I know this is a bit morbid

[fancyginglass]

But do you really think they should have given so much publicity to the first elderly people getting the vaccine? Given their age, what if something happened to them in the next few weeks? This would seriously dent the update of the vaccine and the anti-vaxers would have a field day. Obviously I wish them all well.

*We have no idea if elderly people have a good few more years though do we?

Another poster said nan has 20+ years left on her but in reality we haven't got a clue. My mother is elderly, she could go on for years or she could die tomorrow, I can't make any accurate predictions.*
We none of us know how long we have left.

I also agree with Madvixen that keeping an elderly person out of ICU keeps that bed available for a younger person who needs it

It’s quite obvious. Vaccinate the most vulnerable first - reduce pressure on the health service and allow younger/less vulnerable people can start getting back to normal without risking the health of the people they love. They may still get ill but they won’t pass it on to loved ones who are vaccinated and they won’t overwhelm the NHS. It’s could still be many months until this group see a vaccine (if at all).

Also, health workers areare being vaccinated. My sister works on AAU and is being vaccinated tomorrow.

Have some compassion and hope any vulnerable people you care about are vaccinated quickly!

@FoxyTheFox

I mean, there's no evidence of short term effects of the vaccines. It's more long term effects that are yet to be discovered

Long term effects, as in side effects that appear years later, aren't really a thing. The only vaccine with a potential side effect that may appear several years later is the chickenpox vaccine, sometimes the vaccinated person can get shingles years later (but this is also a side effect of catching chickenpox so...)

Not quite true - there were also long-term cases of narcolepsy in some people who had the swine flu vaccine for one:

www.theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/09/ministers-lose-fight-to-stop-payouts-in-swine-flu-jab-narcolepsy-cases

It’s 100% right starting with the elderly. They are most at risk and hopefully those in care homes will be next so that they can have their family visit in time for Christmas.

Lots of my colleagues have had the vaccine today.

@HollyBollyBooBoo

I'm lost as to why we want to immunise a 90 year old rather than an NHS worker.

That would be because that 90 year old is in urgent clinical need of the vaccination, and they're entitled to the rest of their life despite the fact that they're less useful to you (and me) than the NHS worker.

@HollyBollyBooBoo

I'm lost as to why we want to immunise a 90 year old rather than an NHS worker.

Ok, fair enough, you don't care about a 90 year old. But I bet you would care about it when the 90 year old is blocking an ICU bed that you desperately need after say a car accident. Vaccinate the vulnerable to ease pressure on hospitals.

I also believe we should vaccinate them because their human beings, their lives are as valuable as everyone else's but I'm just trying to appeal to your selfish nature here by spelling out the reason that could affect you or your loved ones.

I'd imagine that's why they picked older people because any adverse reactions or deaths could be age-related. It would be much more damning if someone young was vaccinated then died or had a reaction. People would feel confident it was virus related (even if it wasn't). With an elderly patient there's a bigger margin of doubt about the cause of any future illness or reaction.

It's not a disgusting comment - it isn't uncaring as you seem to think. To me, the people who get the first vaccinations should be the ones who are in contact with the most other people - health service workers, shop staff, teachers etc.

Pretty much all of the deaths are in the older population. Makes perfect sense to me to start there. NHS staff have their jabs this week so they are moving fast.

@Parker231

It’s 100% right starting with the elderly. They are most at risk and hopefully those in care homes will be next so that they can have their family visit in time for Christmas.

The first jab gives 50% protection but, as they need another dose in 21 days, it will be a bit late for Christmas. My husband is getting his tomorrow (NHS patient facing).

@HollyBollyBooBoo

I'm lost as to why we want to immunise a 90 year old rather than an NHS worker.

We are immunising the most vulnerable. Whatever their age. (As well as NHS workers, by the way.)

Still, you sound nice

This is a silly thread. The vaccine is safe and approved. Yes an elderly person may sadly pass away. It won’t be from Covid if they are vaccinated

Sometimes I despair.

Let's not forget that a frontline NHS worker, could be at a restaurant tonight, or out shopping for Christmas gifts tomorrow. They can have some semblance of normal life with family and friends (tier dependant of course). The majority of elderly people have been isolated for 9 months. This is their chance to hug family in January.
I can't wait for people who have been shielding due to underlying conditions get the option to have it too.
I'm not in these groups and I couldn't be happier for them.

Not quite true - there were also long-term cases of narcolepsy in some people who had the swine flu vaccine for one

Symptoms developed within months, thats not years later. You may have a reaction that turns into a long term condition (such as narcolepsy) but that reaction will happen fairly soon after having the vaccine (and there has been no indication of an increased risk of serious reactions in the 6+ months of human trials). "Long term side effecgs" as in a side affect that suddenly appears several years down the line are not a thing.

