Private COVID vaccine?

[HorseyintheHouse14]

Normally I wouldn't be bothered by this at all, but DSIS lives in New Zealand and is getting married next Christmas. This has been planned for a few years now and we were/are planning on going. However I have a feeling we won't be allowed in unless we are vaccinated against COVID. DH is a key worker so likely will have had the vaccine - me and DD probably won't have, so was wondering if anyone knew if some vaccines will be made available privately? If it wasn't for this I would wait our turn but I really wouldn't want to miss this.

www.ft.com/content/d2e00128-7889-4d5d-84a3-43e51355a751

Less than half the population will get it and no under 18s according to the head of task force.

“Kate Bingham told the Financial Times that vaccinating everyone in the country was “not going to happen”, adding: “We just need to vaccinate everyone at risk.”

They were saying that they think that they could vaccinate up to a million people a week on the NHS, so I imagine that by next year it will be possible to buy it, unless it only has short term efficacy in which case we will be being vaccinated for ever. By then too testing will probably be by the 15 minutes test before you board and again on arrival. NZ might also have their own quarantine at that stage still too. Probably by then if you haven't had the vaccine you will probably have had the virus and have some immunity so less likely to catch it just before. I wouldn't be booking tickets but I reckon there is a fair chance you will go.

We are living under a Tory government so anyone who thinks there won't be a private vaccine is kidding themselves.

The Tories are corrupt and they want money and privatise anything they can get their grubby hands on. They also are funded by those wealthy business men and women who I imagine want to be vaccinated. Also the deals that go on with companies and the Tories is corrupt so I imagine, say a business they are involved with ie British airways for example will push for private vaccines so it will boost the economy asap. The Tories = big businesses and the way to sort them out is through private vaccines not helping the elderly in carehomes who won't and can't afford to travel.

Why would the Tories all of a sudden think about the everyday person in need they won't.

Saying that I would happily pay for my vaccine if it freed up costs for the NHS

the reality is that if its rolled out now by the Xmas only care homes and the elderly 80+ will be vaccinated.

There are 40 million vaccines (20 million doses) and 68 million UK residents

First batch is only 10 million which only covers only 5 million 'most vunerable' people

1st priority is old age care homes (this includes vaccines for care home staff) - this is approx. 418,000 residence + approx. 87,000 nurses vaccined (unsure about other staff)

2nd priority is all over 80 years - approx. 3,200,000 million vaccinated

3rd priority is all over 75 years - which we would exceed the number of vaccines availible by this point, many would have to wait until furth baches arrive

2nd bach will be a steady delivery of the remaining 70 million (35 million doses) coming in in baches throughout the begining of next year

4th priority is all over 70 years - will be in follow bach beging of next year (approx. 8,770,000)

5th priority is all over 65 years - will be in the follow up batch of next year (approx. 12 million vaccinated by this point)

6th priority is all high risk adults under 65 - some of these people might just make it into the secured number of vaccines but unlike all will

after that we have run out of vaccine unless we can secure more which wont happen until other countries have secured their 20%, since we where the first this could take a while

so I very highly doubt 'going to a wedding' would get you anywhere near a vaccine for the forseeable future regardless of money

@mam0918

the reality is that if its rolled out now by the Xmas only care homes and the elderly 80+ will be vaccinated.

There are 40 million vaccines (20 million doses) and 68 million UK residents

First batch is only 10 million which only covers only 5 million 'most vunerable' people

1st priority is old age care homes (this includes vaccines for care home staff) - this is approx. 418,000 residence + approx. 87,000 nurses vaccined (unsure about other staff)

2nd priority is all over 80 years - approx. 3,200,000 million vaccinated

3rd priority is all over 75 years - which we would exceed the number of vaccines availible by this point, many would have to wait until furth baches arrive

2nd bach will be a steady delivery of the remaining 70 million (35 million doses) coming in in baches throughout the begining of next year

4th priority is all over 70 years - will be in follow bach beging of next year (approx. 8,770,000)

5th priority is all over 65 years - will be in the follow up batch of next year (approx. 12 million vaccinated by this point)

6th priority is all high risk adults under 65 - some of these people might just make it into the secured number of vaccines but unlike all will

after that we have run out of vaccine unless we can secure more which wont happen until other countries have secured their 20%, since we where the first this could take a while

so I very highly doubt 'going to a wedding' would get you anywhere near a vaccine for the forseeable future regardless of money

sorry I have no idea where '70 million (35 million doses)' came from that should be:

30 million (15 million doses)

what an utterly bizaare and wildly off number switch lol

I was quite surprised how large the numbers at each age band are. I thought my parents would be up there but there would be a good 5m ahead of them by age alone.

