I'm off shortly to get the covid vaccine, its such a life saver, pun intended ( Archived) (23)

The vaccines were tested to the same standards as any other.

The Oxford team had already carried out years of research following the SARS outbreak in 2002-2004 and MERS in 2012. Coronavirus are not new and it was predicted that there would be further outbreaks, possibly, or likely on a pandemic level.

Oxford University had already created the basis for the vaccine which was then tweaked to match the specific covid19 coronavirus.

The bits that were rushed were the funding and bureaucracy which can often take a year between each stage of testing.

The issue of blood clotting has only happened in conjunction with a medical condition called thrombocytopenia which is itself very rare and fatal if left untreated. Age is also a factor which is why here in the UK under the 30's have been given the option to ask for an alternative as a precaution.

Originally, people were required to continue wearing masks after vaccination because of concerns about cross infection in the unlikely event that they became infected, but were asymptomatic. I read recently that initial data is showing that fully vaccinated, but subsequently infected people not only avoid severe disease, but are showing a reduction in passing the virus to others.

Bear in mind that viral infections can also lead to blood clots and heart attacks as happened with a friend of mine who had a persistent and severe dry cough a few weeks before our first lockdown.