To think there is no chance 18 million will be boosted by 31 Dec?

[JadedJabber]

Name changed for this as would be outing with previous posts.

Am I alone in feeling quite angry that Boris Johnson has announced what is likely to be an unreachable target and will be causing untold pressure and stress in the primary and secondary care workforces who are already exhausted?

I was very closely involved in the rollout of phases 1 and 2 of the vaccine programme last winter/ spring for a large NHS trust. Everyone was 100% committed to the vaccines and our workforce was incredible despite a lot of challenges particularly around the time taken to train as a vaccinator and disruption to business as usual in the trust. Despite that the best day was c800K jabs and most were significantly less.
Johnson has glibly talked about training 1000’s of new vaccinators. Well unless the mandatory training is axed to a fraction of what is was earlier this year that will be impossible.

It seems so easy for him to make these pronouncements without any thought as to how this will actually play out in practice.

I can’t see the (exhausted and less motivated) workforce suddenly expanding and then working 12 + hours a day from now until 31 Dec, including Christmas. It just sets everyone up for failure.

From what NHS friends and my former colleagues have said today, they all found out about the 1m a day target at 8pm last night the same as the rest of us. The man literally hasn't got a fucking clue.

Well I've just booked mine for January as there was no other appointments so if they mean this they'll not only have to invite everyone they'll also have to change a lot of appointments already booked!

I'm 44 btw so I was already due my booster, not in the "new wave"

YANBU. I don’t work in healthcare but you don’t need to to be able to see how ludicrous it is.

don't know

daughter has just started her first shift as a vaccine helper :). I think she directs people and ticks them off lists and the sort. There are a lot of people volunteering to help. I know they can't do the medical bit.

Not gonna happen.

What I reckon they mean is everyone can BOOK a booster by 31 December, not have one. So you can book for February or March and that shower of shite that calls itself our government can pat themselves on the back and say “ see, we said everyone could book a booster by the end of 2021”.

It’ll never happen because
A. There just won’t be enough appointments available and
B. They can’t physically make people go

What the health secretary said was that everyone should have an appointment not jabbed. I don’t know what it’s like where you are but the vaccination centre for my large London borough is closed until Wednesday. It’s the one and only for 16 plus (the other 2 are 12 to 15 only) so I agree that even getting an appointment is doubtful locally and quite frankly I don’t want to travel and risk mixing on the bus or train.

Think announcing this claim at this time is a way of diverting us all from everything else he's been up to over the last week!

@Sidge

Not gonna happen.

What I reckon they mean is everyone can BOOK a booster by 31 December, not have one. So you can book for February or March and that shower of shite that calls itself our government can pat themselves on the back and say “ see, we said everyone could book a booster by the end of 2021”.

I agree but Boris’ wording was quite clear that he wanted everyone actually boosted by the end of the year. Apparently that’s not what he meant, so yet another lie

And there are a number of conventionally non working days clearly between now and 31st - are they really asking people to get their jabs on Xmas Eve or Xmas Day?? And also of course, for staff to be working long shifts throughout this period??

Given by how fraught the majority of NHS staff who work 24 hour 365 day a year roles get in the run up to Christmas over rostering, they can write off Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, boxing Day, and new year's Eve for starters, so they're already down 4 days, which pushes their daily target up even further.

I booked mine last night (I’m 39) and it’s not until January. I doubt I will bring mine forward unless there’s more capacity locally.

I can’t see it happening either OP.

No, it won’t happen and Boris will blame the NHS.

It’s very similar to all those times he announced on the telly that the next day, schools were closed/partly opening/closing/partly opening again.

Schools had no idea about any of this in advance, yet had to get schools ready to for plans the government hadn’t yet even finalised, let alone released. It was virtually impossible to tell staff or parents anything as it was all just pie in the sky words. Again and again.

I am very angry on behalf of all NHS workers,

When I watched Boris last night this was the first thought that came into my head - those poor NHS workers who are being expected, yet again, to go the extra million of miles. I really don't know how they all keep going, with the constant pressure and expectation to do more and more.

These constants updates have started since he was caught out, he is trying to deflect. They think they are really clever with words but we all see through it. He is such a liar, I can't believe we've got him running the country, just awful.

I got the text to book my booster a couple of weeks ago and the first available appointment was mid January so I certainly won't have had it by Christmas.

Well, I finally managed to get through the queue system with afternoon and book mine for Saturday evening, and it was either this Saturday, this Sunday, or January at my nearest sites.

So it looks as though they can’t even staff the vaccine sites where I am after December 19th; how on earth are they going to fulfil the goal?

Maybe we could do another clap?
That might motivate the NHS workers?

I think a lot of vaccinatiors last time were on furlough from other business (certainly from my organisation) - I am guessing they won't be available this time.round!

We don’t have the vaccinators. It’s OK for Johnson to turn up waffling on about thousands of new vaccinators but where will they come from. The trust I work with has already been approaching retired NHS staff who helped in the first big roll out, most of them don’t want to come and do it again.

People in the NHS are completely exhausted and whatever goodwill Johnson may have had has been completely burned out.

I agree OP. Boris is just saying promises people want to hear with no thought about whether they can actually be done in the real world.

I have only just gotten early Jan appointments for myself, DH and DD and we are all group 6 priority....we’ve been trying for weeks with none available to book. I’m just happy we got any date before Boris effectively opened the flood gates. The vaccine boosters should be in order of priority like the original doses. The way he’s done it many over 40s will be pushed aside by 19/20 something year olds.

The way he’s done it many over 40s will be pushed aside by 19/20 something year olds

Yes this annoys me a bit too, although as a home-working health 40 something I'd be happy for my student son to get his before me if he could have it before he goes back to uni.

To meet that target they need to jab about 1 million people a day. At the height of the first phase of vaccine rollout they never managed more than 500,000 a day and typically it averaged between 100,000 - 300,000 a day.

Bojo is delusional

As usual PM talking shit - just like he announced 12-15 year olds could now have the second dose but it appears to be impossible to book one!

And bearing in mind that four of those days are Christmas weekend.