The vulnerable have not been vaccinated

[Icytundra]

I keep reading on here and in various other sources that the vulnerable have been vaccinated.

This is just not true. Very few have received 2 doses.

Some, like me, are yet to have the opportunity to book their first, yet are expected to teach face to face lessons in 2 weeks time.

The vulnerable have not been vaccinated.

@lampygirl

The GP step seems to be a massive hold up for group 6 which is the bulk of the most at risk of catching it in my eyes, as they are likely to be working age and working full time plus parents of school aged kids alongside a medical condition that puts them at risk. It's roulette my GP surgery is awful for any sort of communication and service, basically by not answering the phone and not providing an e-mail address. The young but CV people are probably the most able to travel to vaccine hubs etc but it seems can't use that service and instead have to wait for the antiquated GP service to get down a list while trying to vaccinate people and deal with the usual GP visitors they already can't cope with on a normal day.

Yes, this is the case in my area. I’m group 6 and was told today that they won’t be starting group 6 ‘ for a few weeks ‘. We are also unable to book through the website as that is reserved for group 5 right now. This is Trafford council. It’s awful as we keep hearing the vulnerable will be vaccinated by the time the schools are back. Maybe some but a lot of us won’t.

@Thimbleberries

Can the 119 booking service help at all? You might at least get to talk to someone to explain.

They say GPS are responsible for group 6.

Yes but I assumed that poster was talking about someone in group 4, as she was concerned that he had not been vaccinated yet. Lots of group 6 hasn't been, as they are only just starting on them in most places. Some group 7-9 have been vaccinated at hubs in areas where GPs are still on Group 6, but that's to be expected.
But someone who is extremely vulnerable and in group 4 really should be able to get the vaccine somehow (also for all over 70s) and it's shocking to hear that they simply can't.

@Thimbleberries

Cant see why Norfolk people should be told to go to Brighton! Madness. There's plenty of capacity in the larger cities/towns in the east, where people are booking easily for the next day at Superdrug, shopping centres, community areas, etc. Still not ideal for the rural areas, for sure, but a hell of a lot closer than Brighton!

I know, crazy! Needless to say, it made various newspapers (not just local)

www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/health/norfolk-patients-offered-covid-jabs-in-brighton-7563090

Phlebas...sounds very similar to us! Not a Superdrug (or bus!) for miles around.

well there's one in Cambridge that usually has next-day appointments (not Norfolk, obviously, but not Brighton, either...!). And likely closer ones too. You wonder what's wrong with the booking system if it can't work out distances in nearby counties rather than just sticking to county boundaries or something.

I'm in Norfolk and was offered a range of dates and times in Norfolk. Same for all my colleagues. I travelled 16 miles which was the greatest distance any of us at work had to go for our vaccine. This was 2 days ago. There ARE vaccines here and the vaccine centre had free, unused slots. It seems quite poorly organised if my neighbours are being sent to Brighton.

You ask how people know what group they are in. It's not speculation. It's facts. Our local Facebook group is a hive of info, from volunteers at the vaccination centre, our MP, nurses, all sorts!

Also, I spoke to our GP weeks ago about Dh and got him an appointment the next day. He told me that they were already doing Group 6 &7 and had most arranged already, and would be moving onto Group 8 shortly, hopefully within 2 weeks. That was before Valentine's Day. In Surrey our local vaccination center has been superb, so well organised. No wonder we are way ahead.

Friends within miles in both directions, theirs is a shambles and they are behind.

There seems no logic to it, other than postcode lottery!

Group 6 isn't facts, though. There is some openness to GP interpretation. That is unique to group 6.

Ds and I are group 6. Our GP has no vaccine at all this week, they don't know if they'll get any next week, and are still on group 5.
Everyone I know in the earlier groups (including my parents) insisted on going to GP instead of big local hub 20 minutes away, even though they could quite easily do so.
So no chance of being covered when dd is meant to go back to school.
It's extremely frustrating to hear so many people say all the vulnerable groups have been done!

Same here still on group 5 and not getting vaccine as expected. Frustratingly an area not that far away is on group 7. So frustrating.
With Government lifting restrictions surely all group 6 should be done and vaccines sent to areas not yet doing it or people to be allowed to book online.

@RhubarbCrumbling

Same here still on group 5 and not getting vaccine as expected. Frustratingly an area not that far away is on group 7. So frustrating. With Government lifting restrictions surely all group 6 should be done and vaccines sent to areas not yet doing it or people to be allowed to book online.

I just spoke to the online booking for advice. Apparently if the gps are the only ones who will be dealing with group 6. Letters for centralised vaccination centres will just go out on age criteria. At this rate I will probably be vaccinated along with group 9 ( my age group criteria). It’s incredibly frustrating and leaving many people vulnerable as schools reopen.

This happened with flu jab too . DH got done for being over 50 before they had caught up with him as CV! Mainly because they were locked in a dispute with him over eligibility and then realised he was old

As a trial, in parts of Hampshire and IoW, people who qualify can now attend, for the next 7 days, certain centres without an appointment. Maybe they have doses to use up and not enough appointments booked to use them. I don't know if other regions have anything similar.

www.solent.nhs.uk/our-stories/news/posts/2021/february/large-scale-vaccination-centres-across-hampshire-and-isle-of-wight-to-trial-walk-in-appointment/

I have asthma and I am obese but not obese enough. I am also an unpaid care but stupidly never applied for DLA as turned down before. Also over 50. I feel pretty vulnerable but have to wait for over 50s. God knows when as my ECV was only done a week ago. He was only done thsn as he didn't wait for letter to book. Out GP won't even discuss it apparently as there is a. If sign up telling you not to contact them.