Our friends aged 50+ have had the vaccine - how?

[OnlyTeaForMe]

We have friends, a couple, aged 56/59 who have been very cautious throughout the pandemic, particularly as they have her 87 year old father living with them.

DH met the husband for a walk last week, and as they were leaving their front garden said to my friend (the wife), "don't worry, we'll keep well apart!". Her husband blurted out "oh don't worry, we've had our first jab now!" and his wife shot him a look then apparently said something about it being because they lived with her elderly dad who was at risk.

We know them fairly well, and I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't qualify on the basis of any of their own underlying health conditions, although their ethnicity puts them at slightly higher risk.

Is this the case, do family members of the vulnerable get it at the same time?

My df is 90, not had vaccine yet. His surgery are crap though, he got a shielding letter 3 months into lockdown!

@Affor **Yes because we need NHS staff (in any capacity) in and working to keep the system functioning as best they can. With the vaccine not only will they not catch it and miss work, they also wont have to isolate for every cough.

It's not being offered to them first, but left overs at the end of the day are, rightly, going to workers in healthcare rather than the bin.**

This is spot on, the nhs is on its knees right now and behind the amazing frontline workers who we see on the news are a mass of people propping the whole system up. There's so many staff having to isolate or worse who have coronavirus that it's going to struggle to function. The bus is a complex organisation and every employee is important right now. That being said I don't know one person who isn't hugely grateful for getting the vaccine, as well as being slightly embarrassed and uncomfortable about it (which they shouldn't be).

OP, the trust that I work in offered the vaccine initially to ALL staff who were CEV, living with someone who was CEV, BAME, over 70 and those in A&E and covid wards. Then they gradually added more wards. Now it is open to ALL staff.

So it is pretty clear that your 'friends' would have been included in the first roll out in my trust.

I expect the 'oh shit' moment was because they knew what your reaction would be, which is a shame really.

Friends in their forties have had their jabs at a Hampstead hospital. Apparently they were left over at the end of the day and they asked if they could have one...

Yes much older people don't tend to end up in ICU, as a PP said. Actually to take pressue of ICU we should be vaxxing the middle aged with more priority. All explained here:
twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1350416428025962498

Who you vax with priority is dictated by your end goal.

And many on here seem oblivious to / unconcerned about long Covid which can affect even non-hospitalised cases.

This is the next 6 months on MN isn't it?

Endless threads about how very dare others get the vaccine before me but I am not judging of course, just curious, honest.