I've Been Vaccinated (No Politics Please)

[bababear_50]

I have officially been given the no-go from my doctor re: getting the vaccine. Due to my health issues which put me at significant risk of reaction (including anaphylaxis), he said he wants to wait until we have some more data on reactions/people with my issues ☹

Hi Hon
I am so sorry Hon.
It is good that you & the doctors are being proactive.
I will keep my fingers crossed that they are able to collect data and reactions quickly but safely.
Stay well & safe Hon.
Hugs
Mel

 

[quandrea]

I have officially been given the no-go from my doctor re: getting the vaccine. Due to my health issues which put me at significant risk of reaction (including anaphylaxis), he said he wants to wait until we have some more data on reactions/people with my issues ☹

All the more reason that most people should get the shot. So people like you who can’t will benefit from herd immunity.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

I have officially been given the no-go from my doctor re: getting the vaccine. Due to my health issues which put me at significant risk of reaction (including anaphylaxis), he said he wants to wait until we have some more data on reactions/people with my issues ☹

Sorry to hear this. Hope your doctor determines and appropriate vaccine for you soon!

 

[bcwife76]

All the more reason that most people should get the shot. So people like you who can’t will benefit from herd immunity.

Completely agree!! Anyone who can get the shot should get the shot! I'll be rolling up my sleeves when my time comes (looking like mid to late May for my age group here in BC!)....for myself, for my family and for those that are medically unable to like @mshanson3121

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Over-65 Nova Scotian here. DH and I will definitely have our sleeves rolled up as soon as our turn rolls around. Mentally prepared for side effects, no concerns about which vaccine will be administered. Our greatest hope is that the supply will be ample for all who will take the shot, and that will be almost everyone!

 

[mshanson3121]

Thank you ladies, it's definitely important for sure. DH will be getting his, and our son hopefully will be able to this fall (he'll be 14). So it will be DD and I that are up in the air ☹ So it looks like our own personal precautions will be in place for awhile (as both DD and I also have health issues that put us at greater risk of complications). On the plus side, my 88 year old cancer and stroke surviving grandmother is getting her shot Tuesday

 

[Sue M]

Yay, in BC we seem to be finally picking up some steam in vaccinations. I think this week finished the 80+group. So next week should start with 79 and down.
I think my group 65-70 should be early April perhaps.
I’m glad with the extra AZ vaccine coming in they’ve finally added more essential workers for vaccine in April. Teachers and daycare staff finally! So happy this means my daughter will be getting vaccinated soon.
I’ll be happy with whatever vaccine I get! The sooner the better!

Thanks Mel for sharing your experience. And glad to know that needle isn’t as long as it looks on tv! Whew!

 

[CanucksRock]

In Alberta the AZ ended up being available for 1957-1961 - so my aunt got it. She’s primary caregiver for my 89 year old Grandma. My grandma will thankfully be fully vaccinated in 2 weeks. For the 64 & up bunch in my family they are scheduled to get the first dose of I’m guessing Pfizer next week including my Mom As soon as I qualify I am getting it. My brother and his wife will be fully vaccinated in a couple weeks - there are in Texas so get both shots. (My SIL thus far is still the only person I personally know that got Covid, she did so back in December)

 

[juniorbugman]

My 88yr old Mother is scheduled for her first shot next Wednesday. She wasn't in any hurry to get it because she says she goes nowhere but we want her to get it so now she is. I don't know when I will get mine as I am in the 60-64 range but they haven't come to Durham Region yet so I wait.

 

[mshanson3121]

And now as of yesterday apparently they have come out that there IS a link between the AZ vaccine and dangerous blood clots (though rare) and some are pushing for Canada to amend it's usage of it, banning it in women ages 20-50 (since they are the highest risk apparently). Will be interesting to see how this one plays out. I mean, to me it doesn't seem like that big of a deal - use it for the older people, there's still Pfizer, J&J and Moderna. Am I missing any others?

 

[von Monster]

And now as of yesterday apparently they have come out that there IS a link between the AZ vaccine and dangerous blood clots (though rare) and some are pushing for Canada to amend it's usage of it, banning it in women ages 20-50 (since they are the highest risk apparently). Will be interesting to see how this one plays out. I mean, to me it doesn't seem like that big of a deal - use it for the older people, there's still Pfizer, J&J and Moderna. Am I missing any others?

Source? The only thing I can find is this but it's been neither published nor peer-reviewed at all, and the opposite of what the EMA is stating, and encouraging member states to resume inoculations . The Guardian and NYT are reporting the suspensions were likely political in nature in order to give governments 'breathing room' around the slow EU rollout.

I would say the science is very... fluid(?) right now and attempting to determine one way or the other to change the vaccine scheduling regime based on this is borderline useless with the data at hand.

