1st cock up in vaccination rollout

[CKBJ]

Being reported in the media that many over 80s received their letters yesterday, supposedly those living up to 40mins away from one of the 7 vaccine centres, but when they book appointments they are instructed to travel very far. No where does it state in the letter patients won’t be penalised if they don’t book one at one of the 7 centres and if they wait their gp practice will contact them for a local appointment. This is causing a lot of anxiety in people who are already likely to be shielding and potentially put them at risk by them trying to travel to one of the centres. Surely the letter template should have been reviewed and this issue picked up!

Communication has been writing to people for a hub appointment, or if they can't make it it's been very clear that GP surgeries will contact them. What else do you propose?

THIS was entirely intentional. It allows the govt say say they have hit their target for every february because all the people with letters have been “offered” a jab but chose not to take it. It’s entirely for that purpose.

@DenisetheMenace

RedRiverShore1

“Penzance to Bristol is not a few miles“

Is it not being offered at Treliske?

I thought it was the main hubs being discussed, he would be able to go somewhere a short bus ride away, we don't have much contact (lots of personal reasons) but I do worry that he won't get his vaccine.

I've criticised the government a lot (about the resistance to properly quarantine people coming in from abroad, about making last minute u turns on things like xmas and schools etc) but I feel there has been a good start with vaccines.
Our local fb page has a post from a local councillor who explains that people are able to have the vaccine, fairly immediately, at a major hub which is 35-45 min away , or wait and get it done at their GP.
A friend who is a HCP (I think in her 50s/60s) has had both her vaccines, as have her parents. My PIL had their second vaccine on saturday.

@CKBJ

Well we don’t want any cock ups! This is far too important to get it wrong/delayed/poor communication as many people as possible need to be vaccinated as soon as possible.

We are vaccinating 200000 people a day. More soon. Millions eventually. There will be some hopefully small cock ups. Unrealistic to think otherwise.

The main thing is we are doing really well and on target. Possibly going to over achieve the target set.

Sure you will be ecstatic at that

@Covidasaurus

THIS was entirely intentional. It allows the govt say say they have hit their target for every february because all the people with letters have been “offered” a jab but chose not to take it. It’s entirely for that purpose.

They are going to hit and exceed their target anyway. No need for cloak and dagger stuff.

Have you not seen the current rate we are vaccinating and that will speed up even faster over the weeks.

The 50s and over have gone from first jab in July to first jab in April. That is just going on are current rate of vaccination.

That has to put a smile on your face

@Backbee

Communication has been writing to people for a hub appointment, or if they can't make it it's been very clear that GP surgeries will contact them. What else do you propose?

No, my MIL didn't get a letter, she got a phone call. Her own GP surgery claimed they had nothing to do with it. Sounds the usual lack of joined up thinking and lack of consistency that's the norm with our fragmented NHS.

“The 50s and over have gone from first jab in July to first jab in April. That is just going on are current rate of vaccination.”

Is that really true?

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

@Arobase

I don't understand why they don't take up the pharmacy option. As pharmacists have pointed out, they already have supply systems set up for regular drug deliveries and know what they are doing in terms of storage and administration. Chains like Boots and in-store pharmacies in supermarkets could get through thousands of vaccinations quickly.

They have and they are.

@LemonTT, for context here, regarding your post -

"Right now we rely on Pfizer supplies and very few GPs and pharmacies have the space and workforce to use it. That doesn’t change much with Oxford either"

half a dozen GP practices here are using one GP's location as our PCN centre. I think this is done at a PCN level partly to segregate the vaccination work from day to day primary care work to reduce cross-over infection and partly as few single practices have enough over-80s to use a full pack (975 [1200]) pfizer doses in one location.

All staff are solely from our GP's practices - GPs, PNs and receptionists and we delivered c1200 Pfizer vaccinations last week plus hundreds of AstraZeneca vaccinations in care home settings.

I'm not saying it's the same everywhere and I imagine rural locations with GP practices more spread out will be logistically more difficult. Lots of long days and weekends with staff back at the ranch also working longer doing the 'day job' in home practices but there are, AFAIK, no non-GP/PN/receptionist staff involved here at all.

It may be the seven regional centres in the press today are using those non-GP staff if you think 'very few GPs and pharmacies have the space and workforce'.

