If Old and Vulnerable are prioritised...

[NotVulnerableStillHungry]

...what the fuck is everyone else supposed to do?

Ocado - prioritising elderly and vulnerable
Waitrose - prioritising elderly and vulnerable
Sainsburys - prioritising elderly and vulnerable
Iceland - prioritising elderly and vulnerable
Morrisons - can't tell as 19014 in the queue trying to get in.

Prioritising the elderly and vulnerable is great, obviously, but it doesn't actually work if you don't have capacity to serve anyone else. Because then it's not prioritising! It's saying "We will not serve you if you are not elderly or vulnerable".

And surprise, surprise, people who aren't vulnerable still need to eat.

So I cannot get anything from any supermarket either delivered or to collect (and I've expanded my search area to 8 miles from my house, nothing). And my local co-op is stripped bare of literally everything except milk, chocolate biscuits and aunt Bessie's frozen yorkshire puds. What good is that, to anyone?

We’re in London (zone 1), boyfriend is at hospital with my son (routine app), both buses he got were completely empty. He did our food shop on Sunday at our local Sainsburys local, they had everything, including pasta and toilet roll.

Why can’t you walk a few miles with a toddler in a pushchair?

I am getting a supermarket slot for the vulnerable once per week.

I am on the shielded list, but have severe allergies so cannot eat the Government box stuff (I haven't signed up for it because of this).

I cannot physically get to a supermarket if they take my slot away from me - I cannot drive and they have stopped two of the three buses I need to get to the supermarket.

I already had slots booked every two weeks (as I used to cycle to the Farmers market for the inbetween bits) before this happened. I am in week four of isolation now.

My neighbours cannot do the shopping for me due to allergies - one allergen wipes off twenty other ingredients so it's complicated.

Sainsburys are only prioritising their previous customers for vulnerable slots - you need a nectar card or a previous order number in your address. It is not open to everyone.

You could put the rain cover over the buggy and go surely? I am not sure how your toddler "touches everything" from a buggy - even without Covid that is unhygienic. Keep the buggy away from things, it's really not that hard.

Brave how did you get the slot? Did you do anything except fill in the gov form online?

Mange Sainsburys are not prioritising their "biggest spending" customers, unless they're already registered for home delivery.
I was a very loyal, very regular shopper at Sains IN STORE, but as they have decided that I cannot get home delivery/click n collect even though my DH has a heart condition, but is not considered "ill" enough to qualify and even if he did qualify they won't allow new customers
At the mo, I can shop for us, and I do it locally and not in Sains/Tesco etc. but what if I become ill/incapacitated, what then?
Sainsburys have most definitely lost me as a customer (or will have when I've cashed in my nectar point when this situation has changed).

My husband went shopping on Saturday (we both been wfh all during the week)
Just one of us went, as directed.
He came home with bags full, even toilet roll.
We are both shielding due to both of us having underlying health issues. He has heart disease I have diabetes.

Go to the shops. They are full of groceries again and being well managed with regards to distancing.

@BraveLittleDragon Dont read the nice guidlines for treatment then.

I do think anyone complaining about any of the measures to help the vulnerable ought stfu cos theres a reason why those measures are in place and no it's not nice.

@MangePasTesOnglesVilain I don't think the online form is for supermarket slots - it's for the box system (at least where i am).

They cancelled my slots and i wrote to them and sent a note from my GP (this was self isolation before lock down, maybe four / five weeks ago) and they gave me the vulnerable slots.

I am having a problem getting medication though which I need to work out by next week.

Pussy bang goes that theory...

Who are they delivering to then

I think people have jumped all over the OP enough. A lot of people are struggling at the moment. I would love to get a supermarket delivery but can't, for the same reasons. We have been unwell with CV19 symptoms since 17th March. Happily, we have plenty of non-perishable food and space to store it in, plus some good friends who have dropped off fruit & veg for us. Not everyone is as lucky as us.

But when it comes to delivery slots, they are being disingenuous by saying they are "prioritising" the elderly/vulnerable group when the truth is that they are only delivering to those people.

It is difficult to get delivery slots now but not impossible. I'm not elderly/vulnerable but I've got one booked for tomorrow, a click & collect next week and a delivery slot the week after. I guess it varies depending on whereabouts you are.

@Hazelnutlatteplease Can you link to where it says people with underlying conditions wont be treated please? They guidelines are long.

