Vaccine queue jumping making me feel angry

[Snog]

SIL has been vaccinated already- she is a healthy 40 year old, works from home, no caring responsibilities.

It's made me feel surprisingly angry. I'm not clear how she managed it at this point. On a personal level I like SIL so am pleased for her but god I feel angry at the injustice.

I know some people have picked up "spare" doses but surely even the spare doses should be managed according to health priorities? Eg at least finding someone in groups 1-9 to vaccinate if not in groups 1-4.

AIBU to feel angry about this?

It's not all about specific individuals anyway. The idea is to bring global infection rates down so one more person vaccinated helps everyone.

I think spare doses should absolutely be used rather than thrown away. If - however- I was lucky enough to skip the queue I'd be keeping it very quiet indeed.

My DF is 85 and CEV (he has late stage Lymphoma) and only had his vaccine on Monday so pretty much the same time as your SiL OP. However, we just need to vaccinate whoever we can and if there is a spare shot sitting there at the end of the day it just needs to be used, and if it means one more person has been vaccinated that’s a plus for us all. Of course like you, I will be waiting in line and want the clinically vulnerable and front line people to go ahead of me but I still think we’ve got to see this as a collective effort even though there are (and always were and always will be) people who are thinking of themselves - we can’t vaccinate against that sadly!

Where I work (NHS) we've had lots of issues with people sharing the telephone number to book a vaccine for NHS staff on social media. Even if they don't manage to book the vaccine (although many have by lying) the sheer volume of calls means that lots of people who are entitled to it have struggled to get through on the phone and people have just turned up to the centre. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Even with GP reserve lists and overbooking to take into account no shows (illness / frail, childcare, work, transport issues, disorganised, etc) you may still get doses left at the end of the day. Not everyone vulnerable or "worthy" depending on your point of view, can be contacted and attend in time to get a jab at the last minute. Ever tried getting an elderly parent out of the house in 5 minutes with no warning?

Better the dose is not wasted but whoever is there is vaccinated. It's a tiny step further forward to everyone being vaccinated.

I have a friend who also got the vaccine despite being completely healthy, early 30's. She received it because she has a family member who works at a vaccine centre and if someone doesn't show up for the appointment, the vaccine has to be used that day...so there's always surpless left over. Those working at the vaccine centre are then allowed to call on family to come and have it done. Personally, think the emergency services should be called first but at least they're not going to waste

My sister works for the nhs in an office based role, her office isn’t based anywhere near the hospital and she’s been working from home since March. She’s 27 and very fit and healthy. She got the vaccine about 4 weeks ago through work. My mum couldn’t believe it (though she’s obviously pleased she got it) my mum is a nurse looking after covid patients, she knows paramedics still waiting for their call up!! She can’t understand why nhs office staff who never see patients anyway and who are literally never leaving the house are being offered it before people who are dealing with covid positive patients on a daily basis, it’s madness.

I know someone else who is office based nhs staff, she’s 30 and again healthy, currently on mat leave and not due back until September and she got hers weeks ago too! She’s not even at work!!! She advertised it all over Facebook too, posting her appointment card and that she’d been done, I had to sit on my hands not to comment!

I work from home at the moment. I'm in my 30s. No caring responsibilities and no underlying conditions.

However, I work for a health charity and I need to be able to safely travel the county. A lot of people wouldn't consider me front line so are probably questioning why I have had the jab.

If surgeries are routinely seeing that they have 5-10 jabs left at the end of the day, why don't they overbook by at least 4 with the higher tier patients?

if you know someone or ring around you might find that some areas have spare vaccine. They would rather it was used than throw it in the bin. Some areas just seem to have more vaccine or less people in the target group who have took up the offer

I am in category 6 of the priority lists and can't get the GP to even put me on a last-minute call-up list for any leftover vaccine at the end of the day.

So I do agree with the OP that the leftover vaccines should go to people on levels 1-9 of the list first.

I could indeed get there at 10 minutes notice.

I am on level 6, so not an elderly frail or vulnerable person in the top 4 categories.