 

[mshanson3121]

Source? The only thing I can find is this but it's been neither published nor peer-reviewed at all, and the opposite of what the EMA is stating, and encouraging member states to resume inoculations . The Guardian and NYT are reporting the suspensions were likely political in nature in order to give governments 'breathing room' around the slow EU rollout.

I would say the science is very... fluid(?) right now and attempting to determine one way or the other to change the vaccine scheduling regime based on this is borderline useless with the data at hand.

CBC News and pretty much all news sites today (Forbes, WSJ, among several others). As far as "peer-reviewed", while not formally published, multiple countries have confirmed the results.

 

[von Monster]

CBC News and pretty much all news sites today

I would suggest you read the link I gave from The Guardian, NYT, and Politico. The CBC has done it's usual poor fact checking as per always and literally only linked a WSJ article reporting the non-published non-reviewed opinion of a doctor - a good one, but just one. The paper hasn't even been written yet, they simply held a news conference. The same CBC article actually links to the EMA report on their findings, which states basically carry on as the additional risk (if it exists) is almost infantesimal - however if you have symptoms of clots to go to your hospital to get checked out.

The direct quote from the EMA is "COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is not associated with an increased overall risk of blood clotting disorders. There have been very rare cases of unusual blood clots accompanied by low levels of blood platelets (components that help blood to clot) after vaccination. The reported cases were almost all in women under 55. Because COVID-19 can be so serious and is so widespread, the benefits of the vaccine in preventing it outweigh the risks of side effects." Emphasis mine, but the general takeaway I get is correlation != causation; more research to be done.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

CBC News and pretty much all news sites today

I read the CBC article... It’s all over the place with conflicting findings. 20 million doses, 20 cases... of those 18 cases of a very rare bleeding condition, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) — where veins that drain blood from the brain are obstructed and can potentially cause fatal bleeding.in pregnant & post pregnant women and women on birth control. The article also mentions that the German medical professionals have successfully treated the clotting once it’s been identified but the treatment can not be given preventatively.

I’ve not been able to find any other articles dated today... just the CBC one.

 

[Debbie]

The direct quote from the EMA is "COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is not associated with an increased overall risk of blood clotting disorders. There have been very rare cases of unusual blood clots accompanied by low levels of blood platelets (components that help blood to clot) after vaccination. The reported cases were almost all in women under 55. Because COVID-19 can be so serious and is so widespread, the benefits of the vaccine in preventing it outweigh the risks of side effects." Emphasis mine, but the general takeaway I get is correlation != causation; more research to be done.

I read this as well, along with the if you have a headache that lasts 3 days, go to a doctor because problems can be prevented with early detection.

 

[von Monster]

I read the CBC article... It’s all over the place with conflicting findings. 20 million doses, 20 cases... of those 18 cases of a very rare bleeding condition, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) — where veins that drain blood from the brain are obstructed and can potentially cause fatal bleeding.in pregnant & post pregnant women and women on birth control. The article also mentions that the German medical professionals have successfully treated the clotting once it’s been identified but the treatment can not be given preventatively.

I’ve not been able to find any other articles dated today... just the CBC one.

I'm also pretty sure that there was ~20 cases in the ~5 million AZ shots given out, but generally something like ~36 people out of 5 million are expected to die from thrombosis from my reading earlier today (Reddits Coronavirus forum, so I'd have to dig for where the stats come from). The CDC states that 0.002% of the American population (10,000 per 5 million) come down with some sort of thrombosis every year.

 

[bababear_50]

Hi gang
Yeah so much conflicting information lately.
I am following my own Dr.'s advice and Health Canada.

Health Canada says AstraZeneca is safe after investigating blood clot reports:
https://globalnews.ca/news/7705977/astrazeneca-health-canada-safe/
The EU has investigated and vaccines are resuming there:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56440139
https://globalnews.ca/video/7707004...as-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-investigation
To be completely honest ALL vaccines have been developed at a very rapid speed . Normally Vaccines go through an extensive 5-15 year test=reporting=data collecting=peer review ect.
But with Covid 19 we do not have the luxury of that time.
Yeah so much is being reported that I suggest anyone who is looking for the best advice ==ASK your own doctor.

Hugs
Mel

 

[mshanson3121]

I'm also pretty sure that there was ~20 cases in the ~5 million AZ shots given out, but generally something like ~36 people out of 5 million are expected to die from thrombosis from my reading earlier today (Reddits Coronavirus forum, so I'd have to dig for where the stats come from). The CDC states that 0.002% of the American population (10,000 per 5 million) come down with some sort of thrombosis every year.

I forget the numbers but the amount of cases they had with the severe clots were 8 - 9x higher than expected/normal.