I get it op. Some people are nasty from what they are saying on here. I’ve always got my shopping delivered and pay for a delivery saver. I totally get why elderly and vulnerable are a priority but it’s hard for a lot of us who aren’t vulnerable but are in difficult circumstances. My partner still has to work, I live in the middle of nowhere.. we have a village shop but children aren’t allowed in. I can’t leave mine outside as they have no sense of danger. By the time oh is home it is shut. Nearest supermarket is 20 minutes away! Oh’s car is broken and can’t get into a garage so he’s taking mine to work which is not really a prob really. My son only eats specific food. It’s a nightmare!

I always get my shopping delivered at the same time every week, I spend at least £90 a week with them. Clearly Tesco don’t care about regular customers.

We are isolating because my DD had a temperature last week (38.7) and a very slight cough. Very slight, to the point where we had ‘that conversation’ about should we even need to isolate.
We agreed we should given the guidance and started looking at Facebook groups, neighbourhood groups etc for groceries. Tried Tesco as we have delivery saver and they had slots available. Booked one for last week and it came ok, very few substitutions and also managed to book one for next week. No vulnerable criteria was requested. No questions about isolation. We just got the slots.
We are in London too.
Just seems to be luck of the draw. Keep trying OP, slots are becoming available.

@NotVulnerableStillHungry I'm in central london
M&S Cheapside was fully stocked on Saturday, & being in the city, near deserted, I bought fresh food for most of this week at around 70% discount because so much surplus stock.
Local Waitroses all fairly well stocked, as is local Sainsbury.

They have said it's okay to go out to the shops. That's essential travel. So go to the shops.

@Hazelnutlatteplease as i understand it Critical Care is based on CFS scores - I am definitely 1 (ran a half marathon a few weeks ago)...

It really isn't the supermarkets fault . As someone else mentioned they are privately owned company's . They are not charities . They are also not built up to deliver to the amount of vulnerable people on the governments list. Plus only offering slots to those on the list leaves many other disabled people and those who are healthy and self isolating with symptoms so can't leave the house. Plus no company would want to piss off all their regulars who pay for passes each month. As without them the service wouldn't exist today to be able to deliver to the vulnerable. The government really needs to sort this out not the supermarkets .

Mange I suppose people who are fit and healthy and WFH, and choose delivery over queuing.
I'm properly stinking cross with them, tbh. If you're registered with a loyalty card, I don't see how they can just cut you off and basically tell you to f off.
They will find it works both ways.

rapid.waitrose.com/

There are a lot of self-righteous smart arses on this thread, some of whom would pile on the OP like a ton of bricks if she went out shopping while she or her child were symptomatic.

Also, where I live, many people couldn’t care less about the two metre rule. So keeping away from everyone else during a supermarket shop isn’t easy, especially as the aisles aren’t wide enough for this.

Slight correction to your list OP, they're prioritising the elderly and extremely vulnerable. I'm pregnant and been told vulnerable but as I have no other conditions, don't count. Even though we've been told to be careful, we're not on the shielding list.

DM is late seventies with asthma and another lung condition but also doesn't count.

Given the number of people on here also struggling to get slots, it is tricky for everyone. So despite having been told to be careful, DH or I will have to go to the shops. On top of both working from home full time and on top of looking after a toddler.

I think you're missing the point that the people that are getting the priority (supposedly) are the ones that aren't a allowed to leave the house AT ALL as it may kill them as opposed to your own situation where you are allowed to leave the house as it statistically most likely won't kill you. There really is no comparison. If you can't get what you want at your local co op you make do with what you can get. My kids prefer a certain brand of noodles, for example, but they'll get what they're given. Shops have enough stock of essentials but we may not always get what we like

RC1511 Nice to know Tesco are as bad as Sainsburys then.

Try being like us OP, DP is a T1 unstable diabetic, registered blind, has rheumatoid arthritis and is taking DMARDs that provide immunodeficiency as a side effect. I'm bedbound/wheelchair using.

We don't into the vulnerable group, and not elderly. DP & I had to scour five supermarkets a couple of weeks ago; the impact on our wellbeing was huge with us both in severe pain. Severe enough to require Oxycodone painkiller.

We still cannot get any slots so we shall have to repeat the cycle of multiple supermarkets followed by severe pain.

We have three people who are at high risk for complications if we contract this (lupus, type one diabetes and asthma/cardiovascular issues) but we are not at extreme high risk (we didn't receive letters about shielding for 12 weeks). We're managing on what we've got for now and the less high risk adult will go out when we run out. He'll wear gloves and scarf round his face and will follow the protocol for returning key workers (all clothes in wash, don't touch anything until showered) etc, when he does need to go out. It's not great, we're not happy about it, but I don't really know what else is meant to be done really. There are people with bigger problems than us.