Over 40s will be called for vaccines this month

[LacyEdge]

Reasons to be cheerful, March edition: According to the Telegraph, aka the Tory intranet, 40s vaccination is a couple of weeks away, and right on target: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/01/over-40s-covid-vaccines-rollout-track-begin-month/ (paywall, but the headline says it all)

Good news for those of us in our prime (cough ahem)

55, severe asthma, carer for terminally ill mother, no sign of mine yet !

Yes, the link to book came from my GP but I'm going to a centre for the jab.

@user1497207191. I hope you're right. I guess it's the new variant that concerns me this time as it spreads a lot easier. I look at a french news site (Le Monde) and they are quite worried about "The English variant" They had it in Dunkirk and said it was spreading 3 x faster. Think they locked Dunkirk down as a result.
Let's hope the testing in schools and more mask wearing helps and that we get our vax soon

The things slowing it now are people not going on and booking and people deciding they don't want the locations offered by the national site

I had a look on the site for a relative - she's being offered a vaccination in SE London when she's in West Herts. She lives

Pamdemic, but how did you get on to the NHS website when it says over 60’s only.

As pp have confirmed cohort 6 is being actively called. That means everyone is individually identified (not easy as it keeps expanding) and contacted, more than once. It’s not a perfect system but it is thorough. What it also does is drive up demand and therefore uptake. Patients in 1-4 and 6 were mainly called. The uptake rates will be the highest.

The National booking system opens to age groups. A queue forms but it’s not the whole age group. Just those who actively demand a vaccine. The queue will dry up quickly based just in demand. Which is why they are going to quickly open up age bands. Anyone doing a parse of the current run rates and with knowledge of pending supply could work out 10+ will be able to book in late March.

But and this is very important, those fast moving queues won’t be the whole population. Because not everyone under 60 will articulate their need or want for a vaccine. There will still be lots of worked needed to capture this group. Incidentally expect there to be a gender divide.

@Jungfraujoch

Can anyone explain the situation for asthma sufferers? I’m assuming I’ve been demoted as I have cough variant asthma (mild, never had an attack), but I am 58. I’m hoping I’ll get it in the next few weeks!

The criteria for asthma to put you into group six, is if you have ever had an emergency hospital stay (not just a trip to A & E) for your asthma, even when you were a child, or ever been prescribed three courses of steroid tablets in a three month period.

The NHS has now provided GPs with the criteria to search for people who should be in this group. Unfortunately, when paper went to computer held records omissions may have occurred.

Asthma UK are advising people who believe they are in group six, to contact their GP if they don't hear anything soon.

I had mine today, I'm a carer. I got the letter on Friday and booked right away. There must be a very strong take-up in my area, they were quick and efficient at every station but I was queuing for over 15 minutes.

Lemon, that's interesting and makes sense.

Yes, I can see the national booking site allows those actively lookimg to book as they move through the ages. If there was a bit more publicity (TV ads,mbillboards etc) then more people might realise they don't have to wait for a letter and book online as their age group becomes eligible.

But yes, I can see that lots of people won't be as pro-active or keen, especially as we go down the age groups and their sense of risk to themself of the virus reduces. Some people won't give it any thought before their letter comes. Whilst some actively look at the government website daily and read these threads so they can be done ASAP, others have zero interest in it all. When they get a letter they will forget about it or lose it. Some will need a letter and several phone calls.

Someone over 75 here who has decided not to have it said they have received 8 contacts about it. I thought that was pretty impressive actually. Not sure how many times they will try to contact those in their 20s who don't take up the invitation quickly, but I gues it will be several. It all takes a lot of time and work.

People on these threads are usally keenies. Most want it done as fast as poss. However, even on these threads it emerges that quite a few aren't prepared to travel more than a couple of miles to get it and will wait. I guess the government knows that will happen too. Some will travel miles for the first jab available to them, others won't be bothered by the letter when it finally arrives and will need quite a lot of work to get them to have it and will only ever take it if it's practically bought to them on a cushion at their house.

