I'm in the former group because I believe in scientific fact and I trust medical experts.
Do your own research- there was a table published by the EU commission this morning showing very simply, vaccination rates on one side of the chart, and deaths X million of inhabitants. Draw your own conclusions from it. Make your own decision.
No, the vaccine doesn't stop you from getting Covid. It makes it less likely to get it. No, the vaccine doesn't stop you spreading it. It makes it less likely. No, the vaccine doesn't stop you from being hospitalised. It makes it less likely. No, the vaccine doesn't stop Covid from killing you. It makes it less likely. Much.

There seems to be all sorts of data from various sources often contradicting each other.

Nope @Sugarandtime - when it comes to infection transmission, illness & deaths the data is very clear (and has been replicated many times over) that vaccination reduces the risk of all these outcomes.

You're quoting raw numbers that are deliberately misleading - if 100% of people were vaccinated then obviously all deaths etc would be in this group.

Obviously this does not mean someone should have to be vaccinated if they don't want to, but it's crazy how people are still trying to argue black is blue.

Sugarandtime also for this data you have to take into account that a much larger proportion of people are vaccinated than unvaccinated

@Sugarandtime

So if I was undecided, after reading this thread I would now be thinking you don’t know how you will react to the virus and you don’t know how you will react to the injections.

There seems to be all sorts of data from various sources often contradicting each other. It’s no wonder people don’t know what to think or do.

I often look at the government’s technical briefing reports and vaccine surveillance reports as I prefer to see actual figures rather than a line on a graph. I have no doubt others will quote different sources and various reasons for the figures.

These are the figures from the latest government vaccine surveillance report week 46 for weeks 42-45. I’ll remove the ‘unlinked numbers

850438 total cases
Unvaccinated - 337344
Vaccinated - 513094

9760 total hospitalised cases
Unvaccinated - 3200
Vaccinated - 6560

3659 total deaths
Unvaccinated - 675
Vaccinated - 2975

Look at this report as well as all the other reports quoted on this and other threads and weigh everything up, risk assessment, read about peoples personal experiences etc
Then hopefully make you mind up what you want to do,

Obviously, as far more people in the UK are vaccinated, you'd also need to apply base rate fallacy to those numbers if you are trying to extrapolate whether those numbers mean the vaccine is effective or not.

="In settings where the majority of people are vaccinated, it may be true that there is an equal number of people, or even a greater number of people, who are vaccinated and become infected. Thinking that this means vaccines are ineffective is an example of a base rate fallacy or base rate bias.
In the following hypothetical example, we have 100 individuals, 80% of whom are vaccinated and 20% of whom are unvaccinated. Four people get infected; two in the vaccinated group and two in the unvaccinated group (50% of cases vaccinated and 50% of cases unvaccinated).
Does this mean that the vaccine is not effective? No, because there are more people in the vaccinated group. The actual risk of infection is found by comparing the proportion of infected people in each group. In the example above, the infection rate is 2.5% (2/80) in the vaccinated group and 10% (2/20) in the unvaccinated group. In other words, the unvaccinated have a four times higher risk of
infection than the vaccinated, and the vaccine is 75% effective at preventing disease."

@rosie1959

Sugarandtime also for this data you have to take into account that a much larger proportion of people are vaccinated than unvaccinated

And that vaccination is not distributed evenly across the population.

The elderly/CEV (who have worse outcomes) have much higher rates than the young & healthy (who have much better outcomes)

@rosie1959

Sugarandtime also for this data you have to take into account that a much larger proportion of people are vaccinated than unvaccinated

I’m simply quoting what the government has put on their own vaccine surveillance report.

As I wrote earlier, people will have different reasons for figures. People could argue till the cows come home about why different reports say different things.

I would like to think that our own government are giving out correct figures, wouldn’t you?

As I wrote earlier, people will have different reasons for figures. People could argue till the cows come home about why different reports say different things.
There aren't "different reasons for the figures", that is the reason. If 100% of people were vaccinated, all reported deaths would be in those vaccinated @Sugarandtime

I would like to think that our own government are giving out correct figures, wouldn’t you?
I think you're totally misunderstanding this, no-one is saying the figures are incorrect. They're exactly what you'd expect given the high rates of vaccination in the population (and that it doesn't prevent 100% of infections/hospitlisations/deaths.

