Are wealthy areas prioritised for Pfizer and poorer areas given AZ?

[BigCoat]

I'm talking about the 40 plus group.

I live in between an affluent and a disadvantaged town.
The affluent area has always received the Pfizer vaccine at its vaccine centre and the other area has always received AZ. I have had both AZ doses.

I have a relative who lives in a different affluent area in another part of the country. She's had Pfizer and seemed surprised we received AZ.

I would like to hear how allocations are decided. Is it a post code lottery or are there those of you in well to do areas only offered AZ and vice versa?

I live in Ely and am under 40. In order to get anything other than AZ, I need to travel 30+ miles to King's Lynn, as Ely and Cambridge are both AZ. I'd hazard a guess Cambridge is wealthier than King's Lynn.

I think its mainly down to storage, followed by supply. We have three health centres in my town plus two mass vaccination centres within 2/3 miles. They have all different ones based on storage facilities.

DH and I live in the same village as my parents, and we're registered at the same GP surgery. We're all over 50. Both parents got Pfizer, DH and I received AZ.

No

And stop being so silly

I'm in Surrey, generally pretty affluent and "leafy" part - as with all of my friends (and we're all late 40s, early 50s) have had AZ.

Hard,

The vaccine centres have a decent following on social media and not one person posts to say AZ at the affluent one. It is always Pfizer.

That centre is a town hall and the other is a massive former department store, so maybe it is all about storage.

I guess you'd say I live with an affulent area. My Mum and two nurse friends had Pfizer. Myself and DH had AZ, as did our six friends and their DHs. The main vaccination centre in the town states it's giving Pfizer only now for first doses.

The only difference is that the Pfizer vaccines are only going to the GP hubs (or inside hospital, but that is different).
So if you go to a GP hub you have a good chance of getting Pfizer, whereas if you go to a mass hub or a pharmacy etc you could previously only get AZ or now AZ/Moderna.

The difference will purely come down to the type of hub attended.

Well the Pfizer arrived first and was prioritised through the GP’s for those who urgently needed it with certain health conditions.

Then there was the whole EU with-holding Pfizer fiasco and the next lot were needed for second Pfizer jabs. So makes sense that we had much more AZ by the time AZ was produced. The EU kick up a stink about anything the UK does and didn’t want AZ (because they hadn’t prepared their system to store, distribute or administer jabs) so waited for the French vaccine and shunned ours. And now some more Pfizer are getting through again, aswell as AZ. Nothing to do with rich or poor.

Christ people are really scraping the barrel to find more ways to slag off AZ now!

It’s mostly down to quantity of Pfizer they have the facilities to store correctly and the availability at any given time.

You’re reading way to much into this

I think Pfizer and Moderna both have to be stored at low temperatures whereas AZ can be stored at normal fridge temp. If some centres are only getting AZ it may be because they don’t have the right storage facilities for the others.
My parents live in once of the wealthiest towns outside of London and they both got AZ. I got Moderna at a big vaccine centre in London but the previous week they had been giving AZ.

Also DH recently had Pfizer at a pharmacy in an extremely rough part of the city and my parents had AZ via the GP in the posh end. I got Pfizer at a mass centre but am under 40.

I live in Solihull WM which I think is seen as 'affluent' and had AZ

@JeanClaudeVanDammit

Christ people are really scraping the barrel to find more ways to slag off AZ now!

I've had both doses and a family member was involved in the trials last year. I'm very grateful, but curious.

@Bluntness100

Um no of course not.you can’t seriously think thr army is sitting looking at demographics of towns and allocating supply accordingly 😂

I live in a very expensive area of the south east. I had az

Why do you think the army is doing the allocation?

I live in one of the most affluent towns in the U.K. everyone I know had AZ. (I didn’t want Pfizer anyway!)

So your extrapolating from a sample size of 2 that the fact that one gives AZ and the other gives Pfizer is down to local demographics, not storage facilities or any of the other far more sensible reasons.

I'm not sure about the rich / poor angle but there definitely seems to be a divide for those on the 'alternatives to AZ' thread who are in their forties and trying to get alternatives. Those in London are seemingly achieving it easily but those in Scotland are struggling and being told it's AZ or nothing. It's not just a storage issue because people were turned away at centres offering both. So there is definitely a difference when it comes to 'free choice' and attitude of allowing a choice.

Why do you think the army is doing the allocation?

Becayse Boris did a press conf and announced it.

No. I got AZ and a week later my husband got Pfizer

People really are scraping the barrel to slag off AZ. Well I was rough as rats off Pfizer and both older and younger family members and friends breezed through AZ jabs ... so what difference does it make?

If one centre only ever has AZ, it's probably because there aren't the facilities or security measures to have Pfizer or Moderna. It may also be based on distance to acute care facilities. It may also just be a massive coincidence. Ive had Pfizer, my husband has had AZ. We're in Wales so are allocated to a centre/appointment with no choice. Given that in England you can choose where to go, any suggestion that the AZ is being offered predominanrly in less affluent areas seems daft.

@3WildOnes

I think Pfizer and Moderna both have to be stored at low temperatures whereas AZ can be stored at normal fridge temp. If some centres are only getting AZ it may be because they don’t have the right storage facilities for the others. My parents live in once of the wealthiest towns outside of London and they both got AZ. I got Moderna at a big vaccine centre in London but the previous week they had been giving AZ.

AZ can only be stored in the fridge and has a long shelf life.

Moderna can be stored in a normal pharmacy freezer, or subsequently for up to a month in a fridge.

Pfizer is stored in an ultra low freezer, which are in only a relatively small number of locations. It can also be stored subsequently for 31 days in the fridge, but until recently this was 5 days. It’s also tricky to transport - it comes in large cartons that need to be packed down to prevent waste in small centres, and cannot easily be transported when thawed.

It’s all about storage, transport and preventing waste. No conspiracy.

We live in the same town as MIL,(unfortunately! ) she had Astra Zeneca and DH and I both had Pfizer.

My parents live in a very different part of the UK and they had Pfizer too, you just get what they have as far as I can tell.