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Had my invite, but how can I find out in advance which jab I'll be getting?

268 replies

PerspicaciousGreen · 22/02/2021 13:14

I got one of the new shielding letters last week moving me into group six for vaccines, and had my invite today. I've been offered a choice of two centres: one place a short walk away, one absolutely miles and miles away. Plenty of appointments next week, but no information other than an appointment time to select and an address.

I will only accept certain vaccines due to religious reasons, so I would like to find out what vaccine they are distributing at each centre before I book an appointment. The close one is an ex youth centre and I googled their phone number but no one answered - presumably because the office is closed.

I don't want to waste an appointment by booking and then having to find out it's the wrong one when I get there. I suppose I could walk past it and drop in, but that seems like madness covid-wise.

WWYD?

OP posts:
ARoseDowntown · 22/02/2021 17:15

@SerendipityJane

High five for that post.

hatedbytheDailyMail · 22/02/2021 18:06

would you say the same to a Muslism who did not want to take the vaccine if it had pork in it?

There isn't any pork in it, but I would if it did.

hatedbytheDailyMail · 22/02/2021 18:09

The link someone else shared upthread is a very good summary of official Catholic teaching on vaccines, so I don't think I can really do better than that. I'm not sure what else there is for me to say on the subject?

Official Catholic teaching is that its fine to get this and all other vaccines. So why are you going against official Catholic teaching if you are so religious?

SerendipityJane · 22/02/2021 18:12

@hatedbytheDailyMail

The link someone else shared upthread is a very good summary of official Catholic teaching on vaccines, so I don't think I can really do better than that. I'm not sure what else there is for me to say on the subject?

Official Catholic teaching is that its fine to get this and all other vaccines. So why are you going against official Catholic teaching if you are so religious?

Well you can't afford to take chances with your immortal soul, I guess. After all, once you've broken it, you won't get another.

Presumably the only way that the OP can signal to God their attempts to be a good Catholic is posting here, because God can't read minds, can they ?

islockdownoveryet · 22/02/2021 18:13

@hatedbytheDailyMail

would you say the same to a Muslism who did not want to take the vaccine if it had pork in it?

There isn't any pork in it, but I would if it did.

Yeah I would too .
RoseAndRose · 22/02/2021 18:15

would you say the same to a Muslism who did not want to take the vaccine if it had pork in it?

Depends on what leading imams were saying - and as it doesn't, they are saying 'get vaccinated'

The Pope has said all forms of Covid vaccine are acceptable for Catholics

Inastatus · 22/02/2021 18:21

OP having read your later posts, it appears sounds that you shouldn’t even be in group 6 as you’ve admitted you are v low risk and have only be bumped up the list due to a technicality. I therefore think the right thing for you to do would be to let someone who is truly vulnerable take priority over you rather than worrying about being offered the offending life saving vaccine.

takemetomars · 22/02/2021 18:25

@DishingOutDone

Why don't your call your GP surgery and ask the receptionist if they have any advice on what to do? My friend was worried about which vaccine she'd get so she did as I've suggested her and her GP rang her back to discuss it. Sorted out in a few minutes.
Please don't do that, we don't have time for that in General Practice. We are not here to make people's decisions for them
ChloeCrocodile · 22/02/2021 18:25

So why are you going against official Catholic teaching if you are so religious?

Official Catholic teaching is that you don’t follow rules blindly. You consult your conscience as well as the rules and where there is conflict between the two you have to try to resolve the conflict before coming to a decision.

ChrissyPlummer · 22/02/2021 18:28

Our local one doesn’t know until the date. My DPs had theirs on two weeks ago and had the AZ, DH had his three days after them and had the Pfizer. The staff said they don’t know until it gets delivered on the day which one they’ll get.

takemetomars · 22/02/2021 18:28

@PerspicaciousGreen

Wow, I didn't realise a simple practical question was going to turn into a referendum on my entire life. Thanks to those who have let me know that the centres don't know what they're going to get until the vaccines arrive. I guess I'll just have to book an appointment and hope I get lucky and go home again if not. Shame if I had to waste an appointment someone else could have had, but there you go.

I'm perfectly aware of Catholic teaching on the matter. It's actually not "Hey, man, we're saving lives here, it's all cool." The media almost never reports anything to do with the Pope accurately, fyi, and Catholicism really isn't about just doing everything the Pope does. I really don't want this thread to turn into a pile on of people who don't have the same beliefs about the sanctity of life that I do calling me an idiot.

In brief, the Catholic Church teaches that vaccines are a matter for your individual conscience, and you are to weigh up the bad (e.g. the vaccine's relationship however close or far with abortion) with the good (e.g. the good to society). Quote from link below:

"there is a grave responsibility to use alternative vaccines and to make a conscientious objection with regard to those which have moral problems" - there is an alternative vaccine (Pfizer/Moderna vs AstraZeneca/Oxford), and I would like to exercise my right to have that one, and I'm quite happy to accept some cost to myself to do so.

I am very low risk (apart from one time having very mild GD which has put my in group 6 almost on a technicality), don't work, not planning to go to any football matches or warehouse acid raves in the near future. I totally agree that "like everyone else you are expected to have whatever is there on the day" ... or not have it. I really don't know what you imagine I would do other than just say "Oh well" and go home? Until they send the army round to strap me down and forcibly inject me (JOKE!) I've always got the choice to not have it. I don't expect anyone to a seamless equivalent service to all regardless of religious position wrt available medications , I just (wrongly) assumed that different centres would be allocated different kinds of vaccine and I'd be able to find out in advance. I'm quite happy to personally deal with the consequences of not having it or having to wait.

