Covid-19 vaccines and vaccinations

Another one unable to obtain it here in the UK in as housebound and GP has removed me from the list.

That has happened and we've pushed back every year in the past (with my argument accepted) such that it got added annually to my summary patient record that I was eligible.

My husband gave me Covid last year so I never got jabbed. I swore I didn't ever want to get it again (and my ME is permanently worsened).

But I'm now severe enough and so fragile at the moment that I am homebound and have very mixed feelings. On balance we (well my hubby as I have trauma from so many negative interactions with my surgery) probably won't fight it this time.
 
The pharmacist explained that if you receive Shingrix within the year of infection it can exacerbate the symptoms. I can't imagine what the pain would be like considering how excruciating the pain was already. I still experience pain from time to time if I use my left arm/shoulder too much, like when I'm cutting my hair.

Who really knows though, it's most likely precautionary measures.
 
Kiristar said:
But I'm now severe enough and so fragile at the moment that I am homebound and have very mixed feelings. On balance we (well my hubby as I have trauma from so many negative interactions with my surgery) probably won't fight it this time.
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I'm really sorry to hear that, it sounds as if you've had a ghastly time. :emoji_bouquet:

It might not be much comfort, but the Covid jab's not great at preventing infection anyway. It's more about trying to reduce the risk of complications like pneumonia, cardiac injury, organ damage, etc.

It's hard to know whether it reduces the chance of an infection making ME/CFS symptoms worse, because of course most doctors and researchers don't even know that's a question, let alone what the answer is. :banghead:
 
Kitty said:
I'm really sorry to hear that, it sounds as if you've had a ghastly time. :emoji_bouquet:

It might not be much comfort, but the Covid jab's not great at preventing infection anyway. It's more about trying to reduce the risk of complications like pneumonia, cardiac injury, organ damage, etc.

It's hard to know whether it reduces the chance of an infection making ME/CFS symptoms worse, because of course most doctors and researchers don't even know that's a question, let alone what the answer is. :banghead:
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Yes this last is the dilemma, especially since the jabs also trigger a reaction and pem state. If I was not so unwell I would maybe have written a letter to at least put that long term effect on record I think.

Interestingly but at a slight tangent, I periodically do a biomesight analysis and the results this time saw one specific strain shoot up dramatically. When I looked, it was associated with Long Covid, which it hadn't occurred to me I might technically speaking also have now. There were a few other health associations too like diabetes, but nothing that I have.
 
Sasha said:
I think you could still 'yellow card' it?
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You mean vaccination injury? While I had an effect it was cumulative and there were enough other life events that I can't say for sure. It was just having a set of 3 events in relatively short succession that seemed to be problematic for me.

Plus I've now had a confirmed even worse permanent effect from getting actual Covid, so on balance of risk it would still have been worth having it as a lone innoculation for me.

A yellow card might end up preventing other PwME from having it who do net benefit. I believe it's a personal balance of risk decision and we should at least have the option to have it if we feel the individual risk benefit trade off is worth it. I'm unable to leave my home so cannot get it privately and do am denied that decision.
 
Update: I didn’t get most of my normal side effects to the Covid vaccine this time around - I didn’t get the shivering or feeling flu-ish. But I did just feel generally more unwell & had a bad headache, and when I tried doing my normal stuff on the 2nd or 3rd day, quickly became very unwell. So I stopped doing anything and rested completely.. and then by the 6th day after the vaccine (today), I was able to get out of the home, and I do feel more or less completely back to normal now.

I think it wasn’t so bad this time because I suspect I had actual covid just a few months ago in spring/summer (my mum still hasn’t recovered her taste and smell, and I was unwell for 3 weeks), so probably already have the antibodies.
 
Update- non vaccine reaction! Was probably a good thing not to have had my flu jab yesterday because I started to feel unwell yesterday afternoon. Today glands are up and mild sore throat. Nothing like my vaccine reactions but now concerned I won't be well enough to be vaccinated on Tuesday!!
Out of interest, if one had a flu jab when ill with a cold, I looked up AI.
"Vaccine effectiveness:
Minor illnesses don't affect the vaccine's ability to create antibodies, but a more severe illness might."
 
Kiristar said:
Another one unable to obtain it here in the UK in as housebound and GP has removed me from the list.

That has happened and we've pushed back every year in the past (with my argument accepted) such that it got added annually to my summary patient record that I was eligible.

My husband gave me Covid last year so I never got jabbed. I swore I didn't ever want to get it again (and my ME is permanently worsened).

