Covid jab - to have or not to have?!

[K821]

I'm 27 weeks and so far have held off getting the covid jab purely out of worry for the baby. I fully intend to get it after baby is here, I'm no conspiracy theorist or "non believer" so don't need lectures as to why it's needed etc.
In my mind I don't want to do anything that's not 100000% necessary whilst pregnant, whether it's believed there is a risk or not (I just wonder how we be entirely sure of long term effects yet)

Just looking of opinions of those who have had it while pregnant, the affects etc, and those who haven't and have been unwell (please no horror stories!)
Still trying to weigh up my options as to which route poses less risk.

TIA! 😘 x

@jojojo82
Agree with everything you have said. I'm 26 weeks now and have not had the Covid vaccine. I understand that generally speaking, the uptake of this vaccine is very low amongst pregnant women.

It's a deeply personal decision and everyone needs to establish their own risk of Covid vs a vaccine which has only very recently been deemed "safe" in pregnancy. My DD had Covid a month or so ago and despite isolating with her I didn't catch it.

Nothing winds me up more than people implying anyone who hasn't had the vaccine is "anti vaxx" or, worse, uneducated.

I have had my flu jab annually for 20 years and will have it next month. I'll have the whooping cough jab next week.

There is no right and wrong. I believe most people who get covid in pregnant will be fine, as will most people who have the vaccine.

I am unvaccinated and had covid at 17 weeks pregnant. It was not even as bad as a common cold. I know that it supposedly has potential to be worse in the 3rd trimester. I am hoping the antibodies will keep me safe now, and I plan to shield as much as possible (probably going on maternity leave as soon as I can and will avoid public places as much as possible). Then get the vaccine after birth.

@jojojo82

I have four main points regarding this thread.

1. Firstly, a lot of people here are saying something along the lines of it being stupidity not to get it, yet entire governments of many countries are still not recommending the vaccine during pregnancy (including the one where I currently live), are they all stupid too?

2. A lot of people on this thread are saying its safe during pregnancy, when the simple fact is, this can not be said with any guarantee (and is clearly backed up by not all countries yet recommending it). Yes, studies from the US have shown there's no link between having the vaccine and miscarriage, but there is simply no further conclusive studies on any other ways the baby could be affected long term by having this still-experimental vaccine, because it is still too early.

3. My third point, which kinda follows on from my second point, is that I have personally, and I bet many of the others who have been vaccinated have too, stopped using standard over-the-counter creams/tablets because the leaflets say they haven't been tested during pregnancy or breastfeeding. So why would I then agree to be injected with an experimental vaccine thats still in phase 3 trials and hasn't even been fully tested on non-pregnant people?

4. My final point is that there are a lot of people saying that the number of pregnant people in intensive care is going up ... while this is true, the numbers are still tiny. In March 2021, 17 pregnant people went into intensive care, in June there was 22. If we say that there was a conservative guestimate of 500 pregnant people admitted to ICU in the last 9 months, then out of 606,500 people currently pregnant in the UK, thats only 0.08% chance of needing intensive care treatment. There was also a study that came out recently detailing how pregnant woman are admitted to hospital with much lower thresholds of symptoms just out of an abundance of caution, and that pregnant women's stays in hospital are much shorter than non-pregnant women because of this.

I am not an anti-vaxxer, as the media would like everyone to believe, I've had all my well-established recommended vaccines, and I completely agree its everyones individual choice based on their personal risk assessment whether they have it or not. But I'm personally not happy being a guinea pig, or agreeing to my unborn baby being a guinea pig, by injecting an experimental substance into my body. And I think people should respect that decision without claiming its stupidity.

Very well said. 👏 I'm fed up of being judged on MN for not taking it. As someone who works in drug development/testing, I feel like I am in a good position to realise that it just might not be safe. It is still in trials.

Amen to jojo, one of most sensible things i have read in a while.
Most people on MN will back the jab and call people stupid ect because over 80% of the population have had vaccinations now. Unvaccinated, whatever the reason they are, are out numbered and targeted for having diferent views.

.

@Trinacham if you actually work in drug development, you’ll know that it’s standard procedure for safety monitoring to continue after vaccines have been approved for use. That doesn’t mean that it’s still in trial phase, and hasn’t been proved to be safe.