10 million people vaccinated already - brilliant!

[buttery81]

This is a continuation of the previous thread, www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4145954-6-3-million-people-vaccinated-already-brilliant

This thread is intended as a positive place to observe our remarkable vaccine rollout as it progresses and to celebrate the ever increasing numbers as we go.

Polite notice: conspiracy theorists, doommongers and those looking for endless debate over vaccine efficacy, leave vs remain and one-legged trousers - this is probably not the thread for you.

So, to pick up from where we left off... a truly tremendous 10,021,471 people in the UK have now received their first dose of the vaccine - that’s 18.9% (or 1 in every 5.3) of all UK adults.

There’s no doubt about it - there is an unmistakable light at the end of this long, long tunnel and every day it’s getting brighter. Come on folks - let’s do this!!

Thank you for this thread. It's very encouraging.

@buttery81

So we’ll only have spent one day in the 11 millions if so!

Oh yes @Mumoftwoinprimary, please do keep us updated on that. I hope your theory is correct!

Deaths falling faster still today. Fall is now 23.3% which is significantly higher than hospital fall - 19.7%. Positive cases is still the highest with 24.3% but that is expected as that started happening first.

I’m excited to see what happens tomorrow!

Thanks Mumoftwo - it sounds like everything is going in the right direction!

Does anyone know when they will have to start ramping up the rollout of second doses? I’m guessing it’ll be from around the end of March/early April, as that’s 12 weeks on from the start of Jan, which is when the vaccination programme really started in earnest.

With the AZ vaccine not so effective with he South African variant I wonder if they will look at using a different vaccine for the second dose?

With the AZ vaccine not so effective with he South African variant I wonder if they will look at using a different vaccine for the second dose?

It sounds like the AZ vaccine does still protect people from severe illness from the SA variant, which is good news:

Prof Gilbert told the Andrew Marr Show current vaccines "have a reduction in efficacy against some of the variant viruses".

"What that is looking like is that we may not be reducing the total number of cases but there's still protection in that case against deaths, hospitalisations and severe disease."

www.bbc.com/news/uk-55967767

Can't see the point of getting in a flap at the moment about the SA variant.

*We don't have enough information yet

*The trial is suspended in SA whilst they work out a new plan. They wanted to use it to achieve herd immunity but it may only work to keep hospitalisation and deaths down

*They used it with a 4 week gap. We already know a longer gap works better with AZ vaccine.

*So far the other vaccines tested with it have found there effectiveness slightly lowered too. However not so much to make them none effective and we have j&j starting to be delivered in April

*AZ have a SA variant fighting booster developing already

*The south African covid numbers are coming down on their own. So you never know this new version of the old SA covid may be less dangerous long term

I could go on and on but like the whole AZ over 65 thing. It is just a lack of real life data that is making people be careful. We are lucky to have access to information from ongoing research and our current vaccination program here. Others don't have that information yet

The south African covid numbers are coming down on their own. So you never know this new version of the old SA covid may be less dangerous long term

This is particularly good news Truely!

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum I could go on and on but like the whole AZ over 65 thing. It is just a lack of real life data that is making people be careful. We are lucky to have access to information from ongoing research and our current vaccination program here. Others don't have that information yet

I can’t help thinking that the data from AZ just keeps coming and coming. Do we have any data yet from Pfizer on the second dose interval, efficacy vs Africa and Brazil strains etc? I am struggling to find it.

People have said Pfizer SA data should be out soon 🤷‍♀️

Presumably only our government will be able to collect enough data on the Pfizer with a 12 week gap. That won't be available for a bit obviously.

I am an avid watcher of the Covidvax.live page. I wish it gave the number jabbed as a percentage of adult, rather than total, population, but hey, he’s a volunteer.

I’ve decided to do my own maths, and after hunting round for up to date age structure information, have decided to go with a near approximation. Roughly 20% of the population of the UK are under 18... so when the Covidvax page says 80% of the population have been vaccinated, that would basically be every adult.

We know that won’t happen. He gives projections for when 70% of the population will have one and then two shots - that would be 87.5% of adults. That would be a phenomenal uptake, and even at my most optimistic I don’t think we will quite reach that across the whole age range.

My conclusion is that “every willing adult having received at least one dose” will be no later than the “70% of population having received one dose” date he is currently projecting, which is 14th April.

That seems very soon.... but if the current rate of first dose administration is maintained, that is roughly where we’ll be.

