Who should be getting the vaccine?

[fruityloopy]

I’m curious to know if I’m being unreasonable in thinking this appears unfair & what is others experience of how the distribution of the vaccine works.
I have two acquaintances who have had the vaccine already, one is a dental receptionist & the other a private physiotherapist. Both are young (under 30 & under 40) & neither have any underlying health issues.
A mutual friend is fuming as her Mother who has recently had 6 rounds of chemotherapy hasn’t had it yet.
I’m interested to know how they’ve already had it - as they’re not key NHS workers or frontline staff etc.
Has anyone else heard of friends that it feels unreasonable to have been prioritised to get the jab & what do they do?

If it’s an NHS dentist that would come under frontline staff. Dentist practices are very high risk for infection. They don’t have to be working with covid patients all NHS staff are vaccinated in groups 1-2 with over 80s.

Logistically it is easier to vaccinate all NHS workers together rather than prioritise who does what job and who is most at risk in that group, meaning it will get down to the other groups quicker.

The vaccine has a short shelf life once opened. Rather than waste vaccines left over (eg due to no-shows) that is nearing expiry, a lot of centres are offering it to whoever is nearby. It's understandable that a dental employee or physio might be conveniently placed to get the vaccine at short notice.

Also, different areas are going at different speeds, ie one part of the country may be on group 2 but another is on group 3.

@Angel2702

If it’s an NHS dentist that would come under frontline staff. Dentist practices are very high risk for infection. They don’t have to be working with covid patients all NHS staff are vaccinated in groups 1-2 with over 80s.

Logistically it is easier to vaccinate all NHS workers together rather than prioritise who does what job and who is most at risk in that group, meaning it will get down to the other groups quicker.

Just to highlight, it's not ALL NHS staff in group 2 with the over 80s, it's frontline NHS staff. IMO I would count a dentist and dental assistant as frontline as you're patient facing (which is what frontline essentially means) any non patient facing staff shouldn't be getting the vaccine but what the PP said about surplus stock that can't be kept is probably the reason why others are getting it too.

Obviously everyone who is vulnerable should be getting it, but that is a very long list and there are logistical issues to consider. I'm sure your friends Mum will be offered her vaccine soon. In the meantime being bitter about others who have had it seems like a waste of energy.

Gun to my head? I'd prioritise the one who has to go out to work and be exposed to lots of people over someone who's able to shield.

The definition of health and social care workers is being widened by local authorities.

It makes sense because it’s easy to slot these people into appointments last minute to make sure slots and doses aren’t wasted.

The more public facing people are vaccinated quickly, the safer we’ll all be be.

If the dental receptionist is an NHS dentist then they are considered an NHS worker.

All NHS workers have been vaccinated at my trust - that's 5000 people (who have been offered it, not all have taken it up). It includes receptionists, people working exclusively from home as well as Drs and nurses working directly with COVID patient.

Logistically, it is easier for us to offer it to all employees than to work out who within the organisation is more eligible and who isn't. Especially as the plan is to vaccinate all adults this year.

As for the private physio, if she does ANY NHS work at all, she will have been able to get some - some private physios also do some consultancy/ locum/ bank NHS work.

Its the same for car agencies - we've offered the vaccine to every employee of every care agency in our authority. This includes the office staff and the ones doing the carers.

In addition to this, we still have left over vaccines at time - so we rope in the electrician, the ring and ride driver, the family member of someone who happened to be having a sit outside the vaccine hub.

I'd much rather this than waste them - they won't last until the next day and have to be disposed of.

YABU.

All this crab-bucketing over who has and hasn't been vaccinated is a one-way ticket to a bitter and miserable life, trust me.

A system has been designed to prioritise vaccination based on clinical need. It is working reasonably well and very quickly.

But I think this gives the impression that there's a single 'queue' and the situation on the ground is more complex than that. Some areas are working faster than others, for example. Plus you have the situation with the Pfizer vaccine where the entire defrosted tray has to be used before the end of each day, so there is often some scrambling to get vaccines into any passing arms. A system will be devised to prioritise this, too, but it's going to take a little time.

What's more, no human-designed system is perfect and we have to accept that there will be events that appear to fall outside of the narrative we've been told is being followed.

Let it go.

Gun to my head? I'd prioritise the one who has to go out to work and be exposed to lots of people over someone who's able to shield.

This. Vaccinating healthcare staff (a receptionist who works in a dentist and a private physio are healthcare staff) is being prioritised to help keep staff sickness down, so that services can keep running. And they can be redeployed again if shit really hits the fan. Plus as they come into contact with lots of people on a daily basis, it should hopefully help with transmission.

Frustrating for those who are personally at higher risk of being very sick, but hopefully your friends mum can continue to shield in the meantime and will get hers soon.

Gun to my head? I'd prioritise the one who has to go out to work and be exposed to lots of people over someone who's able to shield.

This. But who is getting it right now depends strongly where you are.

My FIL is in his mid 70s, he had it in Birmingham early last week. I know a few people with older parents who haven’t had it at all yet in Leicester and the surrounding areas.

