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Covid

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Original poster

Sorry, another vaccine thread!

45 replies

angelalansburysteapot · 11/01/2022 15:44

Sorry for yet another vaccine thread (hence the NC) 🙈

Something is playing on my mind and I was just after some opinions.

I have 2 secondary aged children. Neither of whom have been vaccinated.

I'm not an anti-vaxxer by any means, both my husband and I have had all 3 jabs.

My issue with the teens having it is the effect it's having on many womens menstrual cycle. Mine has been disrupted after each jab and this concerns me greatly.

We won't know the long term effects of this jab on teens (or anyone for that matter) for a few years yet, especially possible effects on womens fertility. The fact that there are many women have had issues since having the vaccine, surely it's not unreasonable to think there may be future issues? I hope to god my concerns are unfounded but the worry is there.

One of my teens has yet to start her periods and she is dead against having the vaccine (as are many of her friends) and I have to say, I support her decision.
My other teen is also uncomfortable having the vaccine.

I would like to add in absolutely no way is this a vaccine bashing thread nor do I judge anyone who has/hasn't had the vaccine. I suffer with anxiety anyway and this is just another thing to add to my worry list.

OP posts:

MrsTerryPratchett · 11/01/2022 15:48

If your teens don't want to have it, they are allowed to withhold consent. The cost/benefit for children is different.

However, I would be very honest with yourself and ask if you think your anxiety is affecting their choices. In this and other ways.

dementedpixie · 11/01/2022 15:49

My periods were fine after my vaccines were dds. Women have become pregnant after vaccination so I don't see how it's affected fertility. Illnesses and stress can also affect the menstrual cycle but then they normalise again.

Narutocrazyfox · 11/01/2022 15:52

Absolutely no one can tell you the long term affects because currently there's not enough data. The affect the vaccine is having on the menstrual cycle was completely unexpected (and therefore was not a focus in early testing) and has only been given additional focus fairly recently.

There's no good reason to give (otherwise healthy) children the vaccine.

Hellocatshome · 11/01/2022 15:53

We were 50/50 on the vaccine for my 14 year old son and so we let him decide and he decided no. Now he has seen his friends have it with no issues (although like you say we don't know anything long term) and it is looking likely to be necessary for foreign travel he has had it. To be honest if it wasn't needed for travel and potentially other things in the future he wouldn't have had it.

TheChip · 11/01/2022 15:56

Mine don't want it and I don't want them to have it either. If they were to change their mind though I would support them.

Aren't they talking of just focusing on the elderly and vulnerable anyway since the however many vaccines per year isn't really sustainable?

Blubells · 11/01/2022 16:07

If it weren't for travel, I'd encourage my teens not to have it.

PAFMO · 11/01/2022 16:35

Your teens can decide for themselves

I'd be concerned about where they were getting their information from though, as it's not doctors.

Many vaccines have a potential temporary and not harmful in the long term effect on women's cycles. Thing is, we tend to give those vaccines to children pre-puberty so the slight disruption that many women are yellow carding doesn't come up. This is the first time in generations that there has been mass vaccination of adults.

maddy68 · 11/01/2022 16:39

Because clotting is an issue with covid , the vaccine does produce more "blood flow" but it doesn't affect fertility etc
I don't live in the UK. I live in a country where 92%of over 12s are fully vaccinated. Weve been vaccinating school children since last year and now primary children are being vaccinated. It's safe however your children should be able to make their own decisions

My biggest issue would be that without it they can't go on holiday

Turquoisesea · 11/01/2022 17:58

My teens haven’t been vaccinated (I have) as they both had covid in October and were fine. I know they could still catch omicron but they could also catch it if vaccinated. Apparently only 50% of 12-15 year olds have been vaccinated so I think lots of parents are cautious. I think it’s up to individual families to decide, we aren’t planning to travel abroad this year but I can see if others want to it would be an issue if they are unvaccinated. I think for this age group there is no right or wrong answer and they shouldn’t feel pressured either way.

