AIBU Covid vaccine

[LateAtTate]

Probably outing as this gives away my age but am in mid-twenties patiently waiting for Covid vaccine. Completely agreed and was onboard with those who most needed it being vaccinated first, older age groups being vaccinated first. All very orderly. Walk-in clinics in Indian variant high transmission areas - definitely good.

However it now seems that it's descended into a postcode lottery..?
Random walk-in clinics in areas that have not been identified as high transmission have been popping up. Not publicised (no info on the official website, just via people's social media) for anyone over 18, for residents with a specific postcode. People in areas with a very low rate of transmission my age have been invited to have the vaccine.

Apart from the logic of having people physically queue for vaccines it now depends on the luck of where you live.
AIBU to think that they should open vaccine slots for everyone over 18 now that all the vulnerables etc have been sorted?

The only reason I can think of is that doing the age brackets makes it easier to keep track but it's all over the place now anyway! Let all of us have a go instead of making it luck based on where you live.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/huge-vaccine-queues-moss-side-20740218
Vaccine queues

Also younger people invited for vaccine by their GP's in cheshire

Tbh I actually thought once they went below 40 it should just be opened to all over 18s. The risk based approach coming down through the age groups and vulnerabilities worked but once you get below 40 the covid risks are minimal so there’s not a lot of difference. I’m in my 30s and had mine last week but there wasn’t a lot of choice for appointments, I assume because of restricting it to places giving Pfizer/Moderna. Opening it up to the whole pool might enable more venues to open delivering those vaccines.

It gets frustrating for people in the next group down each time. Coming from the older groups, the highest frustration levels were usually coincidentally roughly in the week or two before booking opened up. Keep trying the NHS booking system, because slots open the day before it's officially open and check your CCG page in case of walk-ins locally. I think those in mid-twenties should get a chance to book before 18 year olds, but delaying the opening to chase up offers to those in their 30s doesn't seem fair on those in their 20s who are very keen.

It has always been a postcode lottery, and in fact even more local than that. Some GP surgeries in my area were about 6 weeks ahead of the national rollout speed around March but you had to registered as their patient to get called.

In general they are still well ahead of the "all adults by the end of July" goal they set initially. I totally understand it's frustrating to wait, I felt like that too when all my friends seemed to be the lucky ones to have theirs early.

There isn't enough vaccine supply yet to open the booking up to everyone.

I think they should open up AZ to everyone as a choice. If you want Pfizer/Moderna, then that’s 100% OK & you can choose to book it. But open centres with just AZ for anyone happy to have it. I’m in my 30’s & would have happily had it. Every vaccine helps so why not 🤷🏼‍♀️

@nordica if the amount of vaccine supplied is X then no matter how the age bracketing X people will get the vaccine.
The question is - should all X go to people through the age brackets, or X go to those who have booked first?

My argument is two-fold:

1. There's no value in going through the age brackets anymore, as anyone under 35 is equally risk. If bookings are open to everyone then those keener can book the vaccine first. Also it won't be restricted to geographical location

2. The prevalence of 'pop-up clinics' show that supply is not an issue. Why aren't these slots given to people via online booking instead of a queue? In a pandemic that needs social distancing you'd think that a huge queue of unvaccinated people was the last thing we need!

@MRex exactly.
If people aren't keen enough to book the vaccine and need to be 'chased' the should go to the back of the queue.
They will still be vaccinated eventually - so why hold up someone who actively wants it just to wait for them?

You are right it depends where you live. I think it greatly depends on how far ahead each area are, the population and vaccine stock levels. I live in an area which has a pretty low rate of covid but with a huge amount of people vaccinated as they are quite far ahead. It won't be long until your turn op!