You'd have to say there may not be any spare so be aware it's just a possibility. Tricky if people are willing to battle to get there it may not be in their best interests.

OnlyTeaForMe if there is one thing guaranteed to make sure everyone turns up for something it's to overbook!

A) you don’t know the way they currently book
B) you want surgeries calling highest tier = highest risk patients to come to the surgery and sit around on the off chance of a jab?

@Snog

Surely it's the case that her vaccination may have some at the cost of someone else's life?

No! It's at the cost of NOT putting a dose IN THE BIN!

The local NHS are doing their damndest, working long hours, 7 days a week if supply hold out. And all some can do is whimper "It's not fair"

STOP and take a step back.

In an ideal world there would be pre existing pirority lists sat on a computer somehwere for Practice Manager etc to access in case of a pandemic. In the real world GPDR probably messes that up in the long term. People moving house, changing doctors, not seeing a doctor, not being registered with a doctor. The age and ability of the comupyer systems (trust me I've worked wth them... snails pace and prone to errors and are not fully joined up with hospital trusts).

We'll get there, we are getting their. New vaccines, more vaccine centres etc etc etc. Shut up, deep breath, sit down and have cup of tea!

I’d much rather jabs be used up than binned. It’s better for all us if more people are vaccinated as soon as possible.

It was a "spare " dose at the end of the day

There's your answer then....

Is this going to be new stick to beat people with? I've seen a few posts on this already.
Hope it's not going to go the same way key worker/schools issue did.

How do you know how hard it is to find someone for a spare dose? Sounds like a logistical nightmare to me.
In reality why don't you ask her specifically how it happened?

Our local County Council have offered the vaccine to anyone who works in Social Care even if they are working solely from home. It seems crazy to me and certainly not in line with the country's process that I thought was being followed religiously.

Welcome to our selfish society! No matter how we manage things, some people will find a way to queue-jump or 'avoid' the rules.

I'd still rather someone got the jab rather than it being binned. But it's too easy to give it to a mate, rather than making an effort to get it into the arm of a vulnerable person.

@SmidgenofaPigeon

Yes, OP, poor old Doris at number 85 is now sadly going to die today because your evil SIL shoved her out of the way and took her vaccine dose. That’s exactly how it works.

I think the point is that many doses have gone to people not on the priority list. We will never know if this particular dose killed Doris but not all the over 80s have had their vaccine, not all the care home residents or staff, not all the frontline NHS, not all the over 70s. So plenty of people who needed that vaccine who were higher up the queue than this woman who are still waiting.

@OnlyTeaForMe

If surgeries are routinely seeing that they have 5-10 jabs left at the end of the day, why don't they overbook by at least 4 with the higher tier patients?

How would this work logistically? Have 4 extra people turn up at the end of the day for a free dose which might or might not exist? Should they turn up every day until one does?

Seriously - the reasons random people will be getting doses is there really isn’t an easy, logistical method of managing the extras but it would be a crime to waste them.

Still...better than the random poster who has blithely said ‘there should be a simple IT system to manage this (across a mere 38,500 overlapping units trying to manage 60 million+ appointments)’ If you have literally no idea what you’re talking about, its often better not to contribute.

@U8myufo

At the end of the day I think a combination of lockdown, BBC hype, and lack of our 'normal' lives are really skewing how people are thinking and feeling. It's hard, and we've all made sacrifices for so long. Just try and feel happy when anybody who really wants to be vaccinated gets the chance to be. Your chance will come OP and like others have said, it probably helps improve the overall picture. Hope you feel better soon.

all of this.

If she was there for her smear or her pill appt when nurses realised they had one dose of vaccine left it would be madness not to offer her the jab.

I have the opposite rage that our hospital are forced to throw away spare doses rather than use them to start the second doses for vulnerable staff. They are being monitored to make sure no one gets a second dose( mandated nationally) so if they cannot find anyone else to vaccinate they bin them. Every evening we get a knock on office door and I say we are all done but awaiting second dose and every evening it is a no.