This is what we experience in Alberta, CA right now; the Moderna is not expected here before the middle of May…after a day or two of vacillating I booked an appointment yesterday for the AZ. Not because of the “blood clot” issue but that the mRNA vaccines are said to confer a broader immunity. This reminds me a bit of Ford/Chevy, Beta/VHS, Batman/Superman type conflicts. Who would have imagined regular people would be engaging in this 
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I wrote my reply poorly - I am not against what the professionals have said - I am against the headline mongering, bad reporting, and the political decisions made by non-scientists in this matter, not the careful and responsible statements I have seen from the scientists.
This bad reporting and quoting of non-professionals, and scare headlines, makes people needlesly worried. I had folk at vaccine clinic last night ask me if the (bioNtech & moderna) vaccines we were giving would give them a blood clot.
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My partner died nearly three weeks ago, roughly two weeks after having the AZ vaccination. She died from a cerebral venous thrombosis, after complaining of migraines and headaches after the vaccination. One of the things the consultant at Bristol Southmead ICU, one of the top neurological units in Britain described as a symptom was her platelet levels were unusually low, but there was still clotting. The clot caused catastrophic, i survivable damage to her brain stem.
I am heartbroken, I’d known her for nearly thirty years, but she only came back into my life three years ago, and her daughters and her mother and sister are absolutely grief-stricken.
I cannot express just how empty my life is without her.
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That is not what medicine is about, especially at the public health level. It is about risk vs benefit. Even with thousands of deaths from side effects, a COVID vaccine is still a no-brainer easy win. That doesn’t mean we don’t work to minimize them, but there is no such thing as a medical intervention with no adverse effects or risks.
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That is very sad, please accept my sympathies.
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I’m so sorry for your loss. It is massively unfair to make it this far through the pandemic only to lose a loved one to the one thing that’s meant to bring us an end to the pandemic.
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Oh god. I’m very sorry.
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This is heartbreaking. I’m so sorry for your loss.
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I am very sorry.
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I’m in no way, shape or form qualified to judge likelihood that there’s a causal link.
But as we’ve seen throughout this pandemic, a lack of transparency doesn’t reinforce public trust in health and scientific authorities. Ignoring a possible link be the AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare complication in certain demographics because it’s inconvenient will only serve to damage trust in medical authorities and thus vaccination. And I since I want everyone who possibly can to get vaccinated ASAP, I’m in favor of transparency.
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I was listening to the BBC news on my way to work this morning, and it’s now being stated that the AZ vaccine should not be given to women younger than 55, due to the increasingly clear link between the vaccine and cerebral Venus thrombosis, and a British charity, Thrombosis UK said that anyone exhibiting symptoms should seek help because they can be easily treated.
By the time I got to work, I was in pieces, I had to return home, because the realisation that my beautiful partner could have survived had we known what symptoms to look for is just too much to bear.
Those demanding that this thread should be closed because it’s just spreading FUD need to actually look at what is happening, and have a quiet word with themselves.
I still have to wait until the 27 of this month for Jo’s funeral, the knowledge that it’s now become clear that her death was preventable had we known what symptoms to look for is beyond painful; I was beginning to come to terms with her loss, now that’s been ripped to pieces.
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I work in the hospital. I see people all the time blaming themselves for not detecting an illness, or detecting it “too late”, or the other myriad of things humans blame themselves for after a tragedy.
You did NOT cause your partner’s death.
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I am truly sorry for your loss.
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As a stranger on the internet, I cannot offer you much, but I genuinely hope that you are getting the love and support that you need from friends and family, etc. during this excruciating time. I also hope that you have opportunities to give yourself plenty of self care to allow your heart to rest.
I just want to reiterate that you are in no way to blame for your partner’s passing. That BBC news report was yesterday, not three weeks ago. Even a trained physician would not have known what to make of her symptoms then, because nobody knew anything about this then.
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I know, but she was complaining about headaches and migraines, and she had a bit of a rash, and I did tell her to call 111, the non-emergency NHS number, but she was always reluctant to have any dealings with doctors, especially when her own surgery was pretty useless, but I really feel I could, should have done more. I’m just empty now, I was starting to accept her loss, and now this is all over the news it’s breaking me apart all over again, and it’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life.
She was such a sweet, quiet soul.
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That is so fucking sad. I don’t know what to say.
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No, you can’t do that. “If only I knew…” is a refrain we hear all the time and it is a pointless one. We all do the best we can, with what we know, when we know it. We can’t hold ourselves to a higher standard than that. We would probably all make better choices in hindsight, but that’s not how life works. Be kind to yourself, grieve your loss and hold her dear in your heart, but don’t beat yourself for something you could not control. 
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I’m very sorry about the loss of your partner.
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This article goes into some detail about the potential mechanisms that might be the cause of this reaction:
Interesting that reducing the dosage may be an option, and there’s some evidence that a reduced dosage may actually be more effective.
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