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Covid

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Original poster

Vaccination - does this seem correct?

71 replies

SillyUnMurphy · 10/01/2021 16:12

My dad is 91 and received a letter yesterday to book his vaccine. He phoned me for help as he is not online and couldn’t keep up with the automated options on the phone (he has some hearing problems).
I went online to book a vaccine for him and the nearest centres were miles away. We’re in Essex and he has been offered a centre at the Excel in Docklands, somewhere out near Heathrow and Birmingham! I do drive and am happy to take him but there is no way he would want to travel that far and I’m also WFH and homeschooling two primary aged children - so can’t really spend a whole day attending a vaccine centre.
There is a note on the letter saying if the centres are inconvenient then wait a few days.
Am I being incredibly naive in thinking that vaccine centres would be offered that were a couple of miles away from where you live? Are there really so few centres operating at the moment that they are tens of miles from where you actually live? Has anyone else experienced this?
Many thanks for taking the time to read.

OP posts:

viques · 10/01/2021 17:15

@orangenasturtium

"I’m a bit shocked by that statistic. 5 centres, each running for 12 hours non stop and they only managed to vaccinate 425 people. At that rate it’s going to take a very long time to get through 65,000,000 of us!"

It wasn't 5 centres, it was 5 stations ie 5 medics giving vaccinations at the same time @viques. 85 people per station in 12 hours isn't too bad, that's 7 in an hour, one person every 8 minutes.

Ah, misread. Still going to take a while though .

Aspiringmatriarch · 10/01/2021 17:15

Why does he have to use public transport if you have a car?

Pinkflipflop85 · 10/01/2021 17:16

Last time I parked at Excel it was £20 🤯

lazeeboy · 10/01/2021 17:19

People need to be monitored after flu vaccines too, but many pharmacies and GP surgeries ran drive-through vaccinations this autumn/winter.

I think if you can be driven by someone or have someone in the car (which some people can, even though not everyone) then the alert can be sounded easily if there are any problems.

I just hate the thought of vulnerable people having to be inside with so many other people when there is a highly contagious variant circulating widely.

Also the anaphylaxis (although can happen with any vaccine) does seem more problematic with Pfizer, so maybe drive-through would be more suitable for AZ Oxford.

If logistics could be optimised so people don't have to wait for long in the cold, marquees are still find in this weather. When you are waiting you are wearing warm clothing. The only chilly bit is getting your arm out for the actual vaccine.

doireallyneedaname · 10/01/2021 17:20

I can’t believe this is even crossing anybody’s mind. Run!

BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 10/01/2021 17:25

@dementedpixie

Will large centres not have lots more people attending and make it less safe for the elderly to be there? Of course travelling long distances can be inconvenient and uncomfortable

I was just talking to DH about this, we'd be quite happy to go up to B'ham for our jabs (if we were offered) but we're both in our 30's & it's a drive we've done countless times (one of the dc is under BCH). My 89yo Gran on the other hand would find the thought awful, she's always been independent but she wouldn't like it at all. She's had hers already at the town hospital so it doesn't really apply but I know she wouldn't have attended, she'd have found the logistics too worrying & always moans B'ham is cold. She was on about not having it at all originally but changed her mind when they called to book her in, she's had her 2nd dose too, which shocked us both as lots of her friends had their 2nd put back (they're all in their early 80's though whereas she's 90 soon which is the only difference we could see).

twumptreets · 10/01/2021 17:27

viques there is parking underneath the centre itself.

Spiratedaway · 10/01/2021 17:28

@SillyUnMurphy

My dad is 91 and received a letter yesterday to book his vaccine. He phoned me for help as he is not online and couldn’t keep up with the automated options on the phone (he has some hearing problems). I went online to book a vaccine for him and the nearest centres were miles away. We’re in Essex and he has been offered a centre at the Excel in Docklands, somewhere out near Heathrow and Birmingham! I do drive and am happy to take him but there is no way he would want to travel that far and I’m also WFH and homeschooling two primary aged children - so can’t really spend a whole day attending a vaccine centre. There is a note on the letter saying if the centres are inconvenient then wait a few days. Am I being incredibly naive in thinking that vaccine centres would be offered that were a couple of miles away from where you live? Are there really so few centres operating at the moment that they are tens of miles from where you actually live? Has anyone else experienced this? Many thanks for taking the time to read.

