Coronavirus prep

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  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    33gail33 wrote: »
    33gail33 wrote: »
    hipari wrote: »
    My head is in a loop re: vaccines. I’ve always been a vaccine believer and taken everything officials recommend. I recently found out I’m pregnant, and covid vaccines are not approved for pregnant women. This means I can’t get a covid vaccine in the next 8 months, and even after that I don’t know how postpartum and breastfeeding are handled.

    This is the first time ever I have had to rely on others getting vaccinated and forming herd immunity around me, and I don’t like this feeling. This is also the first time I’ve been worried about myself getting sick, so far all the worry has been related to me getting it, spreading it and causing harm to others.

    I think it is criminal that pregnant health care workers in Canada are not being offered the vaccine. Are you not allowed to get it, or you have chosen not to?

    It infuriates me that women are being exposed to a known risk, on order to shield a fetus from a potential risk. I expect that many (maybe most) low risk women would choose not to vaccinate, but I really think is their choice alone, because, bodily autonomy and all that.

    I'm far from an antivaxer, but a woman would have to be crazy to volunteer to have the vaccine when it has never been tested on pregnant women/the effects on babies.

    would you jump up and volunteer to be the first test case and then wait and see what happens when the baby comes out???

    No personally I would not.

    Me neither. And ashamed to say I wouldn't have been one of the brave vaccine testers from the beginning of this whole thing. But that would've been a much easier decision than if I was carrying a baby. :(
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    I’m 100% advocate that women’s reproductive rights are theirs alone. However, clearly, women currently of reproductive age, were not around in the 50’s and 60’s (when my mother was pregnant with my sisters and I) when pregnant women were given thalidomide for morning sickness, some resulting in birth defects for their babies. I have one child. 36 years old. Even that long ago gynecologist were encouraging refraining from using things that may affect the fetus development. ie: smoking, alcohol consumption, illegal drug use, etc. If it were me, I would refrain from receiving simply because of the unknowns. Not worth risking, especially since you’ve been successful for the past year, as have so many of us.

    I think there is quite a space between counselling women on harms to the fetus, and denying them access to healthcare.

    Pregnant woman have a significantly higher risk of severe outcomes, including death, than non pregnant women. Imagine denying a doctor or nurse or other front line worker the vaccine and then they die from covid.

    At any rate my jurisdiction has recently reversed its position of blocking the vaccine for pregnant women, and I suspect others will do the same if they haven't already.

    https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6944e3.htm?s_cid=mm6944e3_w

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-covid-vaccine-change-for-pregnant-and-breastfeeding-1.5865918
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    hipari wrote: »
    33gail33 wrote: »

    The advice that pregnant women shouldn't have the vaccine is based solely on the fact that they weren't included in the studies - not that they anticipate that the vaccine would do any more harm to them than anyone else. Based on what we know about vaccines during pregnancy there is no reason to believe that this one will cause any adverse affects for them. But we know that covid DOES cause adverse affects, and that pregnant women are more likely to have serious outcomes.

    That’s the thing though - I don’t think anyone ever anticipates any drug they develop harms pregnant women, or people in general. And yet, drugs are tested and put through vigorous trials before distribution to make sure they’re safe, and there are several drugs that aren’t suitable for pregnant women. There was a medicine that was given to pregnant women with morning sickness, and turns out it caused serious damage on the babies. I’m sincerely hoping nobody anticipated that and just decided to give it to them anyway.

    Even lobotomies were once considered safe medical treatments.

    Yes that was back in the 50's and 60's. I think that our knowledge of microbiology and immunology has evolved enough since then to be a little more confident in the biological processes that are triggered by vaccines in general, and this one in particular. I believe that the approval for thalidimide was based solely on animal testing. MRNA vaccines have been in development for many years. If they aren't safe then I think we will eventually find out they are not safe for any of us, not just for pregnant women, and then we will all be in trouble.

    I'm not saying that anyone who doesn't want the vaccine should get it, and I'm not trying to talk anyone into getting it. But if someone is working in a high risk environment I don't think that they should be denied based on some hypothetical complication.

    I don't really have anything else to say about it that I haven't already said, so I won't be responding further.

    Good luck with your pregnancy, I hope my comments haven't caused you stress.

  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    There have been cases of babies born to mom’s with COVID whom months later the doctors fear will turn into lifelong long-haulers.

    But there are examples of everything with this virus. And examples of the opposite. It’s just so early to draw conclusions.

    I would hate to see the vaccine not be offered to someone because they’re pregnant. Let people make the decision themselves (with their doctor). Without conclusive evidence We won’t have this early, I would not want that choice made for me.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,427 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    I have to say that I am very frustrated at the lack of availability of vaccines. It seems like some states have plenty of doses available while others have scarce supply. Dr. Fauci had said everyone could be able to get it by sping, but some areas are still in phase 1 and I don't see how spring could even be possible. Everything I can see leads me to believe I won't get a vaccine until mid-2022.

    I think he said there will be enough vaccine for everyone by then. Getting it into everyone's arms is a different story.

    It's definitely going too slow. Once the states that are doing better finish up, hopefully their resources (and fed resources) will be diverted to areas lagging behind and there will be a snowball effect. Hopefully.

    To be honest it's much more cost effective to train additional resources to administer the shots in under served areas than to pay travel, food and lodging for moving resources to an area.