To think vaccinations should be 24/7

[notevenat20]

I have become quite agitated by the speed of our vaccination program compared to the speed of transmission of the new variant. I read the plan is to vaccinate 8am to 8pm. But given the emergency that sounds to me like a firefighter putting out flames 8am-8pm. It’s not enough is it?

But it's clear from this thread that lots of posters don't even understand your proposal as their answers are about people not being able to go at night which I do agree isn't what you're suggesting. The supermarkets are open 24 hours but no one thinks that the elderly should be forced to shop at 2am, I don't get that type of response either.

As were nightclubs :)

I think plenty of people would happily go during the night.

I don’t think people realise how vulnerable people had suffered being isolated. Most people get up for their flights when they are going on holiday!

My gran is over the moon in getting her second jab on Monday - she would have 100% got up at a random time for it.

The option should at least be available

felt so much safer for us and the staff than sitting in a church hall waiting for ages
I had my flu jab back in Oct last year. It was on a Saturday which is unusual and in a church hall which is also unusual. But I was given a 2 minute slot. Told to wait in the queue outside at the right time. When I got there there was no queue and I was done and out in less than 2 minutes.
Was the quickest I've ever had it. Normally am given a 5 minute time at the drs surgery and then wait an hour to actually be given the jab. Presumably because everyone wants to make a conversation with the nurse. Back in October this didnt seem to be a thing.

But if say my workplace did the st John's ambulance thing then i and many others would probably do that.

@notevenat20

Agree that 7am to midnight or something may be more appropriate

That would be almost 50% more vaccinations already!

Doesn't mean 50% more vaccines will be supplied. It's supply that's the hold up, not staffing.

I will be giving them next weekend. We get one box of vaccines delivered Friday morning to share between 5 surgeries, we will be able to vaccinate a third of our 80+ year old patients and we have no idea when we will get access to any more vaccines.

Things I think would speed this up (assuming enough vaccine and vaccinators)

I think an online booking site would speed things up, over 80s can book themselves in.
I know, many over 80s won't be able to do this, but a great many will, this will free up staff to do vaccinations and a smaller number would have to chase those who can't book online.

I think Israel has open vaccinations at the end of each day. Anyone can show up at a vaccination site at the end of each day and first come first served can get left over vaccine from no shows etc so nothing is wasted.

This. If you’re that concerned in this speeding up you should sign up to help in some way.
I have.

And can we stop infantilising the elderly. As other posters have pointed out plenty are happy to get up in the middle of the night to go on holiday. If we had an online booking system were they could book themselves in I'm quite confident the middle of the night slots would go. Personally I think early morning to late night would be better with a 'just show up' option for anyone at the end of each day to use up any left over vaccine.

Doesn't mean 50% more vaccines will be supplied. It's supply that's the hold up, not staffing.

It would be really great if the govt could make this clear. We have two vaccines available. Have we really not got enough of either?

Kendodd - my mum has had a letter this morning inviting her to book online. She's anxious about it because my dad hasn't had his letter (older than mum and CV), and because the nearest centre is about a 50 minute drive, and she doesn't want me to have to "drive all that way".

The only thing this would actually save is space though. If you could get more vaccine and more vaccinators, in order to go through the night, and you had enough space (there's a lot of church/ village halls not belong used for much at the moment) why couldn't you just do twice as many people in the day? And then no one has to get up in the night.

It would be much more effective to use other spaces during the daytime; erect a gazabo in the town centre with queues, use the cinema, use the church, use any closed car park, use closed schools or playgrounds at weekends etc etc etc. That isn't being done because there isn't enough, once there is enough vaccine there will be more sites with people trained to staff them.

The poster suggesting it is "in excusable" for MHRA to be a bottleneck due to testing vaccines is clearly an idiot. It would be nice for the test process to speed up, and it will, but it's most important to ensure each vaccine is top quality rather than risk vaccines not working.

If you're working from home all week and/or looking after children, it could disrupt your sleep schedule considerably to have to stay up late into the night or get up early to get a vaccine. Also, it would put more pressure on public transport during the night.

If you're working from home all week and/or looking after children, it could disrupt your sleep schedule considerably to have to stay up late into the night or get up early to get a vaccine.

This can't be serious. This is a one off act to save your own life. It would surely be worth it.

@notevenat20 - It's been said a lot now, the shortage of amount of vaccine. After the supply is resolved, humans can't individually vaccinate 24 hours per day, so you still need more people. What do you think is the advantage then of vaccinating at night instead of just giving the vaccines from additional locations during the daytime? I really don't understand what your point is.

@catlovingdoctor

If you're working from home all week and/or looking after children, it could disrupt your sleep schedule considerably to have to stay up late into the night or get up early to get a vaccine. Also, it would put more pressure on public transport during the night.

Oh please! I don’t think getting up at 3am one night is going to mess with my sleep patterns that much.

Maybe they will at some point, but given the main recipients currently are elderly and vulnerable , not appropriate in cold winter and with supplies only just arriving.

People are happy to get up at 3am for a holiday flight. A life saving vaccine apparently not so much.
I would happily set my alarm for it. One night's sleep is a small price to pay if I got it quicker. I am ECV so barely leave the house except for daily walk.

But by the time there is enough vaccine available for the current provision spaces to offer 24/7 spaces there will be enough providers covering more accessible times.

It is already happening.

If ever 24/7 provision were needed it would be considered with all available data, full knowledge of logistics etc. Not just an uninformed guesstimate!

yes. but i'm sure all the money has gone to a 'consultant' instead.

It's the supply of vaccines that is the issue, and the logistics of getting them moving. This will become less of an issue as the army assists with transportation etc, but it's unlikely that each area will have enough to be running a 24/7 vaccination service.

Consultant????

That's a sudden redirect!??

OP did you not post a thread before complaining about the rate of the rollout, and it was all explained there? Apologies if I am mistaken and it wasn't you, but your tone certainly reminds me of the previous poster.

Supply of vaccines and staffing are the limiting factors, not hours in the day. Otherwise, they would just open up more hubs to vaccinate faster. You are going to have to be patient. The speed of the programme is going well.

Once the red tape to administering the vaccines has been sorted out, more vaccinators can be trained or register to work.

For now we have our lovely staff working full time at the GP's surgeries and vaccinating on their days off. They are exhausted and doing their best to keep up. This isn't sustainable.

We need an easier method of getting qualified people in place to administer it.

Vaccine stock and logistics are also holding it up. I'm sure in a few weeks when these issues are resolved it will be very fast indeed.

GP hub today- really well organised. Team of recently retired or part time- medics, nurses, dentists etc being trained alongside practice staff.
We had to do 3 e learning before on e learning for health which were the essential ones Core Knowledge for Covid vaccinators and about the two different drugs.
The other essential e learning is all stuff that we all know- safeguarding, data protection, cross infection, anaphylaxis particularly and basic life support in general. All easily accomplished in an hour online- if you know it just skip to the MCQ!
From what I can tell the vaccine supply is the deciding factor. They have lots of volunteers and surgery space, they find out each week how many doses they are getting for the following week. Next week 2000 which they will do working 9-5 for 5 days. Plenty of volunteers to do more hours but not enough vaccine at present.

if there was one which is safe for pregnancy, id happily get injected in the eyeball at 4am for some form of normality