Are you really prepared to take every single vaccine

[Talsaml]

It worries me that we may have to keep having vaccines going forward. I’m due my booster which I will take but I’m hearing that AZ are in the process of tweaking the current vaccine to combat the new strain. So we are then required to take another booster. Many variants can crop up, suppose another one does very soon. I’m concerned about the number of vaccines we could be taking. Is anyone else? And no I’m not an anti vaxer.

@ktel1

TheElvishQueen

"I’ve never had a flu vaccination in my life. Last time I had flu was seventeen years ago. Why have we suddenly all become so scared of flu?"

I'm also very surprised by these comments about flu

Sure if you're elderly or have an illness that makes you vulnerable I understand

But to be so concerned about the flu otherwise?

I haven't had the flu or even a cold for a few years but I wouldn't be afraid of catching either.

They're not pleasant but they're commonplace and rarely lead to complications.

If the people posting here are either elderly and/or have other vulnerabilities though that would make sense so perhaps that's the case.

Flu killed my perfectly healthy 50 year old stepsister.

Yes, I'll be having any boosters offered.

What I won't have is both that and the flu jab at the same time. I had my DCs' pre-school boosters separated. 5 or 6 vaccines in one go I thought was crazy even though I acknowledge MMR etc are 3 combined.

Yep I already take 22 medications a day for various autoimmune issues so have learnt to accept and trust medications - vaccines are no different. If you’re (not specifically the op, I mean generally) the type of person that struggles to take a paracetamol without worrying about it perhaps it’s a different thing for you…! I have no choice but to trust medicine in order to live.

I find this obsession with vaccines being "unnatural " a bit weird. You know what's really unnatural- icu. Dextromethadone, artificial ventilation, ECMO, all very unnatural. But even ardent anti-vaxxers will accept them when their "natural immunity" fails.

Yes . I've had a yearly flu vaccine every year for 15 years. A yearly Covid one will be fine too. I think later versions of the vaccine won't need 6 monthly boosting but for a few years until then I'm happy to have them every 6 months if necessary. I'm not only happy to have them I am beyond grateful that this is an option

Porcupineintherough not the case. There are certain medications I won't take again even if the alternative is that I don't survive.

Unfortunately having long-term damage from a medication changes one's perspective.

@Porcupineintherough

I find this obsession with vaccines being "unnatural " a bit weird. You know what's really unnatural- icu. Dextromethadone, artificial ventilation, ECMO, all very unnatural. But even ardent anti-vaxxers will accept them when their "natural immunity" fails.

Exactly.

@Valhalla17

Those that say " well I take the flu jab every year"....I assume that's because you're vulnerable or have an underlying condition that requires it...and I expect the same for Covid vaccines and boosters. Every single man, woman and child does not require this. Its beyond ridiculous.

No I'm not CEV. I take the flu jab because I got swine flu in 2009 and since then I've done everything I can to avoid being that ill again with flu.

I still remember how I felt and it was a relatively ' mild' case of flu as I didn't need to go to hospital but I've never been so Ill so I taken the flu vaccine every year since, paying for it . I know that is no guarantee I will never get bad flu again but it cuts my chances and that is worth a yearly pin prick to me

I really don't mind getting vaccines. If it's going to help me fend off illness then I'm all for it. Jab away, I say.

Yes I am. I have no choice as I'm CEV. I want the best chance I can get to survive this.

@TSSDNCOP

Well thank you *@Octavia174* you couldn't have just let me answer the actual question without being a Pollyanna?

Start another thread if you have a different question.

Its a thread about taking a never ending stream of vaccinations, which is exactly what will happen (with the associated deaths) unless we vaccinate the rest of the world.

It is utter madness to continue down this path, it is certainly not a different question at all.

My general view of all medications is that unless there is a clear benefit, it's better not to interfere in the body's systems. We never know what types of unexpected effects that changing normal responses will have.

Compare life expectancy for people in Victorian times in England to now - there is the clear benefit of vaccinations, clean water and proper sewage systems! DH and I are old enough to have had relatives or friends, who had small pox, TB or polio. One of DH's uncles was sent away as a child with polio, to live in a hospital for 2 years.