But I'm now severe enough and so fragile at the moment that I am homebound and have very mixed feelings. On balance we (well my hubby as I have trauma from so many negative interactions with my surgery) probably won't fight it this time.
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They have changed the rules this year for the Covid vaccine: it is only for over 75s, those in care homes, and those who are immunocompromised. So if you aren’t in any of those groups, it may likely be why they’ve taken you off the list again. It’s terrible. My mum couldn’t even get it done, even though she is in her 60s and listed as a carer/ living with a vulnerable person. The pharmacist said lots of people became ineligible this year. It costs £100 privately which is going to stop most people from getting it now
 
I read this the other day from nhs.uk

Why are they nit-picking? If you're a carer for persons who are vulnerable at home, then why doesn't this apply? They are using the term "weakened immune system" which would include more people, no? I'm not immunocompromised, but I do have a weakened immune system.

Who should have the COVID-19 vaccine

You can get the winter COVID-19 vaccine if you:
  • are aged 75 or over (including those who will be 75 by 31 January 2026)
  • are aged 6 months to 74 years and have a weakened immune system because of a health condition or treatment
  • live in a care home for older adults
 
Mij said:
I read this the other day from nhs.uk

Why are they nit-picking? If you're a carer for persons who are vulnerable at home, then why doesn't this apply? They are using the term "weakened immune system" which would include more people, no? I'm not immunocompromised, but I do have a weakened immune system.

Who should have the COVID-19 vaccine

You can get the winter COVID-19 vaccine if you:
  • are aged 75 or over (including those who will be 75 by 31 January 2026)
  • are aged 6 months to 74 years and have a weakened immune system because of a health condition or treatment
  • live in a care home for older adults
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Yeah, but they seem to have their own definition of what exactly “weakened immune system” means (from their official document):

Immunosuppression due to disease or treatment, including patients undergoing chemotherapy leading to immunosuppression, patients undergoing radical radiotherapy, solid organ transplant recipients, bone marrow or stem cell transplant recipients, HIV infection at all stages, multiple myeloma or genetic disorders affecting the immune system (e.g.
IRAK-4, NEMO, complement disorder, SCID).

Individuals who are receiving immunosuppressive or immunomodulating biological therapy including, but not limited to, anti-TNF, alemtuzumab, ofatumumab, rituximab, patients receiving protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors, and individuals treated with steroid sparing agents such as cyclophosphamide and mycophenolate mofetil.

Individuals treated with or likely to be treated with systemic steroids for more than a month at a dose equivalent to prednisolone at 20mg or more per day for adults.

Anyone with a history of haematological malignancy, including leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

Those who require long term immunosuppressive treatment for conditions including, but not limited to, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, scleroderma and psoriasis.

www.gov.uk

JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026

www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

https://assets.publishing.service.g...82a97d/Green-book-chapter-COVID-19_1_9_25.pdf (table 3, page 24)
 
Mij said:
If you're a carer for persons who are vulnerable at home, then why doesn't this apply?
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Presumably because it doesn't make any difference to vulnerable people? Vaccinating carers neither prevents them from getting infected nor passing it on to people they're looking after—good masks are better.
 
Binkie4 said:
"Vaccine effectiveness:
Minor illnesses don't affect the vaccine's ability to create antibodies, but a more severe illness might."
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That reflects the advice given by pharmacists. I asked once when I woke up on the day of my appointment feeling rough with a cold, and they said they'd recommend not being vaccinated if running a fever, but a mild cough, cold or sore throat would be fine.

I don't seem unusually prone to reactions, so I stuck a mask over my snotty nose and went ahead. But for folk who tend to get worse ME/CFS symptoms after a jab, having a bug as well might make them feel pretty miserable even if it doesn't affect the vaccine.

I had both 'flu and Covid jabs together for the first time this year. No side effects, so I think I'll save myself two separate trips in future.
 
Does this only apply to Covid and Flu vaccines?

I was vaccinated one month after sudden viral onset ME in 1991 and feel I should have waited longer to get vaccinated with tetanus, rubella and x2 Hep B vaccines.
 
Mij said:
Does this only apply to Covid and Flu vaccines?
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I don't know, but as it's about the vaccine potentially being less effective—not about it being more likely to cause side effects—it might apply to others.

I don't think I had any other vaccinations between the ages of 13 (TB) and 65 (pneumococcal and shingles), so I haven't much experience.
 
Cancer patients who got a COVID vaccine lived much longer

Date: October 19, 2025

Source: University of Florida

Summary: A groundbreaking study reveals that cancer patients who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy lived dramatically longer than those who didn’t. Researchers from the University of Florida and MD Anderson Cancer Center discovered that the vaccine’s immune-activating properties may boost cancer-fighting responses, acting like a nonspecific “flare” that reawakens the immune system.
 
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