So much for ‘protect the NHS’

[littlelionboss]

This is a ranty post & I apologise.

I’m really starting to get pissed off with the vaccine situation.

My area are now onto vaccinating the over 40’s!!!

I’ve got family & friends that have been called for theirs... fit, healthy, no underlying health conditions.

I’m early 30’s two health conditions and I’m in group 6 for the vaccine.

I can’t book online and when I’ve spoken to my GP (today) they’ve just said I will have to wait for them to contact me.

My sister in law has been given hers on the basis that she’s a carer.
She “cares” for her husband who has a bad back.
A back so bad that over the summer he’s completely transformed his back garden, alone!

It just really doesn’t seem fair at all.

I have a small child and I’m a single parent, surely I should be vaccinated as a carer?!

I know we are all entitled to the vaccine, but hasn’t the point all along beeb to protect the NHS?!

How are we protecting them by jumping ahead to the fit and healthy and leaving the vulnerable ones behind?!

If you go to your local vaccination centre, you can ask to have your name put down on the list for spare vaccines. Every day there are left over vaccines and most vaccination centres have a list of people to call so that they don't go to waste

Firstly, we are so lucky to be able to say that we have a diagnosis, and that we have been in hospital for some illness or another. We are the privileged few in this world. We WILL all get vaccinated. It is suggested that the Yemen will simply be overrun and cease to be a country. Years of civil war has destroyed their healthcare infrastructure, killed most of its citizens, and many of the professionals. This is not a "it could be worse" post, this is to highlight that having a functioning infrastructure of any sort that will get to us all soon is a thing to be celebrated too!

Secondly, I have underlying cardiac issues, and am a front-facing NHS worker. I stood back until all the ward-base and ICU workers were done.

I think it is appalling that the first people to be vaccinated were the elderly and not BAME front-line workers. Every day in our hospital bulletins we have been mourning the loss of yet another worker of colour. There are so few of them to vaccinate, I thought - get it done!!!!. But actually they were given vaccination #1 pretty swiftly and without the publicity, and my GP sorted me out a week ago. Tom Jones on the other hand had his second jab in early January (ref. Radio 2). NHS workers in my trust weren't even being offered then.

We have an infrastructure that works reasonably well for the greater good. We have MILLIONS to vaccinate - twice! We will all, thankfully get protected, and our system is doing a lot better than any other. In the meanwhile we need to do what was happening before we were lucky enough to get a vaccine. Thank the gods this is not Ebola.

@tiredmum2468

Hi *@littlelionboss*

I feel your pain

I'm an nhs worker but have had mine - I physically work in the hospital but all employees including administration staff who've worked from home for the last year have had it too it doesn't seem very fair somehow

My brother and one of our cousins are Both police officers, one is 34 and one is 37 and they're not prioritised the same as teachers aren't either.

I presume these admin staff will be coming back to work at some point in the not-so-distant future?

Group 5 (65-69) and Group 6 only started officially to be done in the last week or so, so that's not unusual for people not to have heard in those groups. Supply has been limited the past two weeks too. Some areas are ahead, if they have fewer numbers in those groups, but it's still well within guidelines to be on groups 5 and 6, even if group 7 can book as well in some hubs to make sure no appointments are wasted. Group 6 in particular will be taking a long time, done at the GPs. At my surgery they are working through group 6 in age order, and they stress that they haven't contacted many people yet, and just wait. They will, by mid-april.

group 4 is another story, and that's really shocking if they are not being done soon and they won't let you book at a further away site. The phone line says all group 4s should get appointments, should have by 10 days ago really, and it's appalling if they haven't been allowed to book at the more distant centres if their GP doesn't have supplies.

For those booking through GPs, the supply has been patchy and unpredictable - but once they know what they are getting and when, I found that the appointments were then booked very quickly. the just couldn't put the dates out until they knew for sure. The appointments were as fast as those who booked in other groups on the national site for times later on - those places were just able to book more people for more dates in the future, as they knew more about their supplies.

Look, people, you are GETTING THE JAB !!!

Just be grateful and relieved. Whaddayawant? Someone coming round to your house with the syringe on a velvet cushion?

Vaccinating millions of people is a Herculean task, and one that is being organised and delivered at speed. It makes me really angry to read these moaning, selfish, frankly pathetic posts.

You deserve a jab in your arses... preferably containing a gratitude and humility serum.

A few PPs have mentioned “gloating” on social media as a reason for their anger, I just wanted to say it’s not gloating, it’s advertising and reassuring! I’ve had mine, as an NHS volunteer, I was asked by 3 separate people at the hub to tell everyone I know that I’d had it, to show that it’s safe and I’m still alive.Half my family are Asian, and the uptake hasn’t been as good in certain so vaccinated people are being asked to shout far and wide, it’s not about making everyone else jealous!

• certain ethnic groups

@IrmaFayLear

Look, people, you are GETTING THE JAB !!!