Where in Essex are you if you don't mind me asking I am sure the surgeries are doing it ?

Popfan · 10/01/2021 17:29

I'd definitely wait. My husbands grandparents were initially offered a vaccine a long way away, they declined and waited and this week they had the vaccine at the centre just down the road. My dad had his in the cottage hospital in our village.

viques · 10/01/2021 17:30

@twumptreets

viques there is parking underneath the centre itself.

So there is! ! Blimey, no one ever told me that, mind you, I have just looked and they charge £20 a day.

LilyPond2 · 10/01/2021 17:32

If people are having to drive so far that their elderly relatives are likely to need to use public toilets while out, surely that adds significantly to the risk. Feeling very glad that my parents (who live in a small town) were able to get theirs done at a local centre within walking distance.

mum2jakie · 10/01/2021 17:34

Working age, so I appreciate it is different from very elderly patients but my husband did a 120 mile round trip (twice) to get his Covid vaccinations. Lucky he did as there has been an outbreak in his workplace and he is one of the very few able to continue to work currently! I wouldn't hesitate in current circumstances, however lengthy or expensive the journey.

Whatever9999 · 10/01/2021 17:35

@dementedpixie

Her dad should sit tight and wait until a closer vaccine is available so he is not venturing out to travel a long distance.

Depends where in Essex you are really doesn't it? Would take 2 hours by public transport from where I am. If you're in North Essex op, then I would try and see if he can get the jab at Colchester or Ipswich hospital

Flaxmeadow · 10/01/2021 17:36

As others have pointed out. The vaccination programme is really being ramped up this week, so there will be many more opportunities to get the vaccine much closer to where you live.

WanderingMilly · 10/01/2021 17:41

This has been on the BBC news, there are only a few mass vaccine centres open currently, so there are options...you either travel to one of your choice (from those offered to you when booking) or wait until a more local one has been set up nearer you. On the news bulletin it said this wasn't being explained clearly enough in the letter people are getting, so people were afraid they would be missed out if they waited. The assurance was that this wouldn't be the case....

Marilla1966 · 10/01/2021 18:10

My friend had a link on Facebook. It was through covid.shiftpartner and she was able to get an appointment for her 85 year old mum at Broomfield the next day. She said there were lots of appointments.

saraclara · 10/01/2021 18:13

There's been a notice on our local FB page to ignore any letters that the elderly are getting about their vaccination centre (which is 20+ miles away). In about eight days our very local hub (like half a mile from me) will be opening, so there is really no need for any elderly person to worry about finding the means of getting to the one they've been sent. Especially since we live in a rural area with absolutely no public transport possibilities to get to the one in the letter.

Staffy1 · 10/01/2021 18:19

@Purplethrow, @Marilla1966, thanks

yearinyearout · 10/01/2021 18:30

I’m a bit shocked by that statistic. 5 centres, each running for 12 hours non stop and they only managed to vaccinate 425 people. At that rate it’s going to take a very long time to get through 65,000,000 of us!

That's pretty poor. Our local health partnership did over 1000 just on Saturday, and that figure didn't include the ones done at the care homes!

Carriemac · 10/01/2021 18:41

I'm not sure a drive through would be sensible - what are you supposed to do with an anaphylactic reaction ? Pull them out of the car and recusitate on the ground outside? It's not a flu vaccine

MargeryMcLatchie · 10/01/2021 21:59

I commented early on in this thread, haven't read all the subsequent comments but have just seen this on BBC website:

People waiting to receive the Covid-19 vaccine say they are confused by NHS letters inviting them to travel to centres miles away from their homes: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-55605149

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