Cornettoninja · 11/01/2022 18:06

The fact that there are many women have had issues since having the vaccine, surely it's not unreasonable to think there may be future issues?

…and many women have had no issues at all and many women have gone on to have healthy pregnancies after two vaccinations. I genuinely think that big issues with fertility would have been picked up by now; personally I’m more suspect of what the whole virus can do unseen more than a single spike protein which is all the vaccines are exposing people to.

That said, if my dd was a teen and expressed a wish not to have a vaccine I would respect that after a sensible conversation about it.

ollyollyoxenfree · 11/01/2022 18:13

What's the question here @angelalansburysteapot?
If your children don't want to be vaccinated, and you also don't want them to be, then surely just don't take up the offer of it right now?

..for a few years yet, especially possible effects on womens fertility. The fact that there are many women have had issues since having the vaccine, surely it's not unreasonable to think there may be future issues?*

There haven't been reports of infertility reported due to vaccination. I think it's really important to state that! Changes to menstruration do not equate to changes in fertility.

I hope to god my concerns are unfounded but the worry is there.

I have linked this to another thread - a summary of the current evidence by a reproductive immunologist (all statements referenced to original research articles) on why researchers are confident that the vaccines do not impact on fertility.

As an immunologist working on pregnancy, I know people have a lot of questions about the #COVID19 #vaccine, #fertility, #pregnancy and #breastfeeding...

twitter.com/VikiLovesFACS/status/1367099701238116353

WorriedGiraffe · 11/01/2022 18:21

For young people who havnt been through puberty yet, you can’t say 100% it won’t affect fertility, this vaccine has been around for just over 1 year so it would be physically impossible to certain of any long term implications good or bad yet. I think it’s incredibly unlikely that there would be a link between the vaccine and fertility, but to pretend all potential long term effects are already known is just not realistic. The vaccine didn’t affect my periods at all, but I can see why it concerns some people.

Either way it’s up to your teens to decide, all you can do is support them and make sure you don’t let your own anxiety impact their health.

Cornettoninja · 11/01/2022 20:15

For young people who havnt been through puberty yet, you can’t say 100% it won’t affect fertility

True, but then nothing is 100% in science and there is a lot of evidence that vaccines don’t affect fertility.

Tbh I’m not sure how you’d even go about linking the two definitively. A vaccine is given then it’s done, any effects are within a short time scale, if something is going on without any immediate/short term clues then it’s much harder make that link. Fertility has been declining for a while in the west (off the top of my head. I’ve seen reports of declining sperm counts etc.) so I don’t know how you’d link infertility many years post-puberty to two vaccine doses received years earlier.

Basically, if that’s your concern I’m not sure you’ll ever be able to be completely reassured if you’re not currently.

I’ve trotted this out before but the link with children and aspirin causing Reye’s syndrome took decades to become apparent because of its rarity. Longer actually since natural aspirin from willow has also been used for centuries. The adverse reactions of these vaccines have been magnified in a way that is unusual for society to digest and perceptions are off in comparison to normal times. If aspirin had been given on mass to the global population in the way these vaccines have we’d have people refusing to take it ever again due to the risk of gastric bleeds and the issue for children would have been picked up a lot quicker but most people wouldn’t think twice about it right now.

elelel · 11/01/2022 20:23

Have you posted about this before?

If not then someone else has an oddly similar concern about their daughters period that they hadn't even started yet.

olivo · 11/01/2022 20:32

I read lots before asking my pre/teen DDs about having it. My conclusion was that we also don't know the long term effects of covid itself on many things, including fertility.

Pinkrose1111 · 11/01/2022 20:38

I wouldn't give the vaccine to healthy teenagers tbh. The risk/reward ratio just isn't worth it. If God forbid something was to happen there's nothing you can really do. And you don't have to have it to travel, all countries have exemptions or just need a negative PCR test.