 

[mshanson3121]

Hi gang
Yeah so much conflicting information lately.
I am following my own Dr.'s advice and Health Canada.

Health Canada says AstraZeneca is safe after investigating blood clot reports:
https://globalnews.ca/news/7705977/astrazeneca-health-canada-safe/
The EU has investigated and vaccines are resuming there:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56440139
https://globalnews.ca/video/7707004...as-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-investigation
To be completely honest ALL vaccines have been developed at a very rapid speed . Normally Vaccines go through an extensive 5-15 year test=reporting=data collecting=peer review ect.
But with Covid 19 we do not have the luxury of that time.
Yeah so much is being reported that I suggest anyone who is looking for the best advice ==ASK your own doctor.

Hugs
Mel

Exactly. I'm not sure why people are so quick to shoot this down. Maybe to quell their own anxiety? The reality is, we're all guinea pigs and are taking a gamble on these vaccines. Obviously, we all feel benefits outweigh the risk. However, seeing as how all vaccines have serious, including sometimes fatal side effects, I'm not sure why anyone would think the Covid vaccines will be any different. My point wasn't to say don't get it, just to share info that I literally just saw today. The articles (some of which were dated yesterday I guess, when the news broke) I've read have all said they HAVE found a link (not a possible link) and the entities saying otherwise ("not proven yet") are those who stand to profit from distribution. So, I take their arguments with a grain of salt (the discussion of which I wasn't wanting to dive into since it will obviously get political). As far as the arguments about it not being peer reviewed - honestly, as someone who knows more than many about the value of peer reviewed studies and what that does/doesn't mean, I say so what? While normally the gold standard, the reality is very little about Covid has been peer reviewed before it's gone into practice, and it doesn't mean the findings won't be confirmed once it is. Not being peer reviewed doesn't automatically invalidate the findings. It may only be 20 cases out of a few million so far - but as you say, this is also a rushed, brand new vaccine lacking the normal amount of research, for a virus we have relatively little information on. With hundreds of millions of people potentially going to be given this vaccine, even a tiny risk can add up to a significant number of people affected, so to me, it makes sense to dial it back, study it more and make sure - which is why some countries have not resumed using AZ yet and why some are recommending Canada not use it for anyone under age 55 (or whatever age they listed). Better safe than sorry, especially when we have 3 other vaccines NOT having this side effect.

 

[Donald - my hero]

I get this is a scary and unknown territory for us at the moment and we have so much information coming at us from all directions. I'll share the information that I gave Mel to look at when she was having a rough time dealing with the uncertainty surrounding the AZ vaccine.
a family physician in Guelph, Anne-Marie Zajdlik, has been putting out Facebook posts and blog postings almost daily over the last year. I'll copy the most recent ones that she talked about the concerns people are hearing. The first one even includes a link to a youtube video she created. She can be trusted as a very reliable source, she's been boots on the ground with the AIDS treatment both here and in Lesotho South Africa where she helped build an orphanage for children who had lost their parents to AIDS. She helped establish our city's Covid-19 testing facility, continues to run her private practice, and is keeping our health unit informed.
The numbers in these posts might be a bit outdated but her message is still valid IMHO One other thing that I'm not sure has been mentioned or not in this thread (or within these 2 quoted posts) is that the vaccine that we currently have in Canada was produced in Indian, NOT the same facilities that manufactured the doses being given in the EU and that needs to be included in the thought process as well.
We're one of the health units that have the AZ being sent directly to doctor's offices for patients 60 - 64 and as such a LOT of worry that she was dealing with in her clinic and on her Facebook pager & blogsite
Post from March 12th-

ASTRAZENECA!
Let's get this right.
THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE OXFORD-ASTRAZENECA VACCINE CAUSES BLOOD CLOTS:
Lets look again at the science. Refer to this youtube video for an outline of how this vaccine works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEBJeSyNObM&t=5s
Canada received the first 500,000 doses of this vaccine this week. It will be a very important vaccine for this country. It is 63%-67% effective after the first dose and 80 % effective after the second dose. This means that if you get this vaccine, you will be 80% less likely to get COVID 19 if you are exposed to COVID -19.
But, even better, this vaccine is 95%-100 % effective at preventing death from COVID-19, serious illness from COVID-19 and hospitalization from COVID-19. The mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna also reduce the risk of death, hospitalization and serious illness....BY THE SAME AMOUNT.
This means, that where it counts in the real world, the AstraZeneca vaccines stands up and prevents the endpoints that make COVID-19 a deadly virus. If this vaccine is offered to you, take it. Waiting for the next vaccine makes no sense. Waiting just increases the time that you are totally vulnerable to this virus and it's deadly outcomes.
A new safety review of 10 million patients who received the AstraZeneca vaccine showed no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country with its COVID-19 vaccine.
10 million people studied is huge. The more data you have, the greater it's accuracy. In those 10 million vaccine recipients, the risk of clotting was no greater than the usual risk of clotting in the general population. When the number of vaccinated people is so huge, many of them will develop illnesses they were about to develop regardless of the vaccine: heart attack, stroke, cancer, blood clots.
One can only say that the vaccine increases the risk of these diseases if many more people developed these conditions after vaccination than the number of people who develop these conditions without the vaccine, ie, the usual population incidence of the disease.
It's way too easy to point fingers when people who are not taking the time to review the science make broad statements about a vaccine and it's possible association with a significant side effect or disease.
Just like the flushot which is given while the flu is spreading in a community, people may be about to exhibit the symptoms of the flu, just as they have been vaccinated. The flushot did not cause the flu, the flu virus caused the flu.
Get the vaccine if it is offered to you. We must get ahead of the spread of the variants of concern. If we hold back for a vaccine we perceive to be 'better' we will lose this race.
Stay strong folks. Be smart and scientific!!!!
Anne-Marie

