Surely the need to get the vaccines out asap is on the agenda now

[Molly333]

Surely the need to get MASS vaccinations done now is a priority isn't it ?

Yes it is; Prof Shagger said yesterday the priority will be getting vaccines into arms. Can’t come quick enough! I suspect even the most precious person who thinks they’re too important to have the vaccine* will be screaming for it after 4 months of tier 4 restrictions!

*not including people who can’t have it

Indeed.

It worries me that they are bleating about lockdowns again when their total focus should be on mass vaccination.

That means, once they have a vaccine that does need to be kept at -70 degrees, setting up vaccine centres everywhere and opening them 24 hours a day and the army brought in to help. Rather than a few elderly people getting phone calls from their GP/hospital at a leisurely pace...

@louisejxxx

Do we think they’ll get to a point where they’ll say “ok that’s most of the over 80s done, now we’re moving onto over 75s” etc? Just asking because I’m phoning my Gran every day (she’s 91) to check if she’s had a call from GP, hospital or whoever. Nothing yet but I know it’s early days.

Do you mean forget about the over 80s that haven’t had it? I don’t see why they would do that, since the higher up the priority group you are the more likely each jab is to save a life.

No I mean like they’ll say they think they’ve done them all and thus then I’ll know if she’s been missed out and to get in touch with someone about it.

@EbeneezerSnooze

Really dumb question here, but I've read that once we have the vaccine we'll still be able to carry pass it on, hence still needing to wear masks/social distance. So why do they need to mass vaccinate otherwise healthy people? Genuine question, before anyone calls me a conspiracy theorist

They don’t. Once the vulnerable/health workers have been vaccinated the pressurep on the nhs should be reduced. The worried well can decide whether to get vaccinated and everyone else can just get on with it.

The roll out is very slow in my area. I’m between two hospital hubs and I’m a nurse working in a nursing home - my colleagues and I should be first to be vaccinated but we aren’t even getting invited to book. If I’d have stayed NHS I’m 90% sure I’d have been done by now as the only people I know who actually have been vaccinated are GPs and hospital staff, despite them being lower down the list of priority. I know lots of 90+ year olds living alone who have not been invited yet. In fact I don’t know any who have!

My GP friend was booked to run an out of hours vaccination clinic on Saturday night and had 500 bookings. She showed up only to be told, inexplicably, that due to logistics it would now not be happening and they had to send everyone in the queue home. She’s worried those 500 jabs went to waste (maybe a temperature issue?) and has been given no real explanation. How upsetting for all those people who thought they were getting it, only at the last minute to be sent home.

None of the care homes in my authority have been done and our authority was up there in the list of priority areas.

If this part is going so badly, who knows how the rest of the population is going to get it!

@RealityNotEssentialism

Are they sure the vaccine works on the new strain? All I heard from the press conference was that they don’t have any evidence that it doesn’t, which doesn’t sound too reassuring.

Exactly. I don't have evidence that there are squirrels in Hyde Park because I haven't had a chance to go there and look for squirrel poo. Or maybe I've found some poo that I think might be squirrel poo but haven't checked it for nuts yet.

There is no reason the MRNA vaccines won’t work on different strains, due to the spike protein reaction which should happen for ANY strain of this coronavirus.

@QueenStromba they don’t have any evidence that it doesn’t - means that we are still waiting for definitive test results that the vaccine kills the new strain - but through knowing how the vaccine works it is HIGHLY LIKELY it will work on this new strain. It may be ever so slightly efficacious but more than efficacious enough to protect us and the NHS at a population level.

*ever so slightly less efficacious

If there is one thing about this pandemic that I hope people realise is that sometimes it takes time for science to prove or disprove things. Science is a process. We are learning all the time. Sometimes we cannot have all the answers immediately. But rest assured there are some very clever people working on all the questions we are asking.

I know a 104 year old who hasn't been called (not in care home) and two NHS workers in their 40s (GP and admin) who have had it.

Literally can't wait for the Oxford one, hope it's approved soon!

@louisejxxx

No I mean like they’ll say they think they’ve done them all and thus then I’ll know if she’s been missed out and to get in touch with someone about it.

I understand your concern. My local newspaper has announced the gp surgeries that are going to start vaccinating in the next week or so. I would imagine you should hear soon but there's no harm in contacting her gp surgery to check she's in the system and to find out how you'll be contacted and a potential time frame.

