Astrazeneca

As many of you know, the Astrazeneca vaccine is now being offered to anyone 40+.  And that means me.  

This has been on my mind alot over the last few days.  I had every intention of getting vaccinated at my earliest opportunity....I even called a few pharmacies about getting on a wait list.  But now that my option is Astrazeneca, I am hesitant.  If I had been offered either of the others, I would probably already be vaccinated.  So why the hesitation?

I do have some previous issues with blood clotting.....but the science behind that seems to show that the clotting happening with Astrazeneca develops through a different process and is essentially unrelated.  They do not believe that previous blood clotting would at all put me at a higher risk.

There are, so far, only 2 cases of this type of severe reaction in over 700,000 doses administered in Canada.  So it is extremely rare.  In fact, according to the latest research, my chances of getting COVID and then subsequently developing a blood clot from that is much higher than from the vaccine.

Of course, I could easily just wait until I am eligible for one of the other vaccines, and avoid the Astrazeneca altogether.  But that only increases my chance of contracting COVID during that time, having to deal with the side effects of that (of which we also don't yet fully understand)...and then of course, spreading it to others...some of which may not survive.  Also by waiting, especially if a large number of us do, we'll only get further away from getting this under control.   And I can't really expect everyone else to take this particular vaccine while I wait for the "good" one.

I do understand that even with the vaccine I am still at risk.  But I certainly believe (and hope) it will reduce the severity and alleviate the burden on the healthcare system.   I have to remember that this isn't a simple question of "should I?" or "shouldn't I?" with the outcome only affecting me.  We are in the middle of a pandemic, and so there are some extenuating circumstances to consider.  Some of these individual choices that we're making will also have consequences for those around us.  Ultimately, I feel that the more people that follow the recommendations of our health care professionals by getting vaccinated at the earliest opportunity, the better chance we have of putting this behind us.  Right or wrong, this is the conclusion that I have personally come to.

And so I am scheduled to receive my first Astrazeneca dose today at 3pm.  

*Please know that this blog is not in any way intended to convince or impact the choices of my fellow team-mates.  I am in no position to tell anyone else what to do or to judge anyone else for their decisions.  If you have any personal concerns, it's always best to speak with your doctor, or a medical professional you trust.  My intent with this blog is to share the hesitancy I experienced and how I ultimately came to my choice.