On these threads, people find it hard to udbertsand these differing attitudes, but the government will know all of them are realities and will be planning to accommodate them.

I do think the government could do themselves a favour though and make it clearer that it's possible to book online before a letter.

@ohyoubadbadkitten we're in Scotland. As far as I know we can't access the portal, but thanks anyway.

I think you have a good point. The roll out through the GPs has been a fucking disaster.

Ours has been excellent and on top of it since the start. That may account for why we seem to be getting through them faster. Everything has been well organised and efficient, no mess ups.

I’d like to believe this, but I do think it sounds a bit optimistic, given that they’ve only just started offering vaccines to the 60+ group round here.

I think you have a good point. The roll out through the GPs has been a fucking disaster.,

It really hasn't been a fucking disaster. We're working really fucking hard and reading comments like yours sucks the souls out of us.

@TheSparkleJar

I had mine today, I'm a carer. I got the letter on Friday and booked right away. There must be a very strong take-up in my area, they were quick and efficient at every station but I was queuing for over 15 minutes.

We were advised to arrive early. There was only a trickle of people ahead of me, I was checked to ensure my details were correct 3 times on the way through and then straight in, jabbed and sent to wait with a time sticker on my coat so I knew when to leave. I was out in less than half an hour of arriving.

Apparently when they opened there was a queue, and there were the various people wandering about saying they had an appointment in about 3 hours time who clearly failed to understand that an appointment was just that, were told to return at their appointed time (and not jump the queue).

It is the staff at the centre that should be better organised if there are delays.

People have an odd sense of what a fucking disaster looks like.

2.5 million vaccinated per week isn't a disaster. People in group 6 need to be a bit patient and realise 7.3million people can't all be done in week 1. Within a couple of weeks or so, they will all be offered it.

People are impatient and that leads to them shouting 'disaster'
People are envious and can't think about a bigger picture and just themesleves and shout 'disaster'
People can't cope with hearing that someone somewhere who is younger than them or healthier than them has had the jab and shout 'disaster' without realising a system of 53m adults cannot vaccinate every single person in exactly the right place in the 53m long line. It can't be that nuanced. It goes in broad category order and aims for speed and some degrees of individual nuance are sacrificed for that.

People have no sense of a proportionate response. Neverything makes them fruits or they see disasters and nightmares all over the place. It's a mindset to only be able to see oneself and not understand context at all or to be able to see the huge progress that has been made.

[quote Eccle80]@Jungfraujoch very few will be eligible under group 6 for asthma, only if you have had a hospital admission or 3 courses of oral steroids in a short timeframe[/quote]
Thanks.

@MatildaStoker

I’d like to believe this, but I do think it sounds a bit optimistic, given that they’ve only just started offering vaccines to the 60+ group round here.

Vaccinating 20 million people by the end of February probably sounded optimistic at Christmas.

Wombat Chocolate👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I've been offered the vaccine and I'm under 40 (just) and in no vulnerable group. I am baffled.

The criteria for asthma to put you into group six, is if you have ever had an emergency hospital stay (not just a trip to A & E) for your asthma,

Any idea what constitutes an emergency hospital stay? Is that just a blue light scenario? Only I have been sent to hospital by my gp before, and was nebuliser/kept in overnight (but went by car!)

I was told by my GP that my 49 year old teacher self would be waiting until May/June possibly longer where we are because a) they are still doing 65 year olds and b) going into hospital for nebulisers then being released "doesn't count".

I really do not think that the roll out is equitable across the UK at all. I am dreading going back to a class of 35 11 year olds, all of whom are as tall and spreading as me, with an open window for defence in an area that is ranked 4th in the UK for cases.

@MissyB1

These threads confuse me. I’m 52 and in an area that is supposedly ahead of the game and I haven’t been called yet. Why would they be vaccinating people in their 40s when they haven’t started the 50s yet?

They’re not