I'm just curious, how many of you with lung and other health issues have chosen not to get the vaccine.
In the states, covid patients have risen to another all time high, most of which have chosen not to have the vaccine.
WHY?
We wear sit belts while in a moving car for our safety, we don't drive a car while under the influence for our safety (and others). We go thru security when flying for the safety of others. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Just wondering, Beth
Hi Beth, in my family we’ve all had two vaccinations. Pete has lung and other health issues and there was no way he wasn’t going to be jabbed. Xxx
Hi Beth I have had my 2 jabs. I couldn't wait! I don't want to die and I want my life back.
I think there are a number of anti-vaxxers in the UK who heard a rumour on FB, or seek out discredited 'experts' and quote them. They call us vaxxers 'sheep' or 'sheeple'. Well I would rather be a live one rather than a dead one.
My sheep say it’s good to be a sheep 🐑
Baa baa 😁👍
I'm waiting for my booster and flu jab already booked in. X
I think most have had 2 doses with a third jab pending in UK.
I saw this news item the other day:
Are America's unvaccinated changing their minds?
bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-...
There's been a case here in UK when someone refused the vaccine got covid and died,
"He said: 'A lot of people will die more from having the vaccine than getting Covid.'"
That was his belief, really the risk is very high without the vaccine.
I have seen some recent figures on this. The risk of dying from a COVID infection was initially 1%, but that has improved with treatment. Based on reports on vaccine side effects, the risk of dying from a blood clot caused by the vaccine is around 0.0001%. Of course, that doesn't mean you can't be ill with either, but the risk of that being terminal is far lower with the vaccine than without.
The alternative, as SORRELHIPPO has pointed out, is that those with underlying autoimmune conditions might be inclined to shield instead; this would distort the figures I have quoted, since such groups would not have been subject to vaccination and therefore would not show up in any stats. However, the main objections to vaccination do not appear to be clinical, and it is that issue which really needs to be addressed.
Precisely. I don't think the clinical side needs readdressing, its already known its a greater risk if not vaccinated in the greater scheme of things. I still feel I need to shield as much as possible and I am not with any underlying autoimmune conditions, however I am clinically extremely vulnerable with several high risk health issues as many of us are.
Hi Beth. I think fear is a big factor. When people don't understand the science and are under an onslaught of untrue information that is written in a certain way, that frightens and threatens their way of life , plus it is written using language that is simple enough (for them) to understand , they will go with what they believe is the most comprehensive path. If that makes sense. 🙆
At the risk of being frowned upon, I have a real dilemma. I am not an antivaxxer, had masses across my life going in and out of the tropics, yellow fever, smallpox, both typhoid A+B , tetanus, diphtheria, tablets for malaria, polio vaccine etc. However have come across 2 people with Crohn's disease, like me on immunosuppressants, who reacted to the first dose with immediate hospital admission with massive Crohn's flare, apparently as their immune system kicked in for the Covid vaccine. The stage I am at with my Crohn's is that I have had 2 abdominal surgeries, each coming after a damaging flare. Another bad flare, will damage another section of intestines, and the next surgery will be a colostomy. As I have not been out since the summer of 2018, and have few visitors (who I can corral in one corner of my sitting room and use a table fan to keep the air moving past them) I feel I am not a danger to others, only myself, and I am as likely to block a hospital bed from Covid, as I am from a surgical need for my innards. This is a weighing scale I find hard to balance.
Hello SORRELHIPPO , I really understand your predicament. I was ill after my first shot but it wasn't too bad. However, I can imagine there are others like your friends who react very badly. I think your case is an exception and you are doing right by being cautious. You are not careless and you are taking precautions. I'd say you must do what is best for you. xx 🌿
Thank you
Sorrelhippo u have to do what's best for u.my niece is on biologic immunotherapy for ulcerative colitis.she had both jabs with no ill effects x
Thanks, is good to know.
My husband has crohn's disease. Not on immunosuppressants though. He's had 2 Pfizer jabs with no I'll effects at all. Best wishes to you.
Useful to now thanks
I think the booster vaccine is going to be a Pfizer one. was this the vaccine you reacted to SH? I had absolutely no side affects at all with 1st or 2nd dose with Pfizer.
I think the one that the 2 people I know had was the Astra Zeneca.
yes, there has seemed to be more people experiencing side affects with the AZ vaccine. I hope they can get the best possible guidance from their own doctor about this and hopefully they will be ok having the booster dose.
Side effects from the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines are about the same.
fullfact.org/health/vaccine...
