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Original poster

DF 87 still not been invited for vaccination

218 replies

eastegg · 22/12/2020 23:06

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.

OP posts:
ekidmxcl · 25/12/2020 01:50

Sadly the procedure for getting the 80+ people vaccinated is clunky and ridiculous. My FIL has heard nothing. He’s also had 2 hospital appointments in the past fortnight and didn’t get the vaccination at either (I believe they are supposed to be trying to vaccinate 80+ people at these appointments).

We live in a different area to FIL but in our area I know for sure that the GP surgery has run out.

We have to vaccinate more quickly. We are pathetically slow. I don’t think GP surgeries should be responsible. There should be a task force or some dedicated body to GET IT DONE!

PrincessNutNuts · 25/12/2020 05:52

@Frazzled2207

Is it?

Original poster
eastegg · 25/12/2020 20:37

@SRYnegative

However it begs the question as to whether you agree with the lockdown. No the cap does not fit me. I think it might fit those who are watching smugly as rights are eroded and young peoples' lives are ruined. Come on, surely you have a better argument than " if the cap fits!" Hmm This is serious fgs

And I think those vaccines would be better injected into the nurses and drs arms actually.

On the other hand, COVID-19 appears to cause autoimunity in serious cases, so I do wonder what the vaccine might cause. Hmm (not anti vaccer, but autoimmunity is serious s--t.

I don't understand your first sentence. What begs the question? Me starting a thread wondering about when my DF might get the vaccine begs the question of whether I agree with the lockdown? No it doesn't.

Stop trying to make the thread about something it isn't. Say something relevant or start your own.

OP posts:
Frazzled2207 · 26/12/2020 20:32

Just heard that healthy 83 yo uncle and aunt in south Devon had theirs on Christmas Eve.

Gingerbreadfeeling · 26/12/2020 20:41

@ekidmxcl

Sadly the procedure for getting the 80+ people vaccinated is clunky and ridiculous. My FIL has heard nothing. He’s also had 2 hospital appointments in the past fortnight and didn’t get the vaccination at either (I believe they are supposed to be trying to vaccinate 80+ people at these appointments).

We live in a different area to FIL but in our area I know for sure that the GP surgery has run out.

We have to vaccinate more quickly. We are pathetically slow. I don’t think GP surgeries should be responsible. There should be a task force or some dedicated body to GET IT DONE!

I agree with this, the procedure seems to be totally piecemeal and uneven across the country. Pockets of 80 plus are being missed or not prioritised, based on where they live. Some GP practices in my area are really slow and inefficient - why are they writing to patients as a standard method?They could be phoning/ advertising/ leafleting. It needs to get a whole lot better or we are never going to get out of this mess.
Lifeispassingby · 26/12/2020 21:33

@Crakeandoryx 500,000 doses or people?

Crakeandoryx · 26/12/2020 21:57

Doses, very few have had two doses but it must be happening by now.

Parker231 · 26/12/2020 22:02

It’s going to take a while to get sufficient doses into the U.K. (we’re not the only country wanting it) and with the transportation difficulties large numbers aren’t going to get vaccinated quickly. Hopefully the Oxford vaccine will get approval this week which should speed up the process.

PrincessNutNuts · 27/12/2020 00:51

Isn't the first lady to be vaccinated due to get her second dose on the 29th?

notagoodyear · 27/12/2020 10:00

I have relative in NHS. There are now 4 million doses in the country.

It is the administration via GPs that is the bottleneck. Apparently the top no. of doses given by one GP in a day in my county is 25. They have another full-time job to do.

Administration via GPs should only be one route, not the sole route.

Inside hospitals they are vaccinating patients and staff at a much higher rate. I know NHS workers who have volunteered to vaccinate on their days off but not been taken up on their offer.

Hospitals are being underutilised in the programme. They are staffed by thousands of people qualified in giving injections. They are happy to volunteer when not at work in some cases. People should be being invited to hospitals to get the vaccine - perhaps in an outside tent or in their cars if infection control is an issue).

I know people who work inside hospitals are extremely frustrated at the slow pace of the vaccination programme and how the resources they have to offer are not being used adequately and how it is all being put on GPs who just don't have the capacity.

I would be happy to drive by the hospital, stick out my arm and sit in a monitored carpark for 15 minutes in case of adverse events. Or even visit an open sided tent.

Plus in my county the vaccination programme run by GPs stopped before Christmas and won't restart until 4 January.

Hospitals are running 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They wouldn't have stopped for the holidays.

notagoodyear · 27/12/2020 10:04

Plus there is the old adage of 'perfect being the enemy of the good'.

