DF 87 still not been invited for vaccination

[eastegg]

Getting a bit impatient. I didn't get my hopes too high to start with but every time I speak to someone with a relative over 80 they have had it. He and DM (only 75 but vulnerable due to a stroke at the beginning of the year) have seen my DC, their only GC, once since last Christmas. I thought I was being reasonable hoping they would be protected by early February but I'm now wondering whether they will.

Anyone else out there waiting and wondering? Is there a shortage in some areas? They are in Greater Manchester, ironically under the cosh lockdown wise for much of the year and now seemingly in short supply of the vaccine! I know we have to be patient but we've been patient for so long.

Just venting really, I know no-one has the answer.

@luckylavender well you are actually because you have no idea why he called in the first place, calling someone selfish when you have no clue is completely uncalled for. I asked you politely what you meant, you came back with some sarky comment, TBH I'm fed up of people sticking their noses into other peoples business when they don't know what they're talking about.

I know what you shared with us. That's how I formed my opinion. But I don't need any more drama in my life. So I wish you a Merry Christmas.

Don't create it then!
Merry Xmas

Just an update after my earlier post - Gran of 91 on the outskirts of Newcastle has had the call today and is booked in for 29th Dec...along with most others on her street who all go to the same doctors, so the theory that each hub working round a couple of surgeries at a time does seem to be correct.

My 89 year old MIL is in a hospital bed and hasn't been offered one yet.

i did read in a guardian article earlier this week that it's very difficult for GP hubs as essentially most don't really know when it's coming. Hence most people are being called at extremely short notice once they know for sure it's coming or in some cases when it's actually arrived.

Please please please don’t call your GP! The surgery will invite people when the vaccine is available in your area, cannot make it happen any faster and the phone lines are manic as it is.

Following the advice on here I got my parents to add my mobile phone number to their Gp records earlier

A text appointment came through within an hour for the over 80 year old.

Co-incidence or not?

Also all hubs are working differently so there isn’t a predictable pattern

Give us a chance. There are a lot to do. Some surgeries haven't even started yet. Incidentally, it doesn't matter if she was 80 last week or 101, there is no age priority. Some people just aren't hearing/ answering their phones either and we can't write to them as the timescale is too short. You could ring your surgery to ask, but it's very early days yet.

Please don’t call your GP’s - we aren’t being awkward, we don’t always have the info & it ties the phone lines up. Our practice doesn’t have vaccines yet, it is being done as a hub & we have been told we will be getting vaccines early January. And we are having to volunteer in our free time to facilitate the vaccinations.

My 82 year old Dad would not have got his flu jab if he hadn’t phoned his surgery . Not all Drs surgery’s are equal! ...

I made a doctor's appt for myself today, non urgent. While I was on the phone I did ask about the vaccine as I have an 81 year old father. The receptionist said they had done vaccinations last week but used up all the stock and were waiting on the next batch. She didn't know when it was arriving but said the last batch arrived with very little notice.

My parents friends had all been done at a walk in centre at a local town . And I was told because of the storage problems it had to be mobile people first . This is Oxfordshire. I am hoping the Oxford vaccine will e better for them so they can be vaccinated at home .

My Mum's 85, she lives in a village in Cumbria. Most of her eligible neighbours have been vaccinated because their GP is in town X. Hers is in town Y and she has heard nothing and is mighty pissed off.

@Alwaysfrank no it's not done in strict oldest to youngest age. The doctors are given guidelines by the govt as to how to prioritize. Many factors will be taken into account and of course there isn't enough for Everyone to start with. There are over 18000 patients at our practice alone.

@Newjobnewslob

It’s really unlikely to be anything to do with the Care Home “not getting their act together” or “playing at” anything.

