Spare vaccines going in the bin

[FlamingGreatGalaahs]

My friend works in a GP surgery & says that because so many older people are refusing their vaccines (1 in 4 apparently) that lots are going to waste.

Why the hell are they not giving them to teachers so we can get schools back open?!

Am I missing something here?!

My GP & others in the area have asked teachers to come forwards to be added to their spare vaccine wait list. Also police officers, carers of the vulnerable & front line staff not yet vaccinated.. all 3 doctors in my village are working together to run these lists & volunteers are the ones doing the calls re-spare vaccines. They put out a Facebook post each week into the local community group with updates. It’s fab. Very little wasted thankfully!

Uptake has been reasonable as well. National data suggests uptake isn’t that bad, I’d be wary of ‘my friend said this’ stuff you read online.

That sounds rather sensationalised. The actual statistics and figures paint a very different picture, as do my own personal experiences.
I work in a gp surgery and we’ve yet to waste a single vaccine. We have a very high uptake from everyone we’ve invited and we have a go-to list of patients who are able to be at the surgery at short notice from the same/next group down in the event of no shows.

none are wasted at our hub either- i volunteer.
Yes we have reserve list- we have never got to the end of it yet.

Everybody there volunteering knows people who can get there at the end of a session at the drop of a hat. not many left over, most days out take up is 100%

@Tallybeebloom

Because the only reason schools are shut is to protect the work shy teachers who are refusing to work out of fear of catching the virus. We all know that schools are a bubble where the virus doesn't spread but if it does it only spreads to teachers and children and certainly not the community.

This is a joke, right?

No it is definitely true

Perhaps the surgery/mass vaccination centres should have a back up list - eg by 1 hour prior to close if x number available they pop a link up for people to book a slot so the vaccine is not thrown away.

In hospitals they send a message around the staff to say free slots and staff can nip in and have the vaccine so they don't waste them. Similar scheme could be implemented.

It is a dreadful shame to throw away especially since there are people who want this vaccine due to job etc and are not in priority groups.

@Jessbow

none are wasted at our hub either- i volunteer. Yes we have reserve list- we have never got to the end of it yet.

Everybody there volunteering knows people who can get there at the end of a session at the drop of a hat. not many left over, most days out take up is 100%

Ah, just seen this post - that is reassuring - perhaps it's just the GP surgeries that throw it away then?

91% of over 80s
95% of those aged 75-79*
almost three-quarters of those aged 70-74*

This. Uptake has been stunningly high so far.

As someone's already said, that doesn't fit at all with the figures of over 90% take up from the other day. This sounds like someone trying to stir up trouble. How would someone at one GP surgery get a figure of 1 in 4 refusing anyway? Or do they just mean at their surgery? I'm sure there are some doses unavoidably wasted but this story sounds suspect to me.

This is really shocking. Local teacher aware of this, and stated had discussions re this with local health centre as would take ten minutes for staff to get there, centre stated so much red tape involved were unable to help. Makes no sense, particularly as some police forces are instructing their officers to have all necessary medical info ready so they can take up spare jabs if and when they become available.

Can't believe police and teachers aren't being vaccinated as a matter of course anyway.

My MIL was called to the surgery to have a spare vaccine. She lives very close by so was there within a couple of minutes. Makes sense to do that rather than waste it.

Your friend eh isn't against her employment contract to gossip to friends about patients etc ?

You get offered an appointment then you accept. If you are going to refuse you do at that point. The Oxford one is only in bottles of 10 so they can’t be wasting 25% every time.

I live 1 minute's walk from my GP surgery and would gladly go on a standby list. I'm WFH as the chances of me not being home if they called are very small. I wonder if it's worth letting them know?

I work for the police. We get phone calls from places over our force area for left over vaccines. "Weve got ten, at X location, youve got 30 minutes, go!" Sort of scenario. Amazed to see not all the police forces accepted the scheme though!

'My friend said ...'
'I have it on good authority ...'
'In the Daily Mail they said ...'

@Ruddyfedup

I work for the police. We get phone calls from places over our force area for left over vaccines. "Weve got ten, at X location, youve got 30 minutes, go!" Sort of scenario. Amazed to see not all the police forces accepted the scheme though!

Same for mine. The vaccine centre is very close to a police station, fire station, and other stations are within a 20-30 minute drive. They make contact towards the end of the day with the amount of vaccines they have left over that are due to be disposed of.

@LApprentiSorcier

I live 1 minute's walk from my GP surgery and would gladly go on a standby list. I'm WFH as the chances of me not being home if they called are very small. I wonder if it's worth letting them know?

God no. Unless you’re a priority group.

Can you imagine the volume of calls of everyone did this?

@Lovemusic33

It’s shocking.

I have contacted my gp asking for the vaccine, I am a self employed support worker currently working with a client where I can’t wear PPE, because I’m self employed I haven’t been put forward for the vaccine, my emails have been ignored and no one has contacted me. I am a couple miles from the nearest vaccination centre so could be there in 5 minutes if there was a left over vaccine.

I think people within a 5 mile radius of the vaccination centres should be allowed to be on some kind of list for call up when there are vaccines left over.

Lovemusic33 as a support worker you should qualify for the care worker category which is within the current cohort being vaccinated. In my county we are vaccinating all care workers including independent and self employed. Worth contacting your local council and checking the process for getting on the list as a care worker in your area

God no. Unless you’re a priority group. Can you imagine the volume of calls of everyone did this?

No, not a priority group. I was thinking more of popping a note in when I next need a repeat prescription. I certainly wouldn't call, it's taking about an hour to get through if you need to book an appointment.

Well I just called my gp to tell them I'm a self employed carer and was basically told "tough shit", apparently they are not vaccinating self employed carers and I have been advised to try a mass vaccination site (we don't have one).

Maybe ask your friend why they don't have lists ready of people who are eligible and able to attend at short notice. The head of the NHS said that is what they are supposed to do.

My GP surgery has a short notice list. I have some underlying health issue. I got mine on Monday through the spare system. So they aren't all being thrown away.

I think what you've made the mistake of doing is assuming what happens in one practice happens all over the country.

Equally there's been loads of thread with people bitching about who has or has not got a vaccine via the spare system. Who is or is not worthy. So perhaps practices are too worried about this backlash? There will be somone saying why teachers why not police or supermarket workers. So they can't win really.

My friend who works in a gp's surgery said this didn't happen.

I’m part of a Disabled persons Organisation who have been working on this issue as at the start it was unclear. This is a quote from them. They forwarded the information to the Disabilities team at the council.

We have been informed by NHS England that ALL of your PA’s /Carers are entitled to a free COVID Vaccine in the next few weeks.

Please could you provide the below requested information from your PA (Personal Assistant) /Carer by return email to us ?

Please provide this information for each of your PA’s/Carers if you have more than one

Please also request consent from your PA/Carer to share the below requested information with the NHS

Name of PA/Carer:

Mobile/ Telephone number of PA/Carer:

A member of the NHS team will be in contact to make further arrangements/ appointment regarding the Vaccination itself.

Please note- If you are using a care agency/ Carer they will need to contact their employer eg: the care agency who should be assisting with their vaccination process.

I believe the OP's basis for data is plain wrong. I also suspect that this is 'fake news'. I suspect that this fake information is being shared online to actively discourage people from taking the vaccine.

This article states very different data.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55952189