I’m just angry now

[BathFullOfEels]

They knew a vaccine would be the only way of getting us out of this mess. The country has already been locked down twice. Why, why, why didn’t they use this time to set up the logistics of distributing and administering these vaccines?

Why, why, why are the government allowed to decide who to prioritise to receive these vaccines when they were always going to distribute in a way that benefits them. Surely any government with an ounce of realism would be self aware enough to realise that they would make this vaccine distribution a political decision and instead allow the decision to be made by an independent third party who can distribute it in a way that would allow the country to get back to work. Instead it’s likely that months and months down the line we’ll all be forced to go back to work despite still be unprotected.

I have visions of pensioners being able to swan off on holiday over the summer while the workers of the country will still be unable to.

It’s an absolute fucking farce. Watching that press conference last night just finally made it snap for me - they genuinely don’t know what they’re doing at all

@ILoveAllRainbowsx what so you should let someone die in pain as often treatment for older people may be pallative
We should never be in a position where we have to choose who to treat
Granted certain ops won't be done on an older person due to life expectancy but treatment my god don't we all deserve dignity and medical treatment

I can’t believe the attitude towards elderly people by some. They are the ones who are most likely to need hospitalisation and die so they get immunised first. Arguing that you should go before them makes you sound selfish and entitled.

Populist politics works by Balkanising people into tiny, narrow interest groups, then turning group against group.

I really hoped we were coming to the end of that mad phase of our politics.

And, deep down, I think I really hoped that the pandemic was serious enough - at the level of the U.K. at least - for people to leave that way of thinking behind.

We have to make a concerted effort to lift ourselves out of that dog against dog mindset.

💐💐 to the many posters (people) in this thread who clearly don't think that way and who are taking us all on a journey back to a kinder, more hopeful politics.

@Littlewhitedove2 I think your post is lost on many here , they just cannot see the bigger picture

@BathFullOfEels

haggertyjane I’m not pissed off about soft play being closed . I’m pissed off that an entire generation of kids face missing about 18 months of schooling and socialisation. Kids aren’t allowed to see family and friends for months either, it’s not just the elderly.

We're all pissed off. The world is pissed off. Children's needs and general pissed offness does not trump anyone else's pissed offness.

An entire generation of kids and preschoolers have enjoyed more family time, more play time, more mum time, more outdoor exercise, without being shoehorned into learning by rote in a stuffy classroom. Most kids I know are overjoyed at no school. It's just hard for us. Why do you think school holidays are remembered by adults with such joy, as opposed to school playgrounds etc?

Get over yourself and have a tiny bit of perspective. It's 12 months of shit for everyone. For the whole country. For every country. For the world.

They have to protect the old to prevent the NHS becoming overwhelmed.

No government wants to be caught in a beds-in-corridors/ people-dying-in-hospital-carparks situation.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

If you can't cope with what is going on now you really wouldn't like to be left with a country without a safe and functioning NHS service

Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but we're already without a safe and functioning NHS service - and that was before Covid, and continued throughout the summer when cases were on the floor

oh please. There's plenty of criticism of the NHS bu we have been fortunate to have excellent, emergency and routine health care at our feet and available to all. We are very close to losing it and this is what our government knows would be the most catastrophic event both economically and medically for the country.

And you're the one saying lock the elderly away so kids can carry on as before. Not me. Now are you changing tack and saying we are all in the same bloody boat?

I think I am going to hide this post as the selfish attitude of some and the willingness to hang the old people old to dry almost is shocking
Even after multiple people explaining why the order is as it is they are still centred on when they will get the vaccine as heaven forbid an older person may get to a coffee shop before them.
The aim is to vaccinate all and to protect the nhs in the short term which affects all of us.
Please people have some compassion and don't we all want this vaccination so hopefully we can all be old one day

@Porcupineintherough

"I can't really see the point of vaccinating my 92 year old housebound MiL"

And if she has a fall, and needs to go to hospital, what then? A nice dose of COVID to hasten her end?

