Covid 19 vaccine vaccination numbers, why won't they tell us?

[MG2020]

I've been looking for a few days about the number of people vaccinated in the UK. However, this appears to be some kind of secret.

Does anyone know how many people have been vaccinated and how many vaccinations we have in the UK and what we can expect by mid Jan 2021?

I fear this secrecy means that things are not going to plan and when Matt Hancock said the other day that tens of thousands of people had been vaccinated, it was far from true.

You may recall the figures about Covid 19 tests when we were told x amount of tests were carried out but they failed to declare that everyone had at least two tests and many NHS staff and others in hospital were being tested several times a day therefore 100k tests may have been 20k tests in reality.

I want the jab and so do our children but both are severely allergic so we are praying for others to come on line ASAP.

My MIL (88) is having hers this week at a local GP surgery, I am thrilled.

& surgery rang on Sunday to arrange so they’re working their socks off.

@Madcats

Ebola vaccines needed to be stored at similar temperatures in Democratic Republic of Congo. Somehow the doctors/Aid Agencies managed to sort that out.

Equally bull/ram semen is stored/transported around the country in liquid nitrogen and we somehow manage to have plenty of baby cows and sheep.

Thank you, very interesting.

Most of the residents in the dementia side don’t often know their names and as a PP what happens if a dose is allocated to them and they refuse. Move on, hold them down, spend xxx mins/hours that you don’t have trying to persuade them, get a relative with POA in.

The point about care homes is that you save one life for something like every 25 people you vaccinate. Those are very good odds and much better than for any other part of the population. Also, these are people who are going to die alone and lonely otherwise.

The point you make about practicalities is real. But clearly you would try to work out how many you can vaccinate before you turn up with the vaccinations.

As stated before the lorry transport uses dry ice, aka liquid nitrogen.
Pfizer have confirmed 4 million doses before Christmas but that news was buried as will be hard to administer to priority groups fast enough.
But yes another 1 million this week.

@laudemio

A million next week sounds good.

One friend 80 and in central London with serious underlying health condition is booked in for first jab next week and second on 7 Jan.
Another friend, a nurse in rural part of south east had her jab on Friday . It’s definitely happening for priority cases

DF due to have it next week but not 100% confirmed yet. DM who is 88 and lives independently is panicking that when she is called up she might not be able to get to a hub. Wants to get it at the GP’s but I have said when the invite comes do not refuse it. Call me and even though I live 100 miles away we will get her there!

Fgs - why was the news buried. If there is a really hard group then do what you can but don’t delay, move to next group. There should be more vaccines coming.

How many people need to be vaccinated before we see substantial drops. Is it about 10-12 million?

My mother in law is getting it 23rd Dec. There is really no need to be so cynical and disbelieving. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence of people getting their jabs.
God forbid we get into the awful testing numbers fiasco again with the media circus surrounding it that was actually more detrimental to the testing cause than helpful.
Leave the medics to get on with the jabs in peace without a load of armchair non experts spouting rubbish.
Luckily that does seem to be what’s happening.

MIL is due to have hers this week - she had a call on Friday. She is 92 and lives in her own home. She is 30 miles away from a general hospital so I assume she's having it at her GP surgery.

@notevenat20

Yes that’s wrong. I don’t even think such a freezer van exists. ULT freezers take up a lot of energy and don’t deal with power outages very well so I doubt one run by a van would work. And nobody can go inside a ULT freezer - far too dangerous. That’s why the vaccine is shipped in insulated boxes.

I am sure you are right and in any case it might not be practical. But aren't they being taken around the US by lorry currently?

I am right. However, I can’t really just expect you to believe a random MNer!

It’s packed in shippers with dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) and then transported by road. I don’t expect it to be any different in the US.

How many people need to be vaccinated before we see substantial drops. Is it about 10-12 million?

To see a substantial drop in deaths we need only vaccinate 500,000 care home residents. If we want to see a substantial drop in infections then we should probably vaccinate young people who do most of the infecting. But that obviously isn’t the goal.

It’s packed in shippers with dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) and then transported by road. I don’t expect it to be any different in the US.