Hellocatshome · 11/01/2022 20:41

And you don't have to have it to travel, all countries have exemptions or just need a negative PCR test.

Do they? Someone really needed to tell that to the family infront of us at the vaccine centre when we got DS jabbed. They argued with everyone there that their 15 year old should be able to have his 2nd jab 4 weeks after the first because if he didn't there holiday to the Canary Islands couldn't go ahead. They were still arguing with them when my friend and her son went in 40 minutes after us.

dementedpixie · 11/01/2022 20:44

Spain doesn't have an exemption or let over 12s in with a PCR instead of proof of vaccine

Hellocatshome · 11/01/2022 20:44

This from the government website doesnt sound like there are any exceptions or that a negative PCR would do the job:

"If you’re aged 12 and over the Spanish Government requires you to present proof of being fully vaccinated on entry. To be fully vaccinated you must have received both doses of a two-dose vaccine or one dose of a one-dose vaccine, at least 14 days prior to your arrival. Without proof of being fully vaccinated, you won’t be able to enter the country. An NHS COVID Pass shows your COVID-19 vaccination details and will be accepted – find out how you can get this.

Please note, your business card-sized paper COVID-19 vaccination record card isn’t an acceptable form of vaccine status proof and can’t be used to enter. IMPORTANT: Regardless of your age, if you’ve only received a single (first) dose of the Astra Zeneca, Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, you’re NOT considered fully vaccinated.

This excludes children aged 11 and under."

Beachcomber · 11/01/2022 20:51

I'm concerned about this for my teen DDs too. Neither of them are vaccinated currently.

DD1 has horrendous heavy painful periods that she has to take the pill for to make them manageable.

DD2 has very irregular periods and hasn't yet settled into a predictable cycle.

They have both had covid and are fine. Their parents and grandparents have also had it. But I live in a country with covid passes and there is massive pressure to get them vaccinated in order to just go about their everyday lives. I'm angry that they may end up having a vaccine they don't need and on which we have such limited safety data.

My DH works with a woman in her 40s who has had extremely heavy, painful and unpredictable periods with flooding for months now since she got her vaccine in the summer. She only got the vaccine to keep her job as she already had covid too.

Awakened22 · 11/01/2022 20:56

www.tui.co.uk/holidays/where-can-i-go-on-holiday/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Entry-requirements-for-our-holiday-destinations-110122-1.pdf

There are plenty of countries that you can still get to at the moment - Mexico don’t need vaccines or tests!

oneglassandpuzzled · 11/01/2022 21:04

@Beachcomber

I'm concerned about this for my teen DDs too. Neither of them are vaccinated currently.

DD1 has horrendous heavy painful periods that she has to take the pill for to make them manageable.

DD2 has very irregular periods and hasn't yet settled into a predictable cycle.

That’s an age when many women start having flooding with periods anyway, though.

Wfhquery · 11/01/2022 21:07

One thing that made me think is hearing a doctor say ok we don’t know all the long term implications of the vaccine but we also don’t know all the long term effects of having Covid either

Pinkrose1111 · 11/01/2022 21:24

You can still get an exemption though, I'm pretty sure. And if not there are still plenty of other countries that you only need a negative PCR for. And I personally wouldn't even want to travel to a country that's so Draconian about everyone being vaccinated when the long term effects are still unknown and you can still catch and spread even after being vaccinated. So it's not even like it's eliminating the transmission risk.

Beachcomber · 11/01/2022 21:26

@oneglassandpuzzled

Yeah. I thought someone would post something dismissive like that.

You don't know this woman and you know nothing about her. I decided not to post more details about her medical issues in my original post as they are private and not mine to discuss. Suffice to say that changes to her menstruation are not the only issues she has had following her vaccination. Her situation has been reported and her doctor is concerned.

And as we all very well know there is a pattern of women developing menstrual issues following vaccination that warrants investigation and explanation. Not dismissal. If it turns out to be pure coincidence or nothing serious then good but simply dismissing these women is disgusting and irresponsible.

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