Thanks, I find people have difficulty understanding what a side effect is, and what is a specific expected effect of a vaccination/medication and which might be a temporary difficulty (high temperature, headache etc) or a total change in a physical condition.It is a bit like weeds in a garden, weeds are a plant you did not want, if a drug causes a reduction in temperature, when this is what you want, this is great. If a drug causes you to shiver with cold, when you did not expect it, it is called a side effect. I do like your work giving us the useful articles.
I have had my two jabs as have the majority of my family. My sons wife has severe crohns and while my son and their children that are old enough to be eligible have had their two shots. However my daughter in laws Dr has told her she shouldn’t get the vaccine until her latest crohns activity has settled down.
Very helpful, found my discussions with GP difficult.
This is exactly why we all need to do our bit and get vaccinated, to allow people like you who cannot have the vaccine yet still be protected as much as possible, by not giving a transmission route to those like you.
The social media companies need to do a lot more to extinguish the activities of the anti-vaxxers and denialists by encouraging, even rewarding if necessary, other members to report such posts. The system of reporting works very well on HU, why not on other social media sites? The right to life must trump over the right to freedom of speech!
I truly appreciate reading most of your postings though sometimes I don’t quite understand.
This is how I feel about the main news media nowadays. If you don’t pay attention to the news, you’re uninformed, but if you do pay attention to the news, you’re misinformed.
"If you don’t pay attention to the news, you’re uninformed, but if you do pay attention to the news, you’re misinformed"
I totally agree with that statement. The news media manipulate stories to suit their own agenda ie making money. They will even censor their content with deliberate ommission, by not reporting on certain events to suit their own narrative. The real truth is always being hidden behind a thick fog.
I agree 2greys. There is indie-SAGE however, who produce regular on-line reports plus an hour of intelligent analysis and questions from the public every Friday at 13.30. I watch on YouTube. I also trust the Guardian newspaper to offer information I can trust.
I normally post those although they too are only human and can make mistakes.
I totally agree with Caspiana, you must do what’s right for you. Take care dear SORRELHIPPO. Xxx🥰💖
Thank you, my friends are split on this issue, especially the few who are "huggy touchy feely" who find it difficult to visit and not touch.
Never mind them, you look after yourself. Xxx
this must be awful for you SH, I would be having to say something if I was in your position, I've already decided not to attend two large family gatherings, inside buildings, sad but true.
I have had 2 Pfizer jabs as have Bronchiectasis, but completely see your problems and reasoning. Over the years having lived in West Africa, I have had loads of injections, including, when pregnant, what I can only describe as an elephants- sized needle filled with iron in the backside every 2 weeks by bending over the doctors desk in an open surgery! I am still isolating with home deliveries and see only my best friend who is in my bubble, you must do what you know to be best for your well-being, and good friends will understand. Sops
Nigeria was my place for most vaccinations, my father built and maintained roads and bridges there in the 50's and early 60's.
I was in mid country Ibadan in the 80s. My husband built factories and opened them with operating schedules he had prepared for takeover by indigenous staff. . I was made very welcome.We holidayed in Togo ,or CoteD’Ivoire, or one year crossed to Rio.
IOW is as far as I get lately!
I didn't realize now damaging Crohns can be. I'm sure there are a small number of people out there that have a condition that the vaccine would make worse. They just need to following the guidelines that are in place.
Exactly what guidelines do you speak of? Speaking from my perspective as the mother of two daughters with Ulcerative Colitis (ulceration of the large bowel) I'm sure we would be very interested in the guidelines. My eldest daughter has UC and another immunosuppressed illness but decided to have the shots. She had a flareup of the UC after the first and a slightly less one after the second. She followed her consultants advice to do so. My youngest daughter has no large bowel at all as a result of years of ulceration and no treatment that worked for her. She has what they call a pouch which they make out of the small intestine and has to do the job of both bowels. Her small bowel (Pouch) is now under investigation for Crohns along with her being pregnant after IVF. She had the first shot and was ill and was advised not to have the second one. Both of them are in that age group that is predisposed to Long Covid, so there was a lot to think about. Both UC and Crohns up until recent years killed people off very quickly and both are very serious, debilitating and painful invisible illnesses. There are a great many people who have complained of serious flareups of both these diseases both on the Healthunlocked forum for the same as well as articles in the general media.
It is my view that nobody, vaxxers or anti-vaxxers should be pointing fingers at anybody and we should all accept the fact that people have the right to choose what is right for them and not be challenged for it in any circumstance.
