IVF and NHS staff compulsory Covid vaccine

[dogmam]

Wondering if anyone else is in the same boat and what you are doing..

I work for the NHS in a non patient facing role however my job (like the majority) is 'in scope' therefore the Covid vaccine is compulsory. I've been having IVF and subsequent FETs since June and obviously before that I was either having investigations or waiting for treatment, therefore have chosen not to have the vaccine.
I am due my follow up next month before starting my second round of IVF however I am now in the position at work where it is mandatory that I get the first vaccine by the 3rd Feb in order to be 'fully vaccinated' by April.
I have been completely honest with management and told them my reasons for not wanting the vaccine and to be fair they have been understanding but their hands are tied. They suggested speaking to my clinic for medical exemption but of course IVF isn't classed as that.
Just wondering if there are any other NHS workers in the same position and what you're planning on doing as we are running out of time?

Also just to add, I am not an 'anti vaxer' etc, all of my family have the Covid jab and I will get it myself but only after treatment and a successful pregnancy, I just don't want regrets.

No advice but just wanted to say I feel for you in your situation (also not an anti-vaxer)

In Scotland, being vaccinated against COVID is currently a requirement for having IVF treatment - people who haven't been vaccinated yet are having their treatment deferred. It remains to be seen if that's going to stay as a rule, but it indicates a growing acceptance among IVF clinicians that vaccination is advisable now. It might be worth checking with your clinic to see what their views are - if they advise getting vaccinated, then you could go ahead and book your vaccines, and if they advise against it for your personal circumstances, you could ask them to provide a letter explaining this which you could show as a reason why you aren't vaccinated yet.

I can empathise with your worry - I've had my second and booster vaccines during an IVF pregnancy. The science behind them is robust though, and all the evidence indicates good safety profiles for the vaccines used in pregnancy - if your clinic is happy for you to have them, I'd recommend getting vaccinated.

If you decide you absolutely aren't getting vaccinated within the allotted timeframe, and your clinic won't or can't provide a medical exemption, then I think you'd need to speak with your union about where you stand.

I delayed getting the vaccine last year after miscarriage. Got the booster in December and having my transfer next week. It’s made no difference to my period (the booster)…in fact it came a few days early so I was really pleased. First and second transfer vaccines were longer but not by that much and I think the first time it was because it was my first cycle after miscarriage. I would say get your first vaccine now? As you’re not actively undergoing treatment at the moment. I think they only say delay vaccine if it’s in the same month as your cycle start. Once you have transferred you are protected under pregnancy rights and therefore would be exempt with your 2nd vaccine. I also heard they may be doing a u turn on compulsory vaccines for nhs staff.

My IVF clinic has essentially said to have the vaccine (well the doctor asked if I had had it and I confirmed and she was very positive and basically said it was the right thing to do)

I think perhaps my period was a few days later after booster but no real noticeable difference

@dogmam I’m sorry you’ve been put in this situation, the idea of bodily autonomy and choice appears to have gone out the window in the politics with the vaccine mandate. The science just doesn’t back it up. For example a healthcare worker who had two jabs last year qualifies as meeting the mandate (only two jabs required) but not only has the data shown that current vaccine is less effective against omicron (the vaccine was designed against delta) but that its starts waning after 10 weeks. As such those nhs workers who had two jabs early last year are now practically unvaccinated yet will keep their jobs, despite the evidence showing they are no better ‘protected’ now than someone unvaccinated.

As a poster above said there are now rumblings that this mandate is going to be postponed or scrapped based on the new evidence and the risk of pointlessly losing 10% of the workforce for what now appears to be no good reason. Also we seem to forget that nhs workers were unvaccinated for the first year of the pandemic yet there were not many cases of medic to patient transmission in hospitals/GP due to infection control measures. IMO I don’t really get why the gov went down this route as it seems to be based more on political optics than data. A vaccine that lasts only a few weeks before waning and which is still in the safety monitoring phase until mid 2023 is not a good candidate for a mandate. Nearly all the healthcare unions (doctors, nurses, midwives) have called for this not to be implemented.

So I’d advise holding fast and wait and see what happens if your instincts are telling you not to have it. I think those unvaccinated by the deadline are only going be invited for an ‘interview’ first rather than fired on the spot. So I’d hang on a bit and see if the gov comes to its senses! Best of luck with it all.

I got vaccinated during ivf treatment - why don’t you want to get vaccinated? My clinics policy was to advise all patients to get vaccinated. The vaccine has zero impact in your fertility or your ivf treatment. The only exception would be that I wouldn’t get the vaccine the week or egg collection or in the TWW as if you spike a temperature as a side effect that could have an impact.

Are you not worried about catching covid?

I just saw you woikd also delay it in pregnancy. You are taking s huge risk for your own health and the health of your baby if you get covid during the 3rd trimester. Could you speak to someone more knowledgable to help explain the risks to you? At the minute you’re willing to take risks around getting covid during ivf and pregnancy but not willing to take s perfectly safe vaccine so it would be good to talk to someone who can help explain it to you.

