If a city is quicker at vaccinating, can they vaccinate further down the list?

[doireallyneedaname]

Just that.

If as an example my city has a small population of elderly and vulnerable and vaccination is completely within a month, would they move on down the list to vaccinate everyone else? Or will there be a pause?

All I can say is both my in-laws were called up to get vaccinated at the same time this week so there does seem to be some sort of flexibility. One is in a considerably higher category than the other so technically should have been called up separately. But logistically it makes sense to call up two people in the same household at the same time so only one journey is made, one explanation given, plus old people normally come in pairs anyway.

PIL were both called together as well, hoping my DP will be when they get the call.

I really hope they sort out this postcode lottery soon. It would seem better to give everyone fair access to healthcare.

It's only been 2 weeks since the Oxford vaccine was approved @FuzzyPuffling, it's understandable to worry but it does sound like this is being addressed. It's normal for it to take a little time for large complex processes to get sorted out, the picture by mid February may look very different.

@FuzzyPuffling would you rather extra people died whilst time was wasted ensuring everything was perfectly fair? Because I think we should just get on with it and adjust as we learn and go along.

There's a GP who writes for the Times and he said that when they had finished all their over 80s they weren't allowed to move on to the over 70s, "their" doses were redirected to other areas.

Punished for being efficient. I guess it makes sense but it must be annoying having to wait for other areas to catch up.

Hollyhead extra people are dying here, so I'm not sure what your point is?

I suspect the mass vaccinnation centres will be the majority of the way under 50s will get there's. Majority of the last category should be able to travel to a mass centre nearby? Rather than logistics of sending to every local GP taking up more time than sending to the mass centre and eventually a open booking link for the population to book to their nearest one?

@redsquirrelfan - it isn't necessarily efficiency. Some regions have a larger population, some have a larger population in older age categories. It looks like one or two areas set up a bit late, but many areas have been awaiting more vaccine to be able to continue. That needs to be shared equally based on the numbers of vulnerable people.

@FuzzyPuffling well because more would die overall if the whole programme was delayed...?

It's not delaying though is it?
It is ensuring that the highest priority groups (ie the oldest) are vaccinated before they move on to others.
If more vaccine is needed in certain areas to vaccinate those people most likely to die (or bung up the NHS) then that's better than vaccinating a load of less-at-risk people and leaving the risky still vulnerable.

I think there is likely to be co-ordination between large cities and allocation.

What is more likely is smaller, island or isolated populations (for example) moving down their lists to make up enough people for a "batch."

@FuzzyPuffling You said ‘it would seem better to allow everyone fair access to healthcare’ which I agree with but given the urgency of the pandemic there are bound to be teething issues with distribution, and however well distributed some areas where there might be some left over to give out ‘early’ - would it be better to waste them? Because that’s what your comment implies. My question was would you have preferred to delay roll out to ensure it was exactly fair?

I know we’re all eager to be vaccinated but give them a chance, please! Perhaps I’ve just got realistic low expectations, but this is a massive operation. Obviously now they’ve got going they will be looking at performance and fine-tuning any bottlenecks - the aim is to try and keep different areas in sync as far as possible.

This is probably also the most difficult part of the project subject-wise - elderly people (I mean really elderly, not Mumsnet elderly) present (on average) more challenges in terms of transport, technology and physical ability. Once it moves down to younger age groups who would generally be able to book online and access the vaccination centres more easily, I’m sure things will fly along (that’s if the poor vaccinators and volunteers haven’t all run out of steam!).

Hollyhead no of course I wouldn't waste them, and I didn't imply that at all.
I still say there is a difference between "hurrah we're calling all our over 70s now, aren't we splendid (and heaven help the over 80s in more isolated areas)" and "we've got 50 doses over - grab a few more people".