It's literally to stop the nhs caving. Very old people are most likely to get Covid seriously and require terrifically expensive, bed hogging intensive care treatment, furthermore they are then notoriously difficult to actually get back out of hospital again.

Vaccinating these older people is the quickest way for us to get back to something approaching normal life

@HollyBollyBooBoo

I'm lost as to why we want to immunise a 90 year old rather than an NHS worker.

To give it a bit further testing. As an NHS worker I’m very happy to go right at the back of the queue, thanks

I think they chose the first woman well , she will make a good poster girl for this vaccine and she seems in good condition for her age. They chose an elderly gentleman from Bristol who is 98 with cancer. In all honesty I would probably have chosen someone a bit younger and healthier as one of the first in case he was to die in the next few weeks or months. I think people have forgotten that we all die of old age at some point. He did seem a lovely gentleman though and hopefully this vaccine will extend his life slightly.

I can't wait for people who have been shielding due to underlying conditions get the option to have it too.
I'm not in these groups and I couldn't be happier for them.

Bless you Diana and thank you for thinking of us. It has certainly been a very difficult nine months...DH and I haven't seen family or hugged anyone. Hopefully in a few more months we will be vaccinated into some freedoms.

@Madvixen

It's to reduce pressure on the NHS. The people being prioritised for the vaccine are the ones most likely to need significant medical intervention if they catch it. Vaccinating them reduces potential pressures on the NHS over the winter meaning that beds for heart attack victims, car crash victims etc are still available. I'd rather my 92 year old Gran got vaccinated than see a 32 year old die from injuries in a car crash because there weren't ITU beds available locally

This.

@FoxyTheFox

Not quite true - there were also long-term cases of narcolepsy in some people who had the swine flu vaccine for one

Symptoms developed within months, thats not years later. You may have a reaction that turns into a long term condition (such as narcolepsy) but that reaction will happen fairly soon after having the vaccine (and there has been no indication of an increased risk of serious reactions in the 6+ months of human trials). "Long term side effecgs" as in a side affect that suddenly appears several years down the line are not a thing.

Again, not quite true. While most developed symptoms within 6 months, a small number only developed them after that time. Estimates have it that you had a 2 in 100,000 chance of being unlucky, which is obviously very small, but still reasonably significant as these things go.

This still shouldn't be anywhere near enough to discourage people from having vaccinations given the evidence is overwhelmingly in their favour, but we do need to be honest about these things or it will only feed into the conspiracists narrative.

@HollyBollyBooBoo

I'm lost as to why we want to immunise a 90 year old rather than an NHS worker.

I know everyone else has replied already but you’ve given me the rage.

An older person isn’t just a bit/twice as vulnerable to covid - they are FOUR THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED TIMES more likely to DIE of it. Source: BMJ, I’d have to go back to check if that’s over 70 or over 80, but it was compared to age 15-24.

EVEN IF you applied a value to each year of lost life x likelihood of dying you’d still get an economic answer that it was better to prioritise older people.

Plus when vaccines are limited, and half the bloody adults in this country would refuse to have it, you can’t get herd immunity quickly, so you really have to give it to those most clinically vulnerable first.

And the NHS workers and care home workers ARE getting this as a priority, in fact care home residents now expected to be after the staff due to the difficulties transporting the vaccine.

I’m going away from mumsnet now as I just despair of this kind of attitude.

The original OP was a fair point by the way that hadn’t occurred to me - how people could use it to twist the facts if an older person happened to die soon after receiving this.

I would hope and expect all healthcare staff to take the vaccine when it is offered to them. Why should patients be put at risk from the hospital and other healthcare staff?

With the best will in the world, these very elderly people will be safer if their careers and other people they come into contact with are vaccinated before they are. Then the people they are in contact with won't risk spreading the virus.

You are making a huge assumption here that elderly people don't go anywhere or do anything. My 90 year old nanna has done her shopping independently throughout the whole pandemic and carries the same risk of catching it as I do. What on earth to you mean 'people they come in contact with'? Lots of elderly people come into contact with the very same people as those who are younger/. They are not all sat in a care home or their own homes eating for people to look after them.

@RayOfSunshine2013

To give it a bit further testing. As an NHS worker I’m very happy to go right at the back of the queue, thanks

You are no ray of sunshine, are you?

Let's hope your role in the NHS is admin, you are displaying a serious lack of understanding that no medical should ever have.