I forgot to mention, regarding space, we finished running our 'flu vac sessions with this year's new cohort of over-50s by December. Now 'flu has a slightly different consent and recovery protocol but here, space in the individual GP practices would probably not be an issue. Not having enough over 80s for a pack of Pfizer would be so we'd have to flex more with other cohorts, HCPs, HVs and so on to use full packs by expiry.

Dh 84 no letter no phone call just waiting all day every day.

What shall I say that is positive enough for everyone -er
-''MH is NOT giving his TV interviews from his red WC''?

My in laws didn't get a letter either. FIL got a text with a number to call to book. Just because some people got a letter it doesn't mean everyone did. In fact, most of the people I know who have been contacted didn't get a letter.

It was always going to be a cock up wasn't it?

I live in a large area of Berkshire, one side has several GP surgeries offering the vaccine with people told to queue up and wait.
Our side has none. Apparently, we are in "phase 3" of the roll out. We have just as many vulnerable people, just as many surgeries to offer it. But no. Our GP surgery has been asking for weeks where their vaccines are and finally got told as a "phase 3" postcode our area will wait until mid-February.
The only reason we can see for this is the side with all the vaccines is Tory and the side we are on is not.
In the side in phase 3 we are told it's one of the worst hit in the town whichever side you are on. So surely they would be a priority?
The GP has now got together with others in our side to raise a complaint to PHE

We received our first vaccine last week . I've little insight on the PHE side except from their communications that we're told we'll be moved from a 'push' system to a 'pull' system in the next few weeks so we'll go from being told some random, changing date of delivery after which the Pfizer must be used within 5 days and we need to be able to reschedule the appointments to bring in the patients to, supposedly, being able to order vaccine with hopefully reliable delivery dates.

I’m in Berkshire, conservative, nothing here from Our GP clinics yet.

@DenisetheMenace

“The 50s and over have gone from first jab in July to first jab in April. That is just going on are current rate of vaccination.”

Is that really true?

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Yep check it out on the vaccine calculator

Just make sure the current rate of vaccinations are set for 200000 a day. Which is are current rate.

@tara66

What shall I say that is positive enough for everyone -er -''MH is NOT giving his TV interviews from his red WC''?

It does look like one though doesn't it

Really surprised people didn't click that during the first lockdown. It had my family in stitches. We are easily pleased

@Tiktokersmiracle It was always going to be a cock up wasn't it? Well no it wasn't, and no it isn't. People in that age group have been told they are prioritised to be vaccinated by mid Feb, we're not even technically mid Jan. Obviously as supplies and sites ramp up one location has to be first and another second, you must be able to see that every single 80+ can't be vaccinated on the same day and it would be crazy to make the locations set up first wait while the other locations are set up?

2.4 m vaccinated now, OP. news.sky.com/story/covid-19-2-4-million-have-received-coronavirus-jab-in-uk-says-boris-johnson-12185070
😄

[quote MRex]**@Tiktokersmiracle* It was always going to be a cock up wasn't it?* Well no it wasn't, and no it isn't. People in that age group have been told they are prioritised to be vaccinated by mid Feb, we're not even technically mid Jan. Obviously as supplies and sites ramp up one location has to be first and another second, you must be able to see that every single 80+ can't be vaccinated on the same day and it would be crazy to make the locations set up first wait while the other locations are set up?[/quote]
Except you ignored that our part has been put in phase 3 of the rollout so won't expect to even receive vaccines until mid-February at the earliest.

@Tiktokersmiracle - Here's a link to actual open vaccination sites: www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/hospital-hubs-and-local-vaccination-services/. So, I can see lots in Reading and Slough, then looking up Hungerford I can see Newbury Racecourse opens next week.

@Doingthingsdifferently

Very easy to criticise isn't it. This is the largest logistical challenge of our generation - and every step there is the media and people like the OP waiting to crow about minor errors - could we not try and pull together and get this done?

Yes but it's an entirely preventable and avoidable error in a letter, down to lack of proper proof-reading presumably. Sloppy.

I bet the Brigadier isn't happy if one of the army writers was involved.

Do some people want the vaccination programme to fail?

Looking at the link from MRex the roll-out programme looks awesome in its scale.

Can you imagine how damned hard people are working to devise and deliver this unprecedented programme, yet there are miserable discontented arseholes on here moaning and gloating about hitches.