Why don't you want the vaccine?

Maybe you should read about all the pregnant women who died from covid at the end of their pregnancies.

Personally I'd not risk getting pregnant without being triple vaxxed. Terribly unnecessary risk.

Thanks everyone for your replies

@Yellowdott @Anotherdayanotheropinion In a nutshell, I don't want the vaccine yet for two reasons. I don't want anything 'out of the ordinary' in my body and I don't want to look back, if worst case scenario treatment doesn't work, having regrets and wishing I'd done or not done certain things. For the last year or so I've drastically scrutinised many aspects of my life, what chemicals I have in my home, cosmetics I use, pain relief, food I put in my body etc all in an attempt to help have successful fertility treatment AND mentally believe ive done everything i can. I know a lot of what I am doing in terms of lifestyle, is irrational, likley pointless, but because I am absolutely desperate for treatment to work and ultimately become a mother, I am giving it my absolute all and under no circumstances do I want to have regrets if this doesn't work. I am not saying that I think by having the vaccine, my treatment will be unsucesful or that it will make me infertile, much like by eating chocolate would result in it not working yet I'm not eating it. Call me sad or crazy but again I need to give this my best shot and ultimately it's a sacrifice I've been willing to make.
I've recently recovered from covid, having caught it just after Christmas, as did my other half who is fully vaccinated. I'm fit and healthy, and believe this aided me to have minimal symptoms, so no, I'm not worried.

@tulipsandsnow thank you. It's not ideal having an additional worry.

@Scirocco thanks, it's interesting how the rules differ between England and Scotland. My clinic are very much 'to script' in terms of the vaccine. Ultimately they are being fed the info from their nhs trust on what the latest guidance is around the vaccine, trust wide emails, policies and procedures are being followed and given to patients, which is fair enough. But my decision not to have it isn't solely based on what the clinic are advising, if the national guidance changed then so would what the clinic advice. Huge congratulations on your ivf pregnancy!

@JandL2020 yes I've also heard they may do a u-turn, which makes it even more frustrating! If push comes to shove and I am actually going to be dismissed from my job, or reluctantly get the jab, I'm probably better of getting it sooner rather than later as it would be closer to starting the cycle. Good luck with your upcoming transfer.

@Rosiestraws yeah my clinic ask what my vaccine status is but don't really comment further when I say I don't have it. If I was to ask, they would say it's fine to have but they aren't really actively recommending it.

@BlueSilver23 yes, another frustration about the staff who were vaccinated last year yet aren't being faced with this awful situation. I've also read about the Royal Collage of GPs and nurses trying to push back, the problem is that the first dose need to be had by the 3rd bed so really running out of time. I had my first official interview last Friday, my manager was very supportive but ultimately she is doing her job and going through the motions I guess, although she did say she would speak with HR but I mean they will also have to follow the rules set by the government, it's not a managers discretion decision.
What is really annoying me is that I am not patient facing, ive worked from home for over a year, been into the office a handful of times but because my contract states I deliver face to face training (IT) in a hospital or clinical setting, I am 'in scope'. They were talking about redeployment but if passing a patient in a corridor puts you in scope, then I can't see any job being out of scope.

I went through ivf treament received both jabs and booster while pregnant. My first cycle failed but I only got one good egg from 18. Second go worked currently 26 weeks pregnant only got one good egg that time to. It made no difference getting the vaccine xxx

@dogmam I do know of a colleague that was given an exemption for ivf (although I think there were other medical reasons too) so it might be worth mentioning it to a friendly and understanding GP or your clinic perhaps. I think the vaccine is probably safe but the point is that we don’t know yet for certain as it’s still in trial safety phase (and we know even less about its affect on pregnancy/foetus and it should always be a personal choice and not coerced. And it doesn’t appear to have a huge effect on transmission! Which kind of defeats the object of a mandate. It’s brilliant at preventing death and serious illness, less so at preventing transmission. The gov does appears to be wavering a bit so keep your fingers crossed www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/22/covid-vaccine-deadline-nhs-staff-set-pushed-back/

I also think there has been some intention to frighten some pregnant women with regards to Covid. Looking at the figures for hospitalized pregnant women it’s stands at about 800+ using recent data. Far less end up in icu (about 100). So out of about 800,000+ women pregnant last year in the uk a tiny number actually became ill enough with Covid to need hospital care. So while it’s true that majority of hospitalized pregnant women are unvaccinated in terms of actual numbers of pregnant women getting seriously ill with Covid is incredibly small overall. So yes there is an increased risk (and I’d imagine many of those very ill had other risk factors too) but proportionally the risk of pregnant women becoming hospitalized with Covid is very small. Figures taken from here www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o117

Best of luck @dogmum

I'm going through IVF and I've had all three covid boosters. I just had to have it a month before starting IVF medication as the fertility clinic said there's no studies yet between how the covid vaccine and IVF medication interacts with each other. It's all easy enough.