Just be grateful and relieved. Whaddayawant? Someone coming round to your house with the syringe on a velvet cushion?

Vaccinating millions of people is a Herculean task, and one that is being organised and delivered at speed. It makes me really angry to read these moaning, selfish, frankly pathetic posts.

You deserve a jab in your arses... preferably containing a gratitude and humility serum.

Perfectly put.

The only way it could be "fair" for some people is if everyone stood in a giant circle of c50m people with a syringe each and on the count of three you jab the person in front of you.

Even then people would be complaining that the person in front of/behind them had done something unforgiveable (such as wearing strong perfume) and could they please be moved to a different part of the circle.

All this "but what about meeeeeee?" is pathetic.

I get that people are worried and anxious, and I get that some people have conditions that make them more vulnerable but as @IrmaFayLear says, you are getting the jab in the near future so stop worrying about being left out.

You might not think that having ME/CFS in and of itself puts me at increased risk, but can I point out info from the ME Association that suggests otherwise? I think we should be in group 6 along with other clinically vulnerable.

New infections are probably the commonest cause of exacerbation or relapse of ME/CFS – as noted in section 3.3.2 of the Chief Medical Officer’s Working Group Report on ME/CFS: meassociation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CMO-Report-2002.pdf^

@catsarecute When I said 'puts you at increased risk' I mean puts you at increased risk of death from Coronavirus than the average person. That's what we're talking about when we're talking about who is getting the vaccine first, based on their risk of death as a result of the virus.

You might feel rougher than the average person after Corona because you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but you are not at increased risk of it killing you. Because there's no impairment to your internal organs etc from CFS itself.

All this "but what about meeeeeee?" is pathetic.

@SparkysMagicPiano I agree. And by and large, people who are genuinely at increased risk of death from Coronavirus (or who work in healthcare roles, paid or unpaid) are being done first. But we all know people who always have to try and portray themselves as the illest of the ill. Some of them don't have much wrong with them at all. Having a protocol that's based on clinical vulnerability exposes that and risks bursting their bubble.

Definitely go on a spare injection list. I'm a carer and have my vaccination booked for Tuesday, DH went on a list and had a call at 5.30 last night to say there were spares. He hopped in the car and had a vaccination. There were 5 injections left over apparently which would have had to have been wasted if not used by 7pm.

We could suspend all vaccinations until a list is drawn up in strict order of vulnerability and fairness, and then start again once this has been done.

Or we could carry on as we are, vaccinating upwards of 2.5m people a week and get every adult jabbed with a first dose.

What's likely to happen first?

But we all know people who always have to try and portray themselves as the illest of the ill.

Agreed @SoulofanAggron a colleague questioned why I was given the vaccine as she believed that she was more at risk than me. I just finished cancer treatment, she gets migraines (which I know are awful), but it seemed a bit unkind to begrudge me the vaccine, and boy did she resent me for it, on that basis.

I agree that an official list does unmask those (not all) who are not as ill as all that. I have seen a fair few posters trumpeting that they are cev and shielding yada yada, but, er, actually, have no letter. As someone who received practically the first text of doom and many letters from Matt Hancock et al, I can tell you that I do not relish my group 4 position! We can swap conditions if you like if you want a priority supermarket slot and a jab a couple of weeks earlier.

And, as @SoulofanAggron says, it’s about risk of poor outcome from covid not particular ailments.

Anyway, they’re on to general population by age about now so my “priority jab” was only a few weeks earlier than anyone else.

The posters saying things are a mess should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

@SoulofanAggron

You might not think that having ME/CFS in and of itself puts me at increased risk, but can I point out info from the ME Association that suggests otherwise? I think we should be in group 6 along with other clinically vulnerable.

New infections are probably the commonest cause of exacerbation or relapse of ME/CFS – as noted in section 3.3.2 of the Chief Medical Officer’s Working Group Report on ME/CFS: meassociation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/CMO-Report-2002.pdf^

@catsarecute When I said 'puts you at increased risk' I mean puts you at increased risk of death from Coronavirus than the average person. That's what we're talking about when we're talking about who is getting the vaccine first, based on their risk of death as a result of the virus.

You might feel rougher than the average person after Corona because you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but you are not at increased risk of it killing you. Because there's no impairment to your internal organs etc from CFS itself.

Rougher is somewhat of an understatement!

The JCVI guidelines state that the qualifying underlying conditions are where there is a greater risk of mortality or serious disease from Covid.

DD(19) has had ME for 5 years and has spent the past 10 months bedbound since getting Covid, and she's now on heart medication with a new incurable condition (POTS). Her consultant cardiologist has advised her to shield because further infection will seriously jeopardise her chances of making any recovery.

Yet, according to the GP she's not at increased risk of anything and has to wait until the end of July for her vaccine. Meanwhile DS will be going to school and risks bringing it home up like he did last year.

