Vaccinating the young ones first?

[amusementPark]

Shouldn't we aim to focus on vaccinating those that need to work, teach, open up businesses first which is the under 70s in general? We are in lockdown anyway but we can use this time to focus on under 70s so we can get our economy back on track by the time it's the over 70s turn during lockdown. 70 isn't old I know but the majority of under 70s are the ones that are driving our economy forward and paying their pensions. From the start our priorities have been pretty poor but we can't fuck this one up otherwise we will have to live like this for another 15 months which will cause permanent effects on our country.

Btw, I know a lot of posters are going to come up with my mum is over 70 and still works blah blah blah, I'm talking about the majority of those that contribute to our economy are under 70s. I'm about to lose my business, I've received no help whatsoever during the second lockdown and I briefly opened up before going into tier 4 where I had to close again. During that time again no help was mentioned and I doubt me and many others will receive any support this time around. Furlough only helps employees not business owners and we are going down :(

Sitting and watching this 1

Me too (obviously) :)

Over 70s are much more likely to need a hospital bed. Once they're vaccinated and hospital rates fall, we'll be able to return to something closer to normal, even with the working age population largely unvaccinated.

If we knew it stopped transmission that would be fine... As of yet we don't know tho.

Similarly to why restrictions can be lifted once the elderly and vulnerable are vaccinated as young people are very unlikely to need hospital teetment.

Only if you want indefinite lockdown

Because until the highly vulnerable (CEV and elderly) are vaccinated then the risk to NHS doesn’t go away

Did you not hear Boris a no chance of review of restrictions until all of priority 4 done - expected by Feb, change possibly then

The vaccine reduces the chance of severe disease (needing hospitalisation) to very low. You are proposing vaccinating those for whom it is already very low. Leaving those at risk filling the hospitals, the country in tier 5 and severe restrictions in place,

Changing the vaccine preference won’t save your business, and will wreck more (because it leads to longer stricter lockdowns!

OP I've always thought this. Yes older people are more likely to need a hospital bed. Bit if we can cut transmission in everyday life surely it would in turn reduce the risk. As they are then less likely to come into contact with it from carers etc.

Because the vaccines don't prevent you from catching, carrying or spreading it. The reason we have to lockdown is hospital capacity. The people who get sickest and therefore are most likely to need hospitalisation are the sick, old and clinically vulnerable. Immunise this group and hospital need is vastly reduced.

Healthy, young people are statistically unlikely to need hospitalisation and therefore vaccinating them wouldn't stop the hospitals becoming over run.

No because hospital beds get filled by over 60s. Do vaccinating them means others can go back to normal as if a young person catches it they are unlikely to need ICU bed unless underlying condition in which case they will need vaccine too. Sorry if your business is suffering though. Can you claim any of the government schemes on offer?

Also the Vaccine is not approved for children. To get it approved ie tested on children would significantly slow down the whole process

What happened to the nightingale hospitals around the country?

We are in lockdown because healthcare cannot cope with the hospitalisation rates of those who catch it and react badly. That is the over 70s and the CEV. Once they are vaccinated and immune the pressure on NHS lifts and so can the restrictions, whilst the rest of us are vaccinated eventually.

I’m really sorry about your business, OP, it’s all shit. But changing the priority of the vaccine schedule wouldn’t help. It’s always been pressure on healthcare and hospitalisation rate that lockdowns are needed for.

Next election please make sure you vote for better funded healthcare. I hope everyone does - we can see the effects starkly now of not enough money and resource.

Here is a graph that I have shared on other threads. It shows why it is so important to vaccinate older people first.

There is definitely an argument for vaccinating younger people first (obviously not children) but based on the fact they are more Likely to mix and spread the virus.

The hospital near me is full of patients aged 30-40 the elderly are now more cautious. The main factor is weight in the younger age group

Let's focus on the need to get the vaccines out there. not chop and change the order.

@littlebillie

The hospital near me is full of patients aged 30-40 the elderly are now more cautious. The main factor is weight in the younger age group

Source for this please? Most evidence shows that age is still the biggest indicator of hospitalization.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for joining this discussion. I totally understand the point of prioritising the over 70s due to hospitalisation rates and low bed capacity in hospitals. My thought about this was to shield the vulnerable group until potentially April/May- where lockdown would be longer for this age group. Prioritise all home deliveries from supermarkets and pharmacies to this age group so they don't need to go outside until the under 70s complete the vaccination programme unless an over 70 is in a support bubble with under 70s or has a business that needs to work or has a health condition that requires frequent hospital visits. In the meantime, get everyone vaccinated that are under 70 so that we can open up instead of all of us being in lockdown potentially until Easter.

If we continue with our current programme, the over 70s will be at home anyway as nothing will be open even if they get vaccinated and I believe the protection is 4 months for vaccines anyway so the immunity will dissolve by the time they get to the under 70s? Covid affects the under 70s too and many sectors have been reporting that their staff is dropping down like flies.

I had a bit too much to drink hence I was wide awake at 4am writing this post as this lockdown is going to be the final nail in the coffin for my business that is going to be buried 6ft under going down with many other businesses and self employed citizens.

I agree with you to a certain extent, it feels very much like the vaccine is about "saving the NHS" not getting life back to normal or saving businesses. As well as health care workers being in top priority groups I think younger people in key / critical worker and public facing roles should be offered it.

My thought about this was to shield the vulnerable group until potentially April/May- where lockdown would be longer for this age group. Prioritise all home deliveries from supermarkets and pharmacies to this age group so they don't need to go outside until the under 70s complete the vaccination programme unless an over 70 is in a support bubble with under 70s or has a business that needs to work or has a health condition that requires frequent hospital visits. In the meantime, get everyone vaccinated that are under 70 so that we can open up instead of all of us being in lockdown potentially until Easter.

But you're still not thinking of the reason businesses are shut etc.

It's not because people in general are catching it. It's not to stop staff "dropping like flies" and making places short-staffed.

It's because when anyone extremely vulnerable to it catches it, they disproportionately end up in hospital. Overwhelming the system.

You can't "shield" the ECV and the over 70s effectively. They're not cut off from society. They catch it - from carers, from their family members and so on - and then they end up in hospital overburdening the NHS. You said it yourself:

unless an over 70 is in a support bubble with under 70s or has a business that needs to work or has a health condition that requires frequent hospital visits

That's absolutely LOADS of people. The majority, probably.

So we need to vaccinate them all first. It's the only way. You and me getting a vaccine won't help businesses open up. The vaccine doesn't stop you transmitting it. It just reduces the severity of the symptoms if you catch it.