Rhian Lubin, Mirror feature writer, aged 29, says: We under-30s are patiently waiting our turn for a vaccine, counting down the days until we get the call up.
But news we should be offered an alternative vaccine to the Astra-Zeneca where possible has caused alarm.
The anti-vaxxers are saying ‘I told you so’ and fake news is already spreading on social media.
This to me is far more alarming than a calm “course adjustment”, as Jonathan Van Tam put it.
I’ve asked people of my age what they think and some friends have said they would still have the Astra-Zeneca jab, while others say they’re worried and want to know more.
What is your view? Have your say in the comment section
And others have even said the 79 cases of rare clots reported out of more than 20 million doses is enough to put them off completely.
Yet Covid-19 is far more likely to cause blood clots than the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, as is being on the combined hormonal contraceptive pill.
Out of 10,000 women who are using a combined hormonal contraceptive, about five to seven will develop a blood clot in a year, compared to about one in 250,000 people who receive the jab.
It is fine to be cautious, to ask questions and even to be scared, but one of the biggest dangers is not the incredibly rare side effects of this vaccine.
It’s the spread of misinformation.
The Astra-Zeneca vaccine is saving lives, the benefits far outweigh the risks and it’s one step closer to getting our freedom back.
So even if I’m offered the Astra-Zeneca, I’ll still be rolling up my sleeve.
The verdict from Mirror health editor, Martin Bagot
We struggle to understand our own personal risk.
Clots affecting blood supply to the brain sound a horrifying prospect – but so is a prospect of lonely death from Covid-19.
People accept a level of risk when we do anything, such as crossing a road.
We are told one in 250,000 people given the Oxford jab develops a blood clot.
By comparison, Cambridge University researchers put the chance of under-30s dying in an accident in a given month at about one in 100,000.
The annual risk of death in a car crash is one in 20,000.
With infection rates low, as now, the danger to under-30s from Covid is similar to the risk of getting a blood clot after the Oxford jab.
When rates rise as we lift lockdown, expect the equation to go in favour of vaccination.
The best option then is to listen to those whose job it is to understand risk, like Prof Jonathan Van Tam.
