vaccination hesitancy

[paulgf54]

I live in Perth western Australia, and although we had an initial co vid outbreak like most countries our state got on top of it very quickly and we have no cases of covid.

Apart from a couple of scares when we went into lockdown for a week when a case escaped quarantine we live life like before this disease reared its ugly head.

We dont wear masks, can go anywhere within the state and you could almost believe covid doesnt exist. except we sign in to public places with our phone.

We have been very lucky and fortunate to have a pro active government, however i do realize this could end any time as hotel quarantine has its limitations. There is currently an outbreak in the Eastern states.

My issue is this, firstly i am not an anti vaccinator,, far from it but when you dont have co vid in the community why would i take the risk however minute of the serious but rare side effects of the only vaccine offered , the astra zenacae.

Pfizer is only available in the under 50 age group.

My concerns are the number of vague auto immune problems i suffer with. Ie dry mouth and eyes, raynauds phenomon, peripheral neuropathy and exocrine pancreatic failure. I have no changes in my blood for an auto immune disorder except a very high rheumatoid factor.

Later at the end of the year the moderna will become available for all age groups , should i wait.? I am sorry this seems such a trivial question when many of you are in so much more worrying situations . My Doctor says think about it carefully , dont rush, maybe wait. But part of me wants to get the vaccination the other part says wait. I live in a retirement village with 140 other people over 55 and look after my dad who is 92. He says he is too old to worry..................

[AussieNeil Partner Founder Admin]

I'm glad you've asked your doctor. If you do go ahead with the vaccinations, you should stay and be observed for any reaction for 30 minutes after your vaccination.

With regard to the risk associated with delaying so more data is available to hopefully better quantify your risk, the issue we have in Australia is that with the country open to travel (lock-downs permitting), as we've seen before, cases that escape quarantine quickly spread around the country. The nature of exponential growth is that contact tracers are very quickly overwhelmed. Hence the importance of prompt lock-downs in slowing the spread so the contact tracers can catch up. We don't know how the Melbourne lock-down will be resolved and whether it has spread interstate. Asymptomatic spread is difficult enough to manage, but now we don't know how far the Delta variant from India has spread around Australia. We can hope that the Melbourne lock-down stopped it, but it will reappear, particularly given we are repatriating Australians from India.

Neil

[CLLerinOz Administrator Volunteer]

I suspect that you’re not alone. Many Victorians were delaying vaccination before this outbreak of COVID-19 and, it would seem, there were a number of cancer patients amongst them.

The Victorian COVID-19 Cancer Network put out a new statement on 3 June as part of a drive to encourage cancer patients to get vaccinated, especially in the light of the recent outbreak.

I understand the circumstances in Victoria right now are different to those in Perth but the advice that is given in the video part of the statement is general in nature, although not CLL specific. The advice is given with a recommendation that all patients consult their specialist for individual advice so it’s good you’ve been talking to your doctor.

viccompcancerctr.org/news/g...

In Victoria, there’s been a huge upturn in vaccination bookings and queues in some places as a result of this outbreak. It may not be as easy as it is now for you to schedule a booking some time in the future, particularly if you get an outbreak there in Perth. I hope that doesn’t happen, for everyone’s sake.

[seelel]

I share your concerns. Here in Adelaide we are in a similar situation with no masks, hardly anyone obeys the 1.5m distance rule, and there is a feeling of complacency about the possibility of outbreak.

Because of CLL I haven't stopped wearing a mask in public. Wash hands and don't touch face whilst out and about. The habit is well formed now after 18 months. So the question rests with me as well - do I want to risk the Astra Zeneca vaccine. After all, despite govt. and media hype, it's not evidence based medicine. I'm not an anti-vaxxer either, but it is a vaccine still in its experimental stage, and I'm not happy with being an epidemiological statistic. My body is 100% my concern and not a 0.01% rarity (or whatever the official figure is).

I accept that there is a risk/benefit analysis that may be valid for the entire community, but my individual risk/benefit analysis differs. The possibility of developing zero antibodies from the vaccine is very real when one's Ig is way below the normal range. Yet the risk of an adverse autoimmune event is real when there have been some signs of autoimmune events during the years of my CLL journey.

So I recommend thinking through your individual situation very carefully - and acting accordingly.