For those actually interested, I think this link that @RoseAndRose posted above is great: www.immunize.org/talking-about-vaccines/vaticandocument.htm This video is also good, although a little out of date: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeScAapnPGE&ab_channel=BreakingInTheHabit

Anyone who thinks they know more than I do about my own personal beliefs can, I guess, answer their own further questions, as they know so much and official Catholic teaching (in all its nuances) is widely available.

You categorically do NOT have the right to choose what sort of treatment you receive from the NHS and that extends to vaccines. You DO have the right to receive treatment. This is one of the greatest misconceptions from patients regarding what they can expect from the NHS
ChloeCrocodile · 22/02/2021 18:29

Please don't do that, we don't have time for that in General Practice. We are not here to make people's decisions for them

You don’t think that it’s part of your job to ensure that patients are aware of what medication they will be given, if they want that information? That isn’t making someone’s decision for them, either. It is giving them sufficient info to make the decision for themselves - ie the basis of informed consent!

pommedeterre · 22/02/2021 18:31

Wow, that explanation was more entitled. Don't ring, don't book an appointment, don't get the jab. Do not waste an appointment.

Ive said it before, Ill say it again but 'sanctity of life' right now in this pandemic must mean taking the disease seriously (to respect those who have lost their life) and being part of the solution (to respect those whole are alive but have lost their lives as they knew them for various reasons). Anything else right now is bullshit.

MixedUpFiles · 22/02/2021 18:34

PerspicaciousGreen

This is one of the things that frustrates me the most. Now that we have evidence that the vaccine reduces transmission, getting the vaccine is an act of charity. I rejected the actual belief in god part of the church when I was 10, but there were still valuable lessons there. Sometimes you do have to ask what is most important? What action will do the most harm or the most good? Is the measure of a human life judged on a list of rules or a set of intentions?

ChloeCrocodile · 22/02/2021 18:34

You categorically do NOT have the right to choose what sort of treatment you receive from the NHS and that extends to vaccines. You DO have the right to receive treatment. This is one of the greatest misconceptions from patients regarding what they can expect from the NHS

You also have the right to refuse any treatment too, for pretty much any reason you want. And in the massive post you quoted it was clear that the OP understood (and accepted without moaning) that she will deal with the consequences of waiting or not having a vaccine.

Baileysforchristmas · 22/02/2021 18:36

We have never before had a choice of vaccines from the NHS, why now does everyone expect one? I’m sure if there are enough supply of vaccines then yes the NHS will accommodate but don’t expect it, how entitled have we become?

IrmaFayLear · 22/02/2021 18:40

The Mayor of Berlin has said that anyone being fussy over which vaccine they have should be kicked to the bottom of the queue. Barring health problems (eg penicillin allergy) it is the extreme of entitlement.

After all, do you know or care which vaccine you received for other things?

MacDuffsMuff · 22/02/2021 18:45

Please don't do that, we don't have time for that in General Practice. We are not here to make people's decisions for them

@takemetomars
Thankfully, some GPs put their patients first and understand that some may be nervous and scared right now. My MIL was incredibly worried about one aspect of the vaccine and called her GP for some advice. Given than he's her doctor and doesn't consider just consider himself someone who writes prescriptions, he takes a more holistic approach, he was happy to allay her fears and give her the advice she sought.

IrmaFayLear · 22/02/2021 18:48

God, poor GPs. Reminds me of mil who visited the doctor every week to ask such things as whether it was ok to go swimming after hair dye...

Riapia · 22/02/2021 18:49

If it’s for religious reasons prayer might be enough to protect you.
Leave the vaccine for those who need it.

Changedusernamehahaha · 22/02/2021 18:53

Which vaccine is preferred?

RB68 · 22/02/2021 18:56

its also rude to assume no other catholics on here. But frankly the Pope has laid out that Catholics should get the vaccine - if you are against what he has said then frankly have to ask if you are catholic at all.

BettysButtons · 22/02/2021 18:58

@ChloeCrocodile

So why are you going against official Catholic teaching if you are so religious?

Official Catholic teaching is that you don’t follow rules blindly. You consult your conscience as well as the rules and where there is conflict between the two you have to try to resolve the conflict before coming to a decision.

Hmm... I guess everyone is free to 'consult their conscience' and pick and choose which parts of the doctrine they wish to follow...
BettysButtons · 22/02/2021 19:02

@RB68

its also rude to assume no other catholics on here. But frankly the Pope has laid out that Catholics should get the vaccine - if you are against what he has said then frankly have to ask if you are catholic at all.
'Inoculations produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which both used a cell line derived from an aborted foetus to test their vaccines, were preferable to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which used such cells in the design, development, production and testing stages'

See my post above for the Catholic Church's view ... Mon 22-Feb-21 16:15:09

BettysButtons · 22/02/2021 19:03

@Changedusernamehahaha

Which vaccine is preferred?
Wrong quote again! Sorry!

'Inoculations produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which both used a cell line derived from an aborted foetus to test their vaccines, were preferable to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which used such cells in the design, development, production and testing stages'

See my post above for the Catholic Church's view ... Mon 22-Feb-21 16:15:09