Best wishes to your youngest daughter, hope all goes well with her pregnancy. I was diagnosed before a lot of the modern treatments were available, in my early 30's and was expected to reach early 60's possibly. With the newer stuff am due to hit 70 next year. My guidelines to myself, are to follow what was around in the first lockdown, do not go out (well I cannot anyway), open windows and fan air movement for when visitors around, delivery for food done on doorstep, masks, face screens, hand sanitisers for use when carer and District Nurse come around. I am very lucky that I can no longer work. I used to work with older patients in their home and would feel I could not work without having the vaccine.
Thank you Sorrel. We nearly lost her eight years ago when she had her first baby so you can imagine it's a bit of a,stressful time at the moment and they are saying it's due to that, that she's had a difficult time carrying a baby full term since, hence the IVF. We are all delighted that she has got to 14 weeks this time and the scans are all looking good, so fingers crossed. She was diagnosed with UC when she was 11 years old and had her bowel removed on her 18th birthday! She's now 31 years old. She unfortunately cannot shield but takes all the precautions she can and so far okay. My other daughter continues to work from home and has done since the first lockdown. I haven't been outside the home since before Xmas except for a couple of car rides. That's as much as I can manage anyway!
I'm glad all the precautions you have and are taking are keeping you safe and well. It is indeed an unpleasant time for a lot of us!
Quite right Annie. Bless both of your daughters and thinking of you all. Xxx🌹
Unfortunately, the way we receive news information now is such that we can choose the opinions we want to hear and not receive information from the other side of the argument. Our right to freedom of speech seems to be disappearing beneath a woke agenda which calls itself liberal but is totalitarian in action.
It's called freedom . Freedom to decide which way is best for you .Not always a sensible way , but your way.
Personally,. I love life ........Like everyone else I only have one go at it so
why take an extra risk.
As side effects to the vaccine are so few and far between just what
can be the objections. ?
Or is it a case of following the Lemmings.
J.
My respiratory consultant impressed on me the importance of avoiding Covid at all costs. I have had both jabs with no side effects at all and will welcome my booster when the time comes. I know which I fear most and its not the jab!!
Hi Beth. I have had both jabs of the vaccine and did not even consider not having it. John
I have had both jabs (had mild effects for a few days afterwards) and can't wait for the booster, never had any hesitation. My GP, Lung and Heart Consultants have advised me to continue with the face, space and hygiene measures as I could still be high risk of ending up in hospital because of my health issues. I accept my situation and just get on with life as best I am able, I feel safer following the measures and hopefully protecting others as well. In my mind (and in my opinion) the risk of not having the jab is higher than having it unless you have been advised by a Medical Person not to have the jab due to certain conditions. Best wishes to all and hoping we all make it through. xx
Fear of the unknown mostly.
I agree with 2greys. If your doctor says it's okay for you, and you trust her, I think you have a responsibility to get the shots to help protect those that are most vulnerable. The virus lives to find a host and will keep mutating to achieve that goal. The unvaccinated pose a direct risk to the immunocompromised and those who cannot be vaccinated due to age or medical reasons. Liberty comes with legal limits and obligations to society.
Beth in UK these are the guidelines for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable:
metoffice.gov.uk/weather/fo...
US folk will of course need to check US guidelines.
So for population comparisons UK and US the non vaxers are bound to be higher in the USA, you will probably get a higher response to your question if you post on a US lung forum, do let us know if you do that. Interested to know the response in the US.
Whether the non vaxers in the US who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable is also higher in comparison to UK I would not know but perhaps you already know of these statistics for the USA?
As mentioned previously most here who are CEV will be vaccinated.
I couldn't wait to get my two jabs. It is the only way out of this pandemic I feel because it will keep mutating until we are all, or most of us, vaccinated
I have serious lung issues and have been double vaccinated, actually I feel better after having my vaccine.
All my family have been vaccinated. I was unwell for two weeks after each dose. (no one elce in my family were unwell) In bed unable to get up felt realy awfull bit like having bad flu. I will have the booster when its time and if i was told i would need the vaccine again every year i would still take it. I feel those that can be vaccineated should be to protect those that cant. The only way to beat the virus is through science and society acting to help each other.
I wasn't anti- vaccine but having been so desperately ill from the first jab I cannoot have a second one- my view has been confirmed by two doctors.
I declined it because in my opinion it has not been tested thoroughly and there's christ knows how many different vaccines there are.But to those who have had it i wish you well
All about choices.
I had both ....
I think reluctance is more to do with fear and ignorance to the actual data/ facts and of course that some people have been very lucky so far as far as health goes?
I’m not lucky at all so won’t make any bets/ risks.
breathing difficulties 
Hiring Equipment for overseas
Quick question on oxygen.
Sore, dry nose on Oxygen