DD(19) has had ME for 5 years and has spent the past 10 months bedbound since getting Covid, and she's now on heart medication with a new incurable condition (POTS). Her consultant cardiologist has advised her to shield because further infection will seriously jeopardise her chances of making any recovery.

If the consultant cardiologist has advised that she shields then this would put her in group 6 (at least). Have they not written a letter to the GP about it? You need to contact the GP about this.

So, 20 million people have been done. Getting close to a third of the population. That's pretty good.

@BonnesVacances POTS simply means people have a rapid heartbeat when they stand up. It's not endangering, thankfully, though it can be unpleasant to live with. I hope your daughter recovers from her CFS soon. xx

If the consultant cardiologist has advised that she shields then this would put her in group 6 (at least)

@Belladonna12 What the PP has said is the consultant has said if she gets COVID it might hinder her recovery from POTS/CFS. She is not being advised to shield because she's at increased risk of dying of COVID (which is what's deciding whether people are in group 6.) Her risk of dying from COVID will be the same as any other woman her age.

The consultant has advised her to shield as COVID might not be good for her in terms of her pre-existing condition of fatigue with no underlying physical condition improving as quickly as it otherwise would.

I understand that she's developed POTS and that can be uncomfortable. And that COVID might mean she continues sometimes having that rapid heartbeat when she stands sometimes.

It still doesn't mean she has an increased risk of mortality from COVID though, thank goodness.

@BonnesVacances

Sorry you're having such a tough battle for your DD.

My DD has EDS, POTS, CFS and other conditions.

She's 17 and was called in for the vaccine two weeks ago.

And for the poster who said POTS just caused an increased heart rate... you might need to delve a bit deeper... that's one of the key symptoms but there's much more to it than that, sadly,

@SoulofanAggron

I understand that she's developed POTS and that can be uncomfortable. And that COVID might mean she continues sometimes having that rapid heartbeat when she stands sometimes.

It still doesn't mean she has an increased risk of mortality from COVID though, thank goodness.

Hi @SoulofanAggron

My DD has EDS, CFS, PoTs, oesophagus constrictions, gastro problems, Bowel obstructions plus more.

The PoTS and CFS actually cause her most of her day to day debilitations. To hear you say PoTS is 'uncomfortable' actually makes me have a physical reaction to reading your post.

My DDs POTS has caused extra measures
with anaesthetics. She faints 10+ daily. At 17, can't lock the door when having a shower so we can get to her. Has visual disturbances. Can't get her words out.

'Long COVID' is now being likened / linked to POTS.

"Uncomfortable"??? You have no idea.

@SoulofanAggron

I understand that she's developed POTS and that can be uncomfortable. And that COVID might mean she continues sometimes having that rapid heartbeat when she stands sometimes.

It still doesn't mean she has an increased risk of mortality from COVID though, thank goodness.

I literally quoted the JCVI guidelines that state group 6 is for where there is increased risk of mortality or morbidity. Why are people still banging on about just whether people are going to die if they catch Covid? Is it because they don't understand what morbidity means?

Interesting to know that some folks feel that being confined to bed for the rest of her life is just an inconvenience. It does give me some insight into how the GP is viewing it though.

Strange how dispassionate people can be about someone's quality of life. When there are threads and threads on MN about how much people are struggling with lockdown and how vital is is for their DC to go back to school ASAP, to actually think that 5 years of lockdown life from the age of 14 and that priority for a vaccine to reduce the risk of having to doing that forever is not reason to be in group 6.

@SoulofanAggron

If the consultant cardiologist has advised that she shields then this would put her in group 6 (at least)

@Belladonna12 What the PP has said is the consultant has said if she gets COVID it might hinder her recovery from POTS/CFS. She is not being advised to shield because she's at increased risk of dying of COVID (which is what's deciding whether people are in group 6.) Her risk of dying from COVID will be the same as any other woman her age.

The consultant has advised her to shield as COVID might not be good for her in terms of her pre-existing condition of fatigue with no underlying physical condition improving as quickly as it otherwise would.

The consultant has said that if she gets Covid she may never recover. This means being bedbound for the rest of her life. Is that what you mean by "uncomfortable"?

@Belladonna12

DD(19) has had ME for 5 years and has spent the past 10 months bedbound since getting Covid, and she's now on heart medication with a new incurable condition (POTS). Her consultant cardiologist has advised her to shield because further infection will seriously jeopardise her chances of making any recovery.

If the consultant cardiologist has advised that she shields then this would put her in group 6 (at least). Have they not written a letter to the GP about it? You need to contact the GP about this.

Yes, we have contacted the GP several times, including giving them a copy of the consultant's shielding letter. They know she had Covid last year as they are the ones who told her she has Long Covid. And they know that her health deteriorated to the extent that she's been in bed since May 2020. This is all on her medical history, but they are still saying No.

Consultants can add people to the shielding list, if they’ve said she needs to shield I would give the secretary a ring as they need to add her to the list and she’ll be in group 4