I know disliking your MiL is a thing here, but really?

She's bedbound and has advanced dementia so no chance of falling (in fact that's what got her into her current mess in the first place). And if you had not cherry picked the bits of my post to make a point, you will have seen that I thought my SIL WHO HELPS TO CARE FOR HER needs the vaccine more.

While carers go in every day, if SIL isn't there, MIL will be in big trouble. If SIL catches covid and is bedbound or indeed hospitalised, the impact is potentially worse than if MIL gets it from a carer. SIL also helps a lady down the road, although she reasonably fit and healthy and it's more support than caring.

@PurpleDaisies

A better question might be why this government is so poor at managing expectations.

This is absolutely spot on.

Because if the Government said back in March that the restrictions would be in place for at least a year then a lot of people would have refused seeing it as too high a price and argued for herd immunity accepting there would be a loss of life.

Far easier for the Government to initially ask for a lockdown of a couple of weeks then extend it then relax a bit over the summer with some half priced Nando's thrown in as a sop to the masses then once the vaccine arrives at Christmas we"ll be OK then sorry it's going to be a while to actually roll out this vaccine thingy so here's another lock down etc.

Voters are used to politicians lying but this is taking it to a whole new level.

hopefully we can all be old one day

not sure I want to end up like MIL, or indeed my own father who spent the last six months of his life bedbound in a nursing home.

@Haggertyjane well said everyone is suffering though I don't know where that poster gets 18 months of school the whole thing hasn't been a year yet and for some of that they have been in school

I agree that carers should be prioritised too. The unpaid type as well as the professionals.

I have an opposing view but I don't hate the elderly and Im the wrong side of 60 myself. But I don't believe that my generation or the one above me should take precedence over my children's and grandchild's generations.

@annevonkleve but at present we don't know if the vaccine stops you getting it or passing it on so your sil may not become really ill but she could potentially still pass it on to your mil as we don't have evidence to prove this yet .
If your mil gets it she is much more likely to end up in hospital

There are valid arguments on all sides. Selfishly I want the elderly vaccinated so the NHS can operate fully and not get overwhelmed with Covid patients.
I waited 5 months for my abdominal scans following ovarian cancer, now I've a similar wait for my mammogram. I'd rather like the NHS to cope as my life, quite simply, depends on it.

@Thingybob have you not read any thread that explains the order and understood ? If they gave it the other way round we would not all be protected and if the nhs collapsed we would not be protected

Can anyone explain to me the urgency in vaccinating 80+ people in a country in which the Liverpool Pathway and DNR orders are imposed upon people without their or their relatives' permission with remarkable frequency?

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda

I agree that carers should be prioritised too. The unpaid type as well as the professionals.

We are. People who receive carers allowance have been moved to band 6.

@Thingybob

I have an opposing view but I don't hate the elderly and Im the wrong side of 60 myself. But I don't believe that my generation or the one above me should take precedence over my children's and grandchild's generations.

I am also the wrong side of 60 but vaccination of the younger age groups first will keep us all in lockdown as they are not the ones causing the NHS to become overwhelmed

Jesus Christ, it’s not about anyone ‘taking precedence’! It’s about vaccinating the people who are otherwise likely to get ill and die. That is literally it. Once they are protected and the NHS is no longer likely to be overwhelmed, we will all have to accept a level of risk (which will be tiny for most) and get on with things.

There's plenty of criticism of the NHS bu we have been fortunate to have excellent, emergency and routine health care at our feet and available to all

It's hard to credit that you seem to be believe this is still the case, mrshoho, and that we're only "close to" losing it, but I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one

@Puzzledandpissedoff we do in general have a good nhs
It has its problems and needs to be addressed but we are lucky to have a free for all healthcare none the leSs .

OP couldn't agree more, been saying this for weeks and l cannot believe school staff aren't anywhere on the list