Should I say I’m a carer and CEV for the vaccine?!

[rosegoldsaber]

I’m group 6 (underlying health conditions)

This is on my medical records, I spoke to the Dr yesterday who confirmed but couldn’t give me a timescale for when Id get my vaccine.

I’m due back to work in 3 weeks (on mat leave) and I work in a school.
I’m anxious about going back without the vaccine.

To date, 3 people I know have now has their vaccines but don’t qualify!
Two are 30 and 36 and the other 43!

I’ve tried to book online and it won’t allow me.
The only way it lets me get as far as booking an appointment is if I say I’m a carer and CEV!

I’m not trying to jump the que, I am eligible but it just seems that group 6 is a big mess and I’m totally fed up that people who aren’t even eligible have had theirs.

I really don’t want to go back to work without a vaccine.

What will happen if I book online and show up.
Will they turn me away?

To all those saying group 6 can't book through the ventral system, I'm in receipt of carer's allowance and booked on the central system. I didn't have to answer any questions it just took me straight through. I am on the GP system though as a CA person. Does that make a difference? Will be turned away even though I'm eligible, booked online with no problems and have proof of carer's allowance?
Also the central system is very clear in this regard I think

@Brunilde

I work in a GP surgery and cannot explain the number of people calling up who think they are more important and more at risk than everyone else in the same group. Just wait your turn and don't waste anymore of their time calling and mithering. There are thousands of people the surgery have to book in. Not everyone can be done on day one and all the unnecessary calls are causing it to take longer.

@Brunilde

Okay well I don’t think I’m more important that anyone else in group 6. That’s not what I’m saying.

I’m just very anxious about going back to work being vulnerable.

@OhWifey

To all those saying group 6 can't book through the ventral system, I'm in receipt of carer's allowance and booked on the central system. I didn't have to answer any questions it just took me straight through. I am on the GP system though as a CA person. Does that make a difference? Will be turned away even though I'm eligible, booked online with no problems and have proof of carer's allowance? Also the central system is very clear in this regard I think

No you’ll be fine they have added people in receipt of carers allowance onto the central system.

Lots of people have mentioned that carers are the one group in group 6 who have access to the national booking system. There are specific questions for them.

Those in group with medical conditions, who are the majority cannot access it, unless their age allows them to access it.

Yes, I guess it is quite likely that someone who is in their 50s might be able to book using the national system based on age before they get called as Group 6. Whether this will also apply to those under 50 is difficult to tell. I think they hope to be through group 6 by the time they get to age 50, but in some areas they will probably be onto the 40s (assuming the priorities are still age based after JCVE groups 1-9) whilst the last group 6 are covered.

I’m group 6 too, i’m wfh but I ’m not particularly concerned about my kids being in school etc. I haven’t had my jab yet even though I have friends in other areas who have, that’s just the way it is, we all just have to wait our turn

These people you know have been given the vaccine for a reason. You can't possibly say that you know for definite that they're not eligible, even if they've told you they don't know why they've got it earlier than they expected.

Maybe they preferred to tell you they don't know why, rather than explaining to you the reason they're eligible. You're very likely to be wrong in your belief that they are not eligible.

@WombatChocolate

Lots of people have mentioned that carers are the one group in group 6 who have access to the national booking system. There are specific questions for them.

Those in group with medical conditions, who are the majority cannot access it, unless their age allows them to access it.

Yes, I guess it is quite likely that someone who is in their 50s might be able to book using the national system based on age before they get called as Group 6. Whether this will also apply to those under 50 is difficult to tell. I think they hope to be through group 6 by the time they get to age 50, but in some areas they will probably be onto the 40s (assuming the priorities are still age based after JCVE groups 1-9) whilst the last group 6 are covered.

That seems so wrong though, the point of group 6 is that people in group 6 are more vulnerable than their age alone would predict so should have priority over those in the lower age groups.

It really shouldn't be that hard for GPs to upload the NHS numbers of those they have marked as group 6 onto the central system.

Can people be an unpaid carer to an elderly married person? Or does that make you not the main carer?

Thanks for your very full explanation Wombat. In our area, GPs are vaccinating group 6, while group 5 must book through the central system, and aren't elligible for local apponitments at all. Group 6 contains 7.3 million people, so is by far the biggest group so far. It contains people with very varying risk factors. Logically, the only rationale for doing them solely via GPs would be so they could be triaged, with the most vulnerable being invited first. I don't think much triaging is going on, perhaps only on age grounds, so agree with those saying they should be able to go to mass vaccination centres. However it may be that the computer systems can't cope with anything other than differentiating by age. It doesn't take much programming to set a flag against a person's record to say that they have been identified as a group 6 person by their GP, but UK medical computer systems have been behind the curve for decades.

@DavidsSchitt

"Yes they will turn you away"

Who will?

The people manning the vaccination centres. Car park attendants/people on the door.

@OhWifey

To all those saying group 6 can't book through the ventral system, I'm in receipt of carer's allowance and booked on the central system. I didn't have to answer any questions it just took me straight through. I am on the GP system though as a CA person. Does that make a difference? Will be turned away even though I'm eligible, booked online with no problems and have proof of carer's allowance? Also the central system is very clear in this regard I think

People with carers allowance can book as they have proof. Other carers without carers allowance or those with medical reasons have to book via GP

@HSHorror

Can people be an unpaid carer to an elderly married person? Or does that make you not the main carer?