Considering that no one is getting second doses right now, and the rules on what you can and can’t do don’t change as we’re not sure if vaccination prevents transmission yet, it’s really not worth stressing over. It’s a waiting game whether you’re in your house waiting for the vaccine or in your house waiting for everyone else to be vaccinated... unless you’re going to work, which takes us back to whether younger people who are front line and working should get it faster anyway.

I never understand people moaning about receptionists being vaccinated. They’re literally one of the people in a dentist/doctor/hospital who comes into contact with everyone.

Not vaccinating would be as daft as not vaccinating porters or something like that.

Not necessarily relevant on this thread, but I’m getting more and more uncomfortable with the number of people confidently declaring that X person has no underlying health conditions and wouldn’t qualify in a group for that. Unless you’re their GP you don’t know that for sure.

I don't know what it's like where you live but it's very difficult to see a dentist here. Poor oral health has a very significant impact on heart disease which kills hundreds daily. It's been a year plus since a lot of people will have had access to a dentist.

They are key workers and front facing staff that is why.

@MolyHolyGuacamole

Gun to my head? I'd prioritise the one who has to go out to work and be exposed to lots of people over someone who's able to shield.

I agree.

Of course everyone wants their own vulnerable people vaccinated first, but in order to get the county up and running, it's those we rely on daily who need it most,which also benefits the vulnerable.

Obviously it would be better if those choices didn't need making, but I'd say those examples should be high priority.

Can someone undergoing chemotherapy even have it? I know a friend with a compromised immune system can't.

I know it makes no sense to waste vaccines but I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable with people being able to have left over ones just because they happen to know the right people. There needs to be a better system than that for the end of the day, short notice inocculations. It can't be hard to set up a waiting list, stand by your messages type system, for those in the right categories who want it.

Frontline workers, teachers, working age people. Kids could go back to school, parents back to work, all those who are more exposed, more likely to catch and transmit it and unable to shield.

Anyone working in a dental surgery is frontline patient facing and a private physio may well be asked to help out. I wouldnt begrudge either of them being vaccinated.

I've had to find a way of booking a vaccine for my 83 year old dad as he has been sent no letter. My dh is working age CEV and links keep popping up in local press etc to say he can book but the links lead you no-where, so I will just wait for him to be sent a letter and hope it's soon.

@Babyroobs

I've had to find a way of booking a vaccine for my 83 year old dad as he has been sent no letter. My dh is working age CEV and links keep popping up in local press etc to say he can book but the links lead you no-where, so I will just wait for him to be sent a letter and hope it's soon.

Would you share the way you found? I'm in the same boat with my parents. Lots of older people, younger than them have had it here, but my parents are still waiting.

Some very valid points. I totally get the logistics & yes it makes sense to do everyone in a dental practise, I am potentially more curious about someone operating a solely private physio practise got it, but maybe as suggested they have done some NHS work or prepared to if needed.
As some also have said I would hate for them to go to waste & perhaps this is how folk can get it sooner.
I can assure you I wasn’t being bitter just genuinely curious!
On a personal level my Mother is in a care home with severe dementia & has had it & sadly as a former teacher, I know she would have said vaccinate teachers instead of her.. I feel sad she couldn’t do this..

NHS worker here. I had it before Christmas. The trust I work for has seen a lot of over 80s not turn up so in the last week we have been vaccinating other emergency services (police etc), and wider community NHS
I think all key workers and teachers should have it now. The over 70s have the opportunity to shield. Key workers don't and we need to get kids back to school

Sorry to say YABU. I'm a pharmacist working for the NHS in hospital, my husband is a chiropractor in the private sector. Everyone at my hospital Trust has been offered the vaccine, 6000 staff in all. My husband see 200 plus patients a week making him a frontline healthcare worker too same as a dentist or private physio and at high risk of spreading COVID would he catch it. He phoned up the GP to request his vaccine(as he was told to by his professional body) and was told its only NHS staff getting it by the receptionist. This is not true,most of his colleagues have had it and private hospitals who are doing most of our elective surgical work are also frontline health staff but do not work for the NHS...my hospital Trust has offered any spare vaccines to our local private hospital staff so they can have theirs too but it would appear there is still a lot of confusion within the medical community about who is eligible or not so I'm not surprised you feel that the system isnt fair.

My 20 year old daughter has had a jab. She's back room NHS, however has been working in a vaccine hub. At the end of the first day there were some Pfizer shots left over, she was offered one.

To be fair, back room or not, she has been working flat out throughout the pandemic, doing long, often unpaid hours. So very much needed.

I'm CEV and happy to wait my turn.

It has caused a bit of a debate on our very long road with a fab WhatsApp group and a lot of NHS clinical and clerical staff.

The NHS call centre manager (working from home since last March) was the 1st vaccinated before the over 80s (still not all done), CEV (not done) and GP and surgeon (done I think). Ambulance (not done until after admin staff) etc etc

I think it is the discrepancy between the government hype and the
reality which some people are finding hard. Be honest and say that anyone who works in any way for the NHS is being done first.