@mam0918

You missed 'health and social care workers' off the second priority - you need to add several hundred thousand at that point

You might be able to have one at the airport, either at point of departure, transit (given it's NZ) or NZ itself. They may not demand a vaccine though, just a negative test (hopefully some of the new tests being developed will actually be accurate and show up a new infection regardless of symptoms).

It's over a year away - don't panic until this time next year.

@mam0918 there’s a decent chance that other vaccines will be approved and found effective by Spring next year, and the UK has bought tens of millions of several other vaccines as well. So that would get the numbers up very high by the end of next year - the question mark is over child vaccination.

Zolaanna Showing a complete misunderstanding of how the vaccination programme is run......

Of course it will be able privately no doubt at a huge cost the question is whether the validation procedure that establishes you have been vaccinated and therefore able to unlock admin processes tried into it will be part of such a package.

While the vaccine is a scarce resource, it obviously needs to be prioritised for the vulnerable, but longer term it would be foolish not to allow private vaccination. Just vaccinating the groups that have been named so far isn't enough to provide herd immunity, nor to protect all the vulnerable population (some may not be have the vaccine in the first place, and it will be ineffective in 10% of those who do). We also can't just let it rip through the younger population without impact - the hospitals might not be overwhelmed, but lots of cases of long covid would still cause problems for both the NHS and the economy. So the more younger people who are immunised, the better - and all the more so if they're prepared to pay for it themselves.

The big unknown is the timescale.

Whether or not its available privately won't be anything to do with the government, it'll be whether private pharmacies such as Boots can purchase the vaccination from eg Pfizer. At the moment they cant. Certainly the NHS won't be selling their supplies privately until they have excess supply over required doses - which I don't think they will by next winter.

Baaaahhhhh sorry I didn't know you were on the SAGE committee

How would you know any better about how the UK will run a vaccine programme?
I was making an observation regarding our Tory government and they will want to line their pockets.
I'm guessing you're not an expert or a mind reader so you have absolutely no more information than me about how the vaccine will be rolled out or administered or who will get it

If you think there will be a moral compass you're completely wrong.

Zolaanna Not SAGE no, and SAGE has nothing to do with vaccination programme anyway. Plenty of knowledge of MHRA, and JVCI though, and they are both independent authorities, who make decisions based on science, regardless of who sits in parliament.

This is why I am sure why the media have made such a huge song and dance about the vaccine, and spring is going to be everyone back to normal.

MOST of us will not be vaccinated, we will still be living with the virus for years potentially indefinitely.

The old and the vulnerable will be vaccinated and that is it.
No one is talking about anyone under the age of 50 getting a vaccine.

So we will continue to deal with covid for the forseeable, and I am really trying to feel upset about it. No chance of private vaccines due to the volume of governments that need access first....

**not

It will have to be like the other vaccinations required for travel, which you pay for at the GP or a private clinic.
The government have nothing to gain by preventing private vaccination once it has adequate supply of its own.
Also it's not necessarily a bad thing - those that can pay can arrange vaccination of their own. That is what is happening with the flu vaccine - it costs about a tenner to get privately, so many people do not bother the NHS with it, even if they could get it free.
Obviously, that situation is not possible in the near future while the government does not have an adequate supply and is effectively rationing what they do have.

Plus if it facilitates the aviation/tourism industry's recovery, then the government will allow it.

just Vaccines will be provided first and foremost to countries all over the world to vaccinate those most at risk. When they will become available privately is anyone's guess, I can't think it will be any time soon. Certainly not in time to save the failing aviation industry.

Over 7 billion people in the world, those over 50 must make up a huge chunk of that, if you then add in health and care workers, and those that are vulnerable - we are looking at billions.

It's not that simple, @Ihaveyourback. The COVAX scheme will help ensure that (for the countries that are participating - around 2/3 of the world) a percentage of vulnerable people in each country are vaccinated. That's not the same as all the over 50s and health care workers worldwide. If it were that easy to fund and distribute vaccines, diseases like cholera and diphtheria would have been wiped out already.

What I am saying power is for the moment the pharmas will only supply governments as they have already confirmed. That is going to take a long while to distribute worldwide, even with the help of other successful vaccines. I can't think they will be licensed for private use until whole countries have their most vulnerable vaccinated. In our country they are considering everyone over 50, not every country will be able to afford to do that, but many will.
It is going to take a very long time to work its way down to healthy 30year olds even if we are willing to pay hundreds of pounds for it - so we will be 'at risk' from covid for the foreseeable future.

I kind of hate that it won’t be available privately as I use a private GP. I registered with an NHS practice years back, but I don’t even know if I’m on their books anymore. 🙁

They absolutely will sell it privately. If the Uk tries to block private sales it will just go to other countries. No one can control what Pfizer does here. You can get a flu shot at any pharmacy in the us just by walking in. Here we've tried for months abs still nothing. People are being naive to think the uk will be at the front of any queue or that they can control that queue.