I have a flu jab every year, so having Covid jabs won't bother me. I find looking after DD is horrible, when I have flu, especially as sometimes I get a secondary viral chest infection for weeks.

Yes.

I think there is a period of youth and good health that means it's impossible to imagine what real pain and illness is like. I was like that probably until I was about 50, although not to the extent of refusing to have a vaccine. I remember having a typhoid vaccine in my 30s when it was required for travel somewhere and having 24 hours of intense fever.
So I can see why some posters feel the virus doesn't threaten them directly and why they think a headache or sore arm is a big reaction to a vaccine that they don't want to repeat.

The problem is that with over 20% of our adult population unvaccinated we will never be rid of it. Never be rid of some kind of restrictions and never be able to travel freely. Not to mention when we need the NHS. Everyone needs it sometime, whether it's an accident or a breast lump.

I reckon the covid vaccine will end up being like an annual flu jab, a compilation that covers the prevailing dominant variant plus others.

But it's not a sterilising vaccine,: we could have 100percent uptake and we'd not be rid of covid. It's heading towards endemic, (hopefully becoming milder as it goes.) I say this as a double vaccinated person awaiting my booster. This doesn't mean I think my children should be vaccinated every six months or whatever for covid or flu. Or that I think we should be forcing those who don't want a vaccine to have one. Persuade don't force.

@MaxNormal our hospitals wouldnt be full of unvaccinated people suffering from COVID if that wasnt the case. Theyd all be dying quietly at home.

To the person who says flu is harmless unless you are old- that is rubbish.

I know someone who died of flu in 2018. She was 36, no health issues at all. She got pneumonia and died in ITU. Her husband she left behind was polaxed by grief and shock and now has severe mental health issues.

I have had flu myself 3 times in 55 years. The first time I was 27 and ended up with post viral fatigue that lasted 6 months. The second time I was 35 and missed 3 weeks of work. As I'm self employed that was 3 weeks with no income. I paid for a flu jab every year after that. The 3rd time I was 51 and had missed my flu jab as I was in the middle of moving house. I got pneumonia and was really poorly.

I would rather have a flu vaccine than go through any of that again!

Yup.

I will take whatever boosters are offered yes.

There are three basic questions to ask about any medication.

1. do I need it?
2. is it safe?
3. does it work?

Sometimes (example chemotherapy) the answer to Is it safe? is No; it has many side effects, but need for it outweighs safety concerns.

It makes sense for us to ask these three questions about these vaccines, which look set to continue for the future.

Flu is nasty. A lot of big private companies (mine included) pay for flu jabs for their staff. Plus I think the NHS workers can all get it free. So it isn't the case that only elderly or CEV people get a flu jab.

Having said that, I have the flu jab my company pays for every year mainly because I usually don't get any side effects from it. So the cost/benefit is clear to me.

I had really strong side effects from both Covid jabs. Much more than a sore arm and a headache. I'll have this booster, but if this does the same (it's a different brand from the first two) I might not bother again. Certainly I wouldn't have it more than annually. I'm not in a high risk group for Covid, so the cost/benefit isn't clear for a jab that's going to knock me out for days.

@Valhalla17

Those that say " well I take the flu jab every year"....I assume that's because you're vulnerable or have an underlying condition that requires it...and I expect the same for Covid vaccines and boosters. Every single man, woman and child does not require this. Its beyond ridiculous.

What's the saying about people assuming things?

I take the flu shot every year because its offered to everyone where I live. Also because I was bedridden for a week last time I had flu, and because my perfectly healthy stepsister died of it, and because at 18 a college flatmate died of it, and because my DD's boarding school had to close for a week when flu went through it, and because I remember calling the doctor at midnight when my 5 year old had flu to find out at what point we should take her to hospital and they said if her temperature didn't drop in the next hour.

Of course. It takes 10 seconds and might stop me getting ill. Jab me up baby!

@zombiedog21

Of course. It takes 10 seconds and might stop me getting ill. Jab me up baby!

If only it did only take 10 seconds, 5 hour round trip for me on the bus

@zombiedog21 if only it was just the 10 seconds for the jab, not the days in bed afterwards that some people get with the side effects.