I do believe you :)

@sashagabadon

I’m quite glad we don’t get daily updates. It’s just another thing for obsess about and once they start they can’t stop it easily. It becomes an expectation for the armchair experts. It also puts unnecessary pressure in the medics. Look at the threads when the daily cases/ deaths are an hour late. Full of discussion as to why blah blah. Leave the experts to just get on with it without the media yet again breathing down everyone necks. I would like to see monthly updates but daily/ weekly is too much.

My fear was after the first day update we'd get headline news everytime someone broke out in a rash or a side effect.

The media need to be responsible.

I think the best judge of whether the vaccination programme is working is when your elderly and vulnerable friends and family receive their vaccine.

God yes User! That would be so irresponsible!
Like the ppe fiasco in April when we were all following the progress of a single delivery of ppe from Turkey. Totally too much information making the entire population stressed unnecessarily not to mention the poor hospital staff that actually have to wear the stuff. That was highly irresponsible reporting ( not helped by a minister mentioning it in the first place). The average how just does not need to know every tiny thing. They can do nothing about it anyway and it is awful for the people trying to do the job. Let the experts get on with it.
What’s the expression - a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing or too many cooks spoil the broth maybe?

We were fortunate to have sorted out a Health Power of Attorney for DM(90) who lives in sheltered accommodation and now has dementia. DB and I can consent on her behalf (and we'll get contacted as well as her). I assumed that the State were able to decide on behalf of residents they pay for in care homes?

In any event it is good to see that Join Zoe - Covid 19 have upgraded the App so that you can record having had the vaccine. Without this sort of monitoring it is going to be hard to see whether people who have had the vaccine can still transmit the disease. Please use the App.

@User158340

My fear was after the first day update we'd get headline news everytime someone broke out in a rash or a side effect

I certainly want to know whether there have been any side effects on a timely manner

Why do you think the media should cover this up? Only publish good news and hype but hide any drawbacks?

Madcats I'm afraid no-one can consent on behalf of an incapacitated person unless there is a health and welfare LPA or a court appointed deputy.

Clinicians can make a best interests decision but are required to consult family (if any involved). If the person isn't disagreeing it's not hard to conclude it's in their best interests but if they would require restraining to receive it that becomes more tricky. You only have to read a few threads on here to see that people have wildly different views on vaccines generally and I expect some families won't agree to their loved one receiving the vaccine.

It’s not about hiding the side effects , it’s about over sensationalising them. There are already known side effects and we don’t need the media’s running commentary on every persons high temp or sore arm or headache.
Anyway it doesn’t look like the media is going to be creating unnecessary drama over the vaccine (unlike ppe back in April and testing) so that is good news.

I've just watched the News and they are aiming for 40 an hour in one health Borough. They did give the overall numbers but I can't remember them. It's being mirrored throughout the country. There was the a health co-ordinator giving the figures on tv the other day, I didn't take any notice tbh. I suppose whether you catch the numbers depends on what news you watch.

@trulydelicious, probably because any drug that we haven't taken before can cause side effects. People have bad reactions to antibiotics, co-codamol, milk of magnesia etc. People get very raised areas after other vaccinations, the BCG springs to mind, some people have a mild reaction to the flu vaccine, we don't want to fully put the spotlight on the Covid vaccine, as though the reactions are something new. People are looking to find fault.

I'm glad we eradicated polio, small pox and rabies before social media, or we'd still have them circulating.

Accountability is required otherwise we are left in the dark and time may be being wasted

You've got to be joking, OP; since when have government willingly made themselves accountable for anything?

I completely get the point that it's better to just get on with the job, but given that they'll declare widely anything that does suit - and given the fully justified suspicion after the countless deceits - it's hard to place any faith in them at all

@Ponoka7

I want to know in a timely fashion if someone has an anaphylactoid reaction or Bell's palsy. I'm not talking about a sore arm or slightly raised temperature

MG2020 With respect, if the media, Joe public does not get the figures, how do we know they at number 10 are telling the truth? You may recall the Covid test figures were not what they made them sound like and you recall the PPE, gloves, a pair of rubber gloves was counted as TWO UNITS - can you really trust Boris & friends?

With respect, even if figures were released I guarantee there would be a thread started here immediately about the Government lying about figures.