Hardly any Care Homes have had their residents vaccinated in the U.K. it’s an absolutely tiny minority of homes who’ve managed to successfully get the vaccine in and realistically they are guinea pigs in how to successfully get the vaccine into care homes because at the moment it’s a logistical nightmare. Us workers in nursing and care homes are frantic too and we don’t need the relatives to take their anger out on us when realistically the issues are around the Local Authorities being unable to find a safe way to maintain the extreme temperatures and decant into small enough batches so that none are wasted. At the moment they can only work with batches of 75 and in our LA they are only starting prioritising vaccinations in homes over 50 beds and it’s only starting next week. Some care homes only have 5 beds. We’ve been told our home will not get its first vaccine until the end of February. We’ve been told at this stage we can’t “club together” with other smaller/medium homes to make up the magic 75 due to the instability of the vaccine and the risk assessments the LA aren’t prepared to take on of using one home as a vaccination centre and the unfairness of transporting some of those we care for.

It really is a logistical nightmare.

I can only speak for my home, but we had all of our paperwork ready to go 3 weeks ago. We’ve literally just been waiting for the Local Authority who fund us and the NHS community team to call and tell us when they are coming out with the vaccinators. We’ve attended all the necessary webinars, kept up to speed with all the publications, been speaking with those we care for about consent, getting best interests decisions in process where needed, involving family/power of attorney plus doing everything else that a) our normal jobs entail b) the pandemic requires of us (weekly PCR tests for staff, monthly PCR for residents, Lateral Flow training and testing for visitors, keeping up with sourcing PPE, trying to keep our residents fed and with medication with shortages due to road blocks and panic buying, extra deep cleans, maintaining social distancing with a home full of vulnerable and challenging mentally ill residents who haven’t been allowed out or allowed visitors for the best part of a year and so on and so forth...)

Seriously, there is not a single care home in this country that wouldn’t be biting off the hand of the person offering the vaccine right now IF they were offering it. But 98% of homes are having to wait. And it’s very very tough.

My MIL (86) is still eagerly awaiting a vaccine appointment. It would be great if she got her first jab before the year ends, so that she would be on the path to immunity. Meanwhile she is being very careful and taking vitamin D supplements to boost her immune system. A few more weeks of waiting is not too bad, in the scheme of things. But... COME ON OXFORD VACCINE!!!

Honestly - I have told my DM late 80’s living on her own 100 miles from us to not start mussing about this, don’t say how do I get there, or you need to check with me.

They just don’t have time to have people call them back or to be pencilled in.

SAY YES. SOMEONE FROM THE WIDER FAMILY WILL GET YOU IF REQUIRED.

SAY YES, YES, YES

Our local town has said that vaccines will be booked from start of January. But this is a coastal town and there are 5000 over 80s. Each appt needs questions at the start plus 15 minute wait after plus social distancing.

Although I get why people are saying don’t call your surgery, it’s also true that people get accidentally dropped off lists all the time. Certainly where I work admin errors are the norm. Perhaps emailing the surgery (if that’s possible ) is less of a burden ?

@Bathroom12345

Honestly - I have told my DM late 80’s living on her own 100 miles from us to not start mussing about this, don’t say how do I get there, or you need to check with me.

They just don’t have time to have people call them back or to be pencilled in.

SAY YES. SOMEONE FROM THE WIDER FAMILY WILL GET YOU IF REQUIRED.

SAY YES, YES, YES

Get your mobile added to her GP records. It will be a text with a click link (or was here)

It’s ok for people to drive themselves if they normally drive, or is it? Is the advice that someone else should drive you home after the vaccine?

One of my relatives has now been contacted with a date and was planning to drive...they could get a lift so that’s not a problem but obviously it is a potential exposure to the virus.

@Inkpaperstars

It’s ok for people to drive themselves if they normally drive, or is it? Is the advice that someone else should drive you home after the vaccine?

One of my relatives has now been contacted with a date and was planning to drive...they could get a lift so that’s not a problem but obviously it is a potential exposure to the virus.

My grandparents drove themselves. There is a 15 minute wait period in the god afterwards so they should be fine after that to drive.

My family members have already had it. They are prioritising the clinically vulnerable over 80’s first. Which was quite sobering as I hadn’t realised how ill they were.