Yes you can. My husband is for his mother. Partly to give his father some respite and partly because his father is getting frailer as he gets older so can’t do everything.

Quality, that's good that Group 5 have to use the national booking system and then presumably mostly go to the larger vaccination centres.

Here GPs are local hubs are doing Group 6, but Group 5 don't have to respond to the age-group invite and locations offered on the central booking system, but can choose to wait and go more local to the hubs. I can see why lots do wait, but the issue is that it then takes longer to get through Group 6.

I agree that Group 6 were given to GPs for triage purposes (it was justified as GPs having an ongoing relationship with those patients) but as you say, not much triage is going on apart from working through age groups within Group 6 and given that patients are explicitly told not to make any contact with the GP surgery and the vaccines aren't carried out there or by their staff, so the continuity of care argument doesn't really work. I guess it has been a way of managing in an ongoing basis who is in Group 6 and we know people have been added and removed from lists and it's an ongoing thing. GPs have been able to do that whereas a central system couldn't do that or make those choices.

Not sure it's the most efficient system but I'm sure lots of thought went into it and there's loads of stuff we don't see and reasoning which probably does make sense. They had to find a way to feed people to both the mass centres and the local hubs and splitting them into largely age groups and clinical groups was one way to do that and there was some logic behind it. Operationally it might not be the most efficient.

Once group 6 are all done, and it's just the rest of the population I guess some will go to mass centres and some to local hubs. Perhaps 2 groups will again be formed....maybe prioritised occupations, if they go for that, and age groups elsewhere, or maybe it will be more random. Who knows?

@OhWifey

To all those saying group 6 can't book through the ventral system, I'm in receipt of carer's allowance and booked on the central system. I didn't have to answer any questions it just took me straight through. I am on the GP system though as a CA person. Does that make a difference? Will be turned away even though I'm eligible, booked online with no problems and have proof of carer's allowance? Also the central system is very clear in this regard I think

Yes, it’s the fact you get Carers Allowance that allows you to book. Unpaid carers who don’t get it have to register and fill in a form at their GP & wait to be called that way.

Thanks comefrom.

My sibling liives abroad so theres only me if they need anything.

A heads up to anyone booking and going as a carer, even with carers allowance proof some people are being turned away. It seems to be a lottery as to whether the centre staff are clued up as to carers also now being officially in group 6.
I have mine tomorrow and I’m anxious.

If you were to become ill with Covid would their welfare be at risk?

In my husbands case if he were to become ill social services would have to step in to support his parents or his mother be taken into a home. Hence he is a carer.

Personally, for non-vulnerable groups who are under 60, I would only offer the mass sites and just tell people they need to go there, as some of those centres are us RE capacity and it would allow local hubs to deal with the vulnerable faster.

This, and let Group 6 book at mass sites. Group 7 is now booking and it’s much smaller than Group 6 - at this rate they’ll have got through all the priority groups 1-9, and Group 6 will still not all be booked. My friends and I are mainly in Groups 5 & 7 and have made a point of booking at the mass hubs in order to free up space at the smaller centres (that and the chance for a drive out!)

A few friends have had who are my age (50s) with no underlying conditions. I have type 1 diabetes and have not been contacted. It depends where you are and the make up of that population. Wait your turn - the official NHS site does not include group six as being able to book - it says to wait until you are contacted.

I'm expecting DH will get called in group 9 before he gets called in group 6.

@DavidsSchitt

"Yes they will turn you away"

Who will?

The people at the vaccine centre will turn people away of they are not eligible- I saw it happen to two people this morning. Not sure how they even got appointments when they weren't eligible yet though 🤷🏻‍♀️

@OhWifey

To all those saying group 6 can't book through the ventral system, I'm in receipt of carer's allowance and booked on the central system. I didn't have to answer any questions it just took me straight through. I am on the GP system though as a CA person. Does that make a difference? Will be turned away even though I'm eligible, booked online with no problems and have proof of carer's allowance? Also the central system is very clear in this regard I think

No. If you are in receipt of CA, then the central system will have picked you up as a Carer.

It’s the Carers who don’t or can’t claim CA that seem to be having a problem.

@HSHorror

Can people be an unpaid carer to an elderly married person? Or does that make you not the main carer?

Maybe. People are saying 'if you're a carer....' but the JCVI document says:

Adult carers:
Those who are eligible for a carer’s allowance, or those who are the sole or primary carer of an elderly or disabled person who is at increased risk of COVID-19 mortality and therefore clinically vulnerable.

To get carers allowance, you need to provide 35 hours of care per week. You can claim to be the 'carer' for a person if you aren't the primary carer for them.

For example, DH & I both care for DD1. I get carers allowance, so get the jab. DH can't get it because he's not the primary or sole carer.

I also care for DM, but she lives with DF, who is her primary carer, so I couldn't claim on those grounds.

Really interesting because on another thread there were people saying nobody asked any questions and people at vaccination centres were saying they had turned nobody away at all

It's a lottery depending on your GP, my husband and I both care for my daughter, both coded as 6 by the GP, only I get CA but both got our text invite at the same time and got vaccinated.