My contact with GPs indicates that they are so focussed on the priority list that people who could be vaccinated are not being vaccinated.

That makes no sense when there are now 4 million doses in the country.

doodleygirl · 27/12/2020 10:07

My 83 yr old mum lives in sheltered accommodation and it seems that her friends who belong to GP surgeries which are also a vaccination centre are being offered the vaccine quicker than those whose surgeries are not administering the vaccine.

Bathroom12345 · 27/12/2020 10:19

I feared they would mess it up. It doesn’t surprise me that qualified people offering to inject people were not taken up on their offer,

The NHS are not made to move quickly and PH England get bogged down with care homes which are fraught with issues.

ThatDamnKrampus · 27/12/2020 10:40

@inchoccyheaven

At our surgery We have over 1000 80+ yr olds that would qualify for the vaccine but only enough for 300 to be given it at the moment. Every one that wants it and is able to have it will be called but until we have more vaccine there isn't anything we can do. We have had couples ringing asking why only one of them has been called in but it's just the way it is unfortunately.
This isn’t goady genuinely curious but how are the ones to get it chosen? When demand far outweighs supply yet all are in the current category to receive it?
Frazzled2207 · 27/12/2020 12:10

@ThatDamnKrampus
Agree good question. Surely it makes sense for couples over 80 to go together. One less car trying to park for starters.

murbblurb · 27/12/2020 13:13

it is an absolute postcode lottery and I am so sorry. Won't go into outing details but could really do with it for a late 80s (Not me) and local area isn't even starting until Jan 4. There is no-one you can talk to.

clareykb · 27/12/2020 14:39

So as far as I know (family members who are working on the vaccination scheme) It is delivered to a hub, the hub only find out a few days before the date they are getting it and how much, then they have to send appointments out for the 3 days after they get it. Our local hub has 5 Gps surgeries (it is normally a walk in centre) they have done 1/4 of over 80s and lots of care home and nhs staff, who tend to have the appointments that the over 80s are less able to make. Despite the fact my mum,dad and brother are vaccinators, my 90 year old gran hasn't been done yet so round here it definately isn't down to whose pushy etc!

hartof · 27/12/2020 14:52

It seems like a lottery, DH grandad is 87 and hasn't been offered it. In the same town my friends dp who is 25 has been offered it as he's had mild asthma in the past? We're also greater Manchester

RosesAndHellebores · 27/12/2020 15:09

If they aren't using all the vaccinations and some are being wasted could there not be a "leftover slot" on a turn up and queue basis with the understanding there are no guarantees?

IrmaFayLear · 27/12/2020 15:29

That makes sense, RosesAndHellebores.

I was reading a piece in the Telegraph by a lady who went for her jab and many elderly people hadn’t turned up because an anti-vaxxer had got into their midst. The mind boggles at the stupidity of over 80year olds who are fretting about the long term effects on them of a vaccine. They should get a postcard telling them that not only have they wasted a vaccine dose, but they have forfeited their place in hospital should they fall ill with covid.

PrincessNutNuts · 27/12/2020 15:43

My mum was told that she will get the vaccine at the same time as my dad since she'll be there anyway. Even though they are in different priority groups.

Gingerbreadfeeling · 27/12/2020 15:50

@PrincessNutNuts

My mum was told that she will get the vaccine at the same time as my dad since she'll be there anyway. Even though they are in different priority groups.
That's really sensible but seems it's not happening everywhere. Too much is being left in the hands of GP clusters and some of them are great and some useless.
Bathroom12345 · 27/12/2020 18:18

Irma. I so agree with what you say. DF in a care home, not yet been given it. DM 88 not been offered it and she lives independently. have told her to not fuss about where, just say YES and call me. The family will get her to the vaccine centre at very short notice.

If the 80 plus are worried about the long term effects then move on, don’t waste any time trying to persuade them. I am sorry if that sounds harsh but we really don’t have time to mess around. There are lots of other 80 plus people who will take their place.

I always knew the care homes were going to be difficult. Lots of paperwork, people with dementia, permission slips to fill in. Just move on! Come back later rather than spend hours on one patient or worse waste a vaccine.

There should be lots of vaccines coming soon. I attended a recent Zoom relatives meeting for care home residents and a relative said that although her Mum is likely to refuse the vaccine they shouldn’t let the nurses go and to ‘reserve’ a vaccine for her Mum until she could get there.

Oldbutstillgotit · 27/12/2020 18:21

98 year old Aunt here in Scotland not been vaccinated yet .

Parker231 · 27/12/2020 19:25

There’s a lot of elderly to get through as well as the front line NHS and care home staff

75-79 2.33m
80-84 1.72m
85-89 1.04m
90 and over 0.61m