Two things could disrupt it: lack of supply, and the need to give second doses. Nadim Zahawi says we have enough supply.... and the second doses only need to start in the last week of March. They will start at much lower levels than we are doing first doses. Is it totally outrageous to think we might be able to do it? It’s just 9 weeks and 2 days to do another 33 million people... 507,000 per day.

Do you think we can do it?

Just spoken to my GP practice because I think my daughter was unfortunately not properly registered at either her Uni
Gp or her home Gp (all sorted now). The receptionist stated they are texting over 65s now which was a pleasant surprise given my county has been slower getting off the ground due to supply problems and is having massive issues in getting care staff to agree to the vaccination (over 9000 not yet vaccinated).

Im not concerned about getting a mild illness. I think all this press coverage is not helping getting people who were dithering about getting the vaccine.

@Frazzled6

Just spoken to my GP practice because I think my daughter was unfortunately not properly registered at either her Uni Gp or her home Gp (all sorted now). The receptionist stated they are texting over 65s now which was a pleasant surprise given my county has been slower getting off the ground due to supply problems and is having massive issues in getting care staff to agree to the vaccination (over 9000 not yet vaccinated).

Im not concerned about getting a mild illness. I think all this press coverage is not helping getting people who were dithering about getting the vaccine.

That is great news Frazzled. My MIL is anxiously waiting for her vaccine (East London). She is 67 next month but has asthma and is epileptic. Not in the CEV group so waiting for her group i.e over 65s to begin.

Do you think we can do it?

I think capacity is definitely there in terms of venues, vaccinators and transport logistics although supply might depend on how early in spring we see Moderna and J&J kicking in. I don't think we'll be miles behind riding on Oxford and Pfizer alone though.

229,826 additional vaccine doses registered in England yesterday (229,514 1st doses, 312 2nd doses)

27,665 in Scotland
14,540 in Wales
? in Northern Ireland
mobile.twitter.com/HugoGye/status/1358778960843321344

Snowy Sunday numbers

Still more people protected though. We are edging closer to the target. That is what matters

Snowy Sunday numbers

Still more people protected though. We are edging closer to the target. That is what matters

Exactly! The Great British weather might have turned against us for now, but soon temperatures will rise, the snow will melt and we will press on!

I was also thinking this morning how great it is that we’ve already done the eldest (and least mobile) members of society. Now we’re vaccinating people in their 70s and even younger, the bad weather is less of an issue in terms of people getting out to hubs to have their jabs.

Looking forward to 4pm for today’s official total as ever!

Oh yes, really need the positivity today. It's DD's birthday and it feels like such a flop. If it had been mine I would have ignored it completely.

Thanks for the links.
I'll have a look later.

The main point really for me is to find out if there was an unusual spike in healthy people dying.

Did anyone see any?

Workplace vaccinations is a good idea I saw floated in the press. I know a large portion of the workforce are WFH but lots aren't so it would be handy for people to get the jab during their working day.

Happy birthday to your DD WetJan!

It’s a particularly difficult time at the moment, with the freezing cold weather and the news about the SA variant.

I know it’s a cliche, but today I’ve been regularly reminding myself to “keep calm and carry on”. We’re only 20 days away from March now, with the lighter days and warmer weather that will bring - and meanwhile the vaccine rollout continues apace.

Brighter days are not far away - by early March things will be looking much better. Plus another 7.2 million people (approx) will have received their first dose by then, taking us to almost 20 million!

Onwards and upwards!!

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Workplace vaccinations is a good idea I saw floated in the press. I know a large portion of the workforce are WFH but lots aren't so it would be handy for people to get the jab during their working day.

I work on a school and provided the kids are back then at-work would be ideal; it's how we do our flu vaccines.

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum

People have said Pfizer SA data should be out soon 🤷‍♀️

It's out today: www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01270-4

According to Prof Peter Openshaw, an immunologist from Imperial College London, mild forms of the illness meant that the virus was only present in the nose and upper airway, whereas "the disease that we are most fearful of is when it gets down deep into the lungs" and potentially affects other organs of the body.

"I think there is very little doubt these vaccines will prevent that sort of spread of the virus outside the confines of the upper respiratory tract," he told the BBC.

Thanks @Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum - is that quote in reference to Pfizer, AZ or both?

And an update...

12,294,006 people have now received their first dose of vaccine!

It’s the typical lower Monday figure we were expecting - but fantastic that another 280,000 or so people have now had their first jab. I have my sights set on the big 13 now!