[quote Nc135]@QueenStromba they don’t have any evidence that it doesn’t - means that we are still waiting for definitive test results that the vaccine kills the new strain - but through knowing how the vaccine works it is HIGHLY LIKELY it will work on this new strain. It may be ever so slightly efficacious but more than efficacious enough to protect us and the NHS at a population level.[/quote]
I wouldn't be surprised by a very large drop in efficacy, the changes to the spike protein are extensive. It will almost certainly confer some protection in at least some people so they're not lying when they say there's no reason to think it won't work but they're lying by omission.

@louisejxxx

No I mean like they’ll say they think they’ve done them all and thus then I’ll know if she’s been missed out and to get in touch with someone about it.

Ah, I see. I think it’s a bit random what gets officially announced or reported in the papers so I personally would be going by the local grapevine as to how old other people are that are getting the jab - maybe join a community Facebook group in her area and see what they say?

@QueenStromba I wouldn't be surprised by a very large drop in efficacy, the changes to the spike protein are extensive. It will almost certainly confer some protection in at least some people so they're not lying when they say there's no reason to think it won't work but they're lying by omission.

That is not what the scientists are saying.

@QueenStromba this from the British Medical Journal.

Will the vaccine still work?
The new variant has mutations to the spike protein that the three leading vaccines are targeting. However, vaccines produce antibodies against many regions in the spike protein, so it’s unlikely that a single change would make the vaccine less effective.

Over time, as more mutations occur, the vaccine may need to be altered. This happens with seasonal flu, which mutates every year, and the vaccine is adjusted accordingly. The SARS-CoV-2 virus doesn’t mutate as quickly as the flu virus, and the vaccines that have so far proved effective in trials are types that can easily be tweaked if necessary.

Peacock said, “With this variant there is no evidence that it will evade the vaccination or a human immune response. But if there is an instance of vaccine failure or reinfection then that case should be treated as high priority for genetic sequencing.”

@Nc135

The SARS-CoV-2 virus doesn’t mutate as quickly as the flu virus

Now, this I can't get my head around. It's already mutated (significantly apparently) in less than a year, so why do they say it mutates more slowly than flu?

@trulydelicious because the flu mutates even faster.

@louisejxxx

Do we think they’ll get to a point where they’ll say “ok that’s most of the over 80s done, now we’re moving onto over 75s” etc? Just asking because I’m phoning my Gran every day (she’s 91) to check if she’s had a call from GP, hospital or whoever. Nothing yet but I know it’s early days.

I hope so but I think that will be on local level rather than national policy. It will be impossible to ensure that absolutely everyone has it before moving on to the next category. Even if they managed to offer everyone an appointment there will always be noshows and people who just don’t want it - you’d hope these people can be slotted in later though if they suddenly want it after all

[quote Nc135]**@QueenStromba* I wouldn't be surprised by a very large drop in efficacy, the changes to the spike protein are extensive. It will almost certainly confer some protection in at least some people so they're not lying when they say there's no reason to think it won't work but they're lying by omission.*

That is not what the scientists are saying.[/quote]
If you pay attention to the actual words used, absolutely nobody is saying that multiple mutations in the spike protein that affect the structure of the protein are unlikely to have a large effect on vaccine efficacy.

@QueenStromba except the makers of the vaccine themselves. Stop spreading unnecessary fear.

Have you volunteered to help OP? Sounds as if you could benefit from getting stuck in and seeing the effort first hand.

@DianaT1969

Have you volunteered to help OP? Sounds as if you could benefit from getting stuck in and seeing the effort first hand.

?!

Is OP a healthcare professional?

Do you think just anyone is allowed to be part of this process?

It’s not as easy as just turning up to inject someone or register their confidential details. It takes training. It would be completely inappropriate for members of the public to turn up and “volunteer”.

Are YOU getting “stuck in”?!

In my area, volunteers have been helping deliver letters inviting people for vaccines, providing the Community Transport service to take people without transport to the hub, delivering sandwiches to staff and acting as marshals to direct people the right way and show them where to park- the actual medical stuff and sensitive data roles that need training are only a small part of the effort.
Obviously not everyone has the physical fitness to help at all though.