I agree that the government should present corrected numbers - maybe they already do - to avoid this constant use of them by anti-vaccine groups.

@Sugarandtime

The surveillance report certainly seems to have ruffled a few feathers. For some reason. I’m sure people can look it up themselves if they want to and think whatever they want to from it.

It only seems to have ruffled feathers of people trying to mis-use them to "prove" vaccines don't work.

For the rest of us, it is easy to understand how they are explained relative numbers of those vaccinated versus unvaccinated.

And why not read the entire report @Sugarandtime? Very clearly explained underneath the figures/tables.

Interpretation of data
*These data should be considered in the context of the vaccination status of the population groups shown in the rest of this report. In the context of very high vaccine coverage in the population, even with a highly effective vaccine, it is expected that a large proportion of cases,
hospitalisations and deaths would occur in vaccinated individuals, simply because a larger proportion of the population are vaccinated than unvaccinated and no vaccine is 100% effective. This is especially true because vaccination has been prioritised in individuals who are more susceptible or more at risk of severe disease. Individuals in risk groups may also be more at risk of hospitalisation or death due to non-COVID-19 causes, and thus may be hospitalised or die with COVID-19 rather than from COVID-19. *

Funny how people who don't trust big pharma decide not to get the vaccine and then a higher proportion of them end up in hospital pumped with drugs made by big pharma to save their lives.

@Sugarandtime

The surveillance report certainly seems to have ruffled a few feathers. For some reason. I’m sure people can look it up themselves if they want to and think whatever they want to from it.

No, it hasn't ruffled any feathers. But, as the government themselves are at pains to explain, those raw numbers absolutely do not say what it looks like they say. Unfortunately, those against vaccinations are fond of raw numbers. When you look a little deeper (or, as Riveted says, scroll down) you get the explanation as to why a bigger number is not what it seems.

OP, I don’t know if it’s going to help you but imo there isn’t much chance you will dodge covid now. Anectodal as it is, but most people from my social circle had it now. So it will ultimately come to what you are scared more, the jab or COVID.
People (quoting science) say the jabbed one less likely to catch it. It still doesn’t mean you won’t. 90% of my jabbed friends did. None died tho. But myself and few others unjabbed didn’t die either (mind you, 25-55 age group).
However I truly believe if your body/genetic makeup/some mysterious lifestyle choice/whatever made you predisposed to severe covid the jab would help you not to die. You just don’t know.

I could have written your post OP. I was deathly, deathly afraid of getting the vaccine due to my general, and health anxiety. I put it off for ages, then I feel pregnant and thought I could use that as an excuse to get people off of my back- but then the stats started coming out on how many pregnant women needed ICU care (20%) after not being vaccinated and catching covid, also the statistics on stillbirths and premature labour I really started to think about the bigger picture and not just what my anxiety wants me to think about.

I was terrified, but DP (like yours isn’t convinced any healthy person will get seriously ill or die from covid and it’s ‘just a cold’ to the everyday joe) is very supportive and after we read the facts together he agreed he would get the vaccination with me if I was to have it done. That took a lot of my anxiety away (not sure why, maybe the comfort of not going through it essentially alone) - we ended up having the vaccine, me being pregnant and my immune system lower I was told I may get more noticeable side effects or feel pretty rubbish. Not a single side effect, not a dead arm, no glue-y like symptoms.

The instant relief walking out of the centre knowing I’m doing everything I can to protect me, my family, my unborn baby and the vulnerable people in my life did honestly feel like such a weight off of my shoulders.

I’m due my second vaccine now and am not so versed this time around at all. It’s the initial big step that’s the hardest mentally.

The evidence to support the pro’s and con’s of the vaccine are pretty substantial at this point. You obviously need to make your own informed decision, but from your post the situation is mostly your anxiety that’s stopping you.

@Sugarandtime the vast majority of people who die in car accidents were wearing seatbelts. Does this mean that seatbelts don't reduce deaths?

As someone else has pointed out, you need to take the base rate (in this case those vaccinated vs those unvaccinated) into account when analysing data.