COVID 19 jab

I may not have a choice. I would rather sit on the fence for a while but as I work in the allied health profession we may be forced to have it or change careers. I will sit on the fence for as long as I am allowed.

I am having AZ Saturday week. My husband is having his at the same time for moral support lol!
The reason it has been so quick is that the framework for the vaccine was already in place and it was easier to get it through the various clinical trials stages because of demand and also ,because we were mid pandemic so  there were plenty of people to test it on.  
With regard to side effects, the risk of clotting is much less than the pill. I will be alert to any side effects and seek appropriate help.  The more corona in the community there is , the more chance of variants forming and escaping.  That’s why it is important to get as many shots in arms as possible.
There will be many more vaccines to come for covid.  There is an insane yet reassuring number currently in development. Of course the second and third wave will probably be better , this usually happens in vaccine development.  Down the track and probably fairly soon, this is something to look forward to.  In the meantime, I will have AZ. Winter is coming . If it’s good enough for Norman swan, it’s good enough for me :)
Disclaimer, I am a (retired) Medical Scientist.  I don’t know everything, but the evidence seems to stack up.

Caz xxxxxx

Dear @Halla,
I'm so sorry about your grandmother. My 92yr old father is living at home on his own with the support of a homecare package. So far so good. He and I have both recently had our first Astrazeneca shot; both with no side-effects. I am on my way to stay with him for a week. 
Best wishes from jennyss in Western NSW

My grandmother died of COVID in a Melbourne nursing home.  It was horrible because no family could see her, and she was moved out of her familiar surroundings so she was disoriented and confused. She stopped eating because there weren’t enough staff to sit with her and coax her to eat. All the regular staff that she knew went into quarantine, there weren’t enough ring-ins and the few that were there had no idea how to run the place. Each time they needed to go into someone’s room they had to completely change their head-to-toe protective gear, so of course, they didn’t have time to check up on people regularly. So she was just pretty much abandoned. The kicker is when COVID first hit the home she was negative. She tested positive 3 weeks after they implemented all the “safety” rules.  It was a horrible lonely confused and painful way for her to die and a horrible way for her family to suffer without being able to help her at all or say goodbye. It was chaos and that situation could easily and suddenly ramp up again. 

With you on that one!! 

@Afraser I just wish viruses, flus, cancer etc didn’t exist at all. That’s my biggest wish. I’m a hypochondriac. It’ll never happen, I know 😩🤷🏼‍♀️. I do hope this covid will reach seasonal flu status soon 🤞🤞

@FLClover

What you say about incidence is largely true for Australia. We have been very lucky. It is not true for the US, or the UK or India with significant death tolls and a much younger demographic affected. But there has never been any suggestion of people being vaccinated against their will. I agree that there may be some preference for proof of vaccination for some activities, mainly commercial ones, just as commercial supermarkets are entitled to require the wearing of masks by customers. But we’ll see. What we all hope for is that this virus will be sufficiently eliminated to push it back to the risk level we experience with seasonal flu. Possibly more so for those who choose not to be vaccinated. 

@Afraser from that point of view I understand. I know where you’re coming from. But I was fighting my first surgeon for 2 months because he wanted to use GA for a very small procedure. GA has been used for years, and has changed so much since first being introduced, that’s it now so safe to use. However, it’s still not without risks. They may be rare, but they’re there, and they’re scary. So if it’s not necessary and there’s another way, I’d rather do that. 

@FLClover

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but the AstraZeneca vaccine has gone through all the testing and approvals that are required for any vaccine in Australia. Same ones that the Pfizer vaccine has had too. Denmark is not using AstraZeneca for the simple reason that they have a small population, have already vaccinated a large number of their population and have adequate supplies of two other vaccines. If we were in the same happy position, we would probably do the same even though the risk of clotting is still extremely small (and the risk of death even smaller). But as we won’t be able to vaccinate all those who want to be vaccinated for almost another eight months, and the virus is still around, the AstraZeneca vaccine is an immediate form of protection. 

@Sister this is my concern as well. I’m not anti-vax either. I’m vaccinated against other things and my daughter is also vaccinated as she should be. I am anti anything that hasn’t been researched well enough, and we have no idea about what’s in it, the side effects and possible reactions. Actually we do have some idea of side effects; blood clots being one, and death another. And as you said, there are so many medical professionals around the world coming out and saying to ban it, because it’s not safe or necessary. They are risking having their licence revoked just to warn the public of its dangers. That’s gotta mean something. To me anyway. I don’t trust it, so I won’t have it. I don’t mind if others do (well actually I do mind cos I want them to be ok, but that’s not under my control), I just don’t want people telling me I have to have it, especially to keep my rights and freedom. Vaccine passports and that kind of control and stupidity. It doesn’t fly with me. But if people want to have it, go ahead 👌🏻👌🏻. Their body, their choice completely 🤷🏼‍♀️.