Post from March 15
"GOSSIP is NOT SCIENCE!"
You know what? I want to apologize to all of you. Politics, science, medicine and social media have all mixed together into a sometimes confusing mess making everyone so anxious and you do not deserve to feel more anxiety.
So, let's get the facts straight.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is a very safe and effective vaccine that does not cause an increased risk of developing blood clots.
Remember when folks were upset because Health Canada took so long to approve this vaccine? I am glad they took that long. We are very conservative and risk averse in this country when it comes to medications and vaccines. We take longer than most countries to approve treatments that have sometimes been used for years in other countries before we approve them. Our approach is not different with these COVID-19 vaccines. We took our time.
Many European countries rushed their approval process. I think that has left them feeling a little vulnerable when if comes to the risks that may be associated with these vaccines. As a result, they may have over-reacted to the alleged concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Here is what every European country that has suspended the use of this vaccine has decided to do. They are waiting for Europe's bloc-wide medicines regulator ( Health Canada equivalent) to investigate a very small number of serious blood clotting issues.
Perhaps it may have been better to do this 'due diligence' before they approved the vaccine? Maybe.
That regulator, the European Medicines Agency, is expected by Thursday to give it's verdict on safety and potential risks from a review of the reported cases. The agency said that while the investigation is going on, “the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, outweigh the risks of side effects.” They are recommending that countries keep using the vaccine and they have already stated there is no evidence of a link between the reported blood clots and the AstraZeneca vaccine.
AstraZeneca has shown that there have been 37 reports of blood clots out of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the 27-country European Union and Britain. They can't fake this stuff.
They are being watched by every scientific community in the world....very, very closely watched. There is no evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine carries an increased risk of clots. Those 17 million people who received the vaccine are still at risk for having their heart attacks their cancers and their blood clots and unless the vaccine causes many more than what is expected in a given population at anytime, you cannot link the vaccine to the negative health outcomes.
The World Health Organization has also said that the data does not suggest the vaccine caused the clots and that people should continue to be immunized.
“Many thousands of people develop blood clots annually in the EU for different reasons,” the European Medicines Agency said. The incidence in vaccinated people "is not higher than that seen in the general population.”
The vaccine that both doctor's offices and pharmacies are receiving is the AstraZeneca vaccine. I will admit that it is a big deal that 5 countries in the European Union have temporarily suspended the use of this vaccine. It would make me second guess whether or not I should get this vaccine if I were not a physician who is following the research closely. You are totally entitled to be uncomfortable but please, base that discomfort on the facts, not gossip and not Google MD or any other social media site that is not a reputable medical source of information.
Our ever cautious, ever risk averse, ever conservative Health Canada agrees and they have already done their homework.
Take home message:
It is much more risky to remain unvaccinated if you are an at risk population based on age, exposure risk and underlying health issues. COVID-19 is by far much more deadly than 37 blood clots in 17 million people. Not to downplay the devastation the a person experiences who develops a serious blood clot.
Take the first vaccine you are offered and trust the science. Governments are fearful and some of their decisions, like temporarily suspending the use of a very good vaccine, are not based on science, they are based on that fear.
We need governments and science working together. No question. But what we do not need is mis-information on social media and gossip to delay the vaccination of our citizens.
Anne-Marie

Final tid-bit from her St. Paddy's Day post
Follow the guidelines, wear a mask. The variants will not affect us if we keep community transmission low and avoid getting infected. It's only months away before enough of us will be immunized to get way ahead of COVID-19.
Both the French President and the British Prime Minister have asked to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine. And the European Union's Health Agency has stated that this vaccine does not increase the risk of clots. Health Canada, the FDA and The World Health Organization have all reviewed the research and they all agree.
Get whatever vaccine is offered to you.