To wonder if lack of covid boosters this Autumn is government cost cutting

I work in the NHS and I'm really annoyed that we don't get a free covid jab this year. Apart from everything else, selfishly I don't want my whole team to all get sick this winter - it will affect productivity despite the recommendations that it doesn't affect sickness rates anymore.
I will have mine privately but of course I can't ask my team to.

I have a lung condition and have been hospitalised for respiratory infections before but not offered this vaccination. I think N95 grade masks are protective. I'll probably use those for public transport. I'm allowed to wfh if there are lots coughing in the office. It's worrying for me.

Bigger problem is that many pharmacies aren't offering private jabs, so when the patient is told they aren't eligible for the NHS booster, they just have to walk away, meaning a completely wasted appointment slot.

At the pharmacy where I had my private jab (a private independent one), they had two streams, one for NHS and one for private, different consulting rooms, different staff, a nurse doing the NHS ones and the pharmacist himself doing the private ones.

There was someone there who'd been told he wasn't eligible for the NHS jab trying to get the private one instead, but he was told he had to make an appointment to come back a different time as the nurse doing the NHS ones wasn't doing private ones!

I think an awful lot of appointments/time is being wasted due to the NHS rule changes and lack of publicity/notice that the criteria had changed.

If you want to wear a mask then YOU wear one!

I haven't been entitled to an NHS Covid jab since they were universal but last year I discovered Carragelose based nasal sprays and used one 4 times a day throughout the colder seasons and I do feel it has made a massive difference. Last year I used a Lemsip one but they seem to have stopped making it so I am using a Boots own one this year.

People in the office were coming down with all sorts of respiratory infections but the worst I got were times of 24 hours of very mild symptoms. They spray stops the virus replicating so it doesn't fully take hold, and more important to me, it means I am much less lively to bring it home to others in my household.

There have been some study on it in 2021 as prevention using staff in Covid wards and the results were very positive ( pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8493111/ ) but surprisingly I can't see there have been any other studies replicating it.

😂

Yep. Nowhere in the world was there a correlation between a mask mandate, and a reduction in infection. And lots of mask mandates probably came at the same time as lockdowns, in many places, blurring the evidence.

And I haven’t forgotten that Matt Hancock said “masks are worse than useless” before the big U-turn. And he must have been telling the truth, he was the Health Secretary, and a man of the very highest standards of truth and integrity.

My husband has heart failure and has regular Covid jabs, I used to be given one too to avoid infecting him but no luck this season. I'm 73. I think I'll have to pay for a booster, it's just to risky not to do it.

Last year they refused to give me one when it was first due and I managed to catch Covid before I was allowed to have one, pretty risky for my husband who, though vaccinated, can still catch it - especially if the booster was for the wrong strain.

FFP2 is fine for general everyday use. It’s what most people I know who’ve never had Covid have been using.

Masks as worn by the general public are a very poor way to reduce infection. A surgical mask or similar won't stop you catching the virus. It may reduce transmission from an already infected individual slightly, by catching the worst of a cough or sneeze and reducing virus containing droplets from escape, but it's by no means fully effective.

To significantly reduce your chances of catching the virus by wearing a mask it needs to be at least FFP3 grade and face fit tested by a qualified person. Anyone with facial hair won't get a good fit , so their effectiveness won't be great when worn with a beard

The vast majority of people no longer need Covid jabs, because it is not a serious illness.
Those that do need it, for specific reasons, will be offered it - as with flu jabs.
Nobody needs to be told to wear a mask because they do F all, and most are worn incorrectly anyway. Of course, any individual is free to wear a mask, if they wish.

Most of the population understand that the "rules" during the pandemic were nonsense, and the Government now has rather more important things to think about!

I think one of the problems with appointments in pharmacies this year has been people booking them and thinking that they are still entitled. Bit of a surprise when they find out they aren’t and have to pay for it. It’s not cheap. I can afford it this year I’m not sure I can afford it every year at this price.

It’s particularly short sighted and inefficient not to roll it in with bookings for the flu jab. The admin has been done, the nurse is there, 1 trip and all done. Many people would decline so why not offer to those who want one.

Agree with the PP. the NHs is using old stock that is less well matched than the newer vaccines that are being used by private. Both should prevent severe illness the newer one will be better matched to existing viruses and be better at preventing transmission.

I’ve managed to get one of the last free slots nearby. Just have to avoid catching it until Monday. Given that I think everyone at work got it in the week I was on leave I should be ok.

It’s quite hard to find an appointment for a private vaccine. Boots 10
miles away has one slot next week at a time I can’t do and that’s it.

The new strains sound nasty. I developed long Covid after a mild infection last year (fit and healthy) so would like to avoid it again if possible.

It’s short sighted all round. Huge numbers of people being ill for weeks at a time isn’t good. Each covid infection cumulatively increases your chance of long Covid so it’s not something you want to keep getting every year. People need to take it a little more seriously. It’s not panning out like we thought.

One should be at least able to buy a private vaccine if they want!

I am entitled to the covid jab but don't know why. I am 71 with no health problems except migraines which I rarely get now as I take daily medication.

DH although only 68 has diabetes and has had a stroke but he is not entitled to one.

We have queried it with the surgery but they are not interested.

I am not turning it down (going on Friday) but it makes no sense whatsoever

My asthma has got worse since having two bouts of Covid, in March 2020 and July 2022.

I didn’t get tested for Covid the first time around as it was a few days before the first lockdown. Had antibodies test which confirmed I did have Covid. There were no test centres in Leicestershire. Nearest two were in Peterborough and Birmingham. Roughly the same distance. I struggled to hold a pen, let alone drive 80-85 mile round trip.

The last booster I had was 18 months ago

@Hulabalu I got a covid one with psoriatic arthritis, I take methotrexate so am classed as immunocompromised because of that.

To be honest I’m quite relieved I wasn’t eligible for one this year as it always makes me feel really unwell! Obviously I could turn it down but it was nice having the choice taken out of my hands!

Thanks, just spent 30 minutes on the phone to Boots spoke to 3 different people, none of whom could answer my question! They kept trying to put me through to the Pharmacy team and I kept getting cut off, Boots customer service at it's worst!

It’s complicated as I can’t give it a name (nobody has ever been able to) as a specific condition but my immune system stops recognising my organs and thinks they aren’t supposed to be there so it makes antibodies to attack them and stop them working properly.