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DD lied to get 2nd dose of vaccine early

79 replies

jewdee · 02/07/2021 17:51

Hi all,
Just wonder what others think of what has happened. Obviously too late to change things now, but I'm a wee bit peeved off with dd. She's 24 and had her first dose of pfizer here in Scotland a month ago.

Recently she was down visiting friends in England and as they were walking through the local town, they were approached by a vaccination helper asking if they needed to be vaccinated as the centre was very quiet and they had spare. DD didn't say that she'd already had a dose. She knew that pfizer is really meant to be given 21 days apart, and she was past that. She sat down for the vaccine and was asked if it was her first dose, as under NHS england guidance they are only allowed to give first doses to her age group. As NHS Scotland have a different system to NHS England, their software had no trace of her record. She told them it was her first dose. Then she rang up the NhS line, and had it changed to second dose by providing proof.

If the doses were going to waste, surely it was better that she had her second dose? It's only UK government rules that mean she was meant to wait 8 weeks rather than 4. She says she has read into it heavily, and there is no proof that the pfizer vaccine is meant to be better over longer dosing gaps.

I asked her if she felt bad for lying, and she said no she didn't as 1. the dose was going to waste and 2. there will be another dose for someone's second dose freed up. 3. she is moving home to live with me and her gran, who has just come out of hospital and is really ill, so she wanted to be fully vaccinated.

OP posts:
nocoolnamesleft · 02/07/2021 17:55

Wasting doses is criminal.

Boatie · 02/07/2021 17:59

Clever woman.

VimFuego101 · 02/07/2021 18:01

If the dose would otherwise have been wasted, I don't see the issue.

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 02/07/2021 18:01

crafty.
I'd be so proud of her

chipsandpeas · 02/07/2021 18:01

as long as her vaccination status def shows both doses dont see a issue with this

MissMissTorrance · 02/07/2021 18:01

Justifying it by mentioning her gran doesn't make it any better. She was deceptive.
The people who gave it were also in the wrong. No record of her yet give her the jab?
What if she was mentally ill and had already had both vaccines? What if she lied but was medically advised not to have the jab but was desperate to have it?
What if she'd already had her first dose so wasn't eligible for her second at this time?Hmm

RoseAndRose · 02/07/2021 18:01

Fair enough, but did she read this?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-57682233

TheVampiresWife · 02/07/2021 18:03

I applaud her ingenuity.

TheVampiresWife · 02/07/2021 18:04

[quote RoseAndRose]Fair enough, but did she read this?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-57682233[/quote]
Lots of GPs are giving doses three weeks apart. The 'sweet spot' may be longer but at the moment I think the emphasis is on getting people double jabbed at the earliest opportunity.

Mindymomo · 02/07/2021 18:05

She didn’t know that it would have been wasted had she not had it, but it was past 4 weeks, so I think they will want all adults fully jabbed asap anyway.

Wigeon · 02/07/2021 18:07

Well, she’s now less well protected than if she’d waited 8-12 weeks. The advice of JCVI, which is comprised of experts with decades of experience, is that a longer gap gives better protection. Tbh I trust them a lot more than her, even if she’s “read a lot about it” and thinks a short gap is fine.

So basically she’s tricked the system so she can have a less good outcome for her. Not sure why you’d do that.

Missreginafalange · 02/07/2021 18:07

I had my 2 Pfizer jabs 5 weeks apart...

Better in an arm then wasted.

Wigeon · 02/07/2021 18:08

Here’s the link to the official advice:

“For both adenovirus vector and mRNA vaccines, there is evidence of better immune response and/or protection where longer intervals between doses are used.
Currently, JCVI is recommending an interval of 8 to 12 weeks between doses of all the available COVID-19 vaccines. ” page 10 here

Spekoppar · 02/07/2021 18:13

Whilst there appears to be a better immune response with a slightly bigger gap the difference isn’t massive, and becomes even more negligible in the context of Living in a country with rapidly increasing rates of a highly transmissible varient.

Good on her I say.

bunnybuggs · 02/07/2021 18:13

a find it a bit off to be 'proud' of someone who lied.

Againstmachine · 02/07/2021 18:15

Wasting doses is criminal.

No it isn't such hyperbole. Lots get wasted.

The problem for her is the tallying between different databases, as effectively she's only had her first dose on both, which may cause trouble for travel events.

NiceGerbil · 02/07/2021 18:15

It was quiet.
She was approached.
She was overdue her second dose.
Vaccines have an expiry date.

I have no problem with this. It's not like she set out to do it.

SW1amp · 02/07/2021 18:15

@Wigeon

Well, she’s now less well protected than if she’d waited 8-12 weeks. The advice of JCVI, which is comprised of experts with decades of experience, is that a longer gap gives better protection. Tbh I trust them a lot more than her, even if she’s “read a lot about it” and thinks a short gap is fine.

So basically she’s tricked the system so she can have a less good outcome for her. Not sure why you’d do that.

The spacing policy wasn’t based on evidence. It was based on a desire to get as many people as possible vaccinated with their first dose, given the limited supply of vaccines.

The evidence didn’t start to emerge until months after the policy was implemented and even then, it mostly tracked what was showing in trials - it’s not a mind blowing difference

www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n18

But the experts didn’t arrive at the spacing policy because of a desire to maximise antibodies in the vaccinated so it’s a bit silly to suggest this person has put themselves at any sort of harm

Don’t forget that the US has largely been sticking to the manufacturer’s recommended spacing of a few weeks and are seeing excellent results from their vaccination programme

Maggiesfarm · 02/07/2021 18:17

I don't blame her one bit.

Itsprobablynotcominghome · 02/07/2021 18:20

@Againstmachine

Wasting doses is criminal.

No it isn't such hyperbole. Lots get wasted.

The problem for her is the tallying between different databases, as effectively she's only had her first dose on both, which may cause trouble for travel events.

She sorted it so her record is air-tight.

And it is criminal. It’s self defeating wasting doses here whilst other countries are begging for them. There is a world outside the U.K.

If the govt are announcing all these stats, they should announce daily wasted doses.

diddl · 02/07/2021 18:20

It's not a given that it would have gone to waste though is it?

I also had Pfizer 5wks apart-but she's an adult & made a decision that she's Ok with.

nordica · 02/07/2021 18:25

It's fine although she took a big risk in that there was no guarantee it would be easy to change the details on her vaccination record to show it was her 2nd.

User5827372728 · 02/07/2021 18:25

Personally I would want to wait at least 8 weeks as won’t be getting a booster so want as much protection as possible for winter

Itsprobablynotcominghome · 02/07/2021 18:27

@diddl

It's not a given that it would have gone to waste though is it?

I also had Pfizer 5wks apart-but she's an adult & made a decision that she's Ok with.

If they were asking randomers to come in, then I am sure doses were going to be or were wasted. Multiply this by all these sites.

In South Korea you can sign up (if you need a first or second dose) on their version of WhatsApp (Kakaotalk) and you get a notification if you are nearby to a centre with spare doses near the end of the day.

Their vaccination programme was hampered by their naivety that rich countries would share and not hoard doses (and waste or in Israel/US case, throw them away due to expiry). But goddamn, I’d absolutely love to see the difference in wastage here (or in the US, or Israel) versus there.

Imagine the amount of wasted doses worldwide. It makes me feel nauseous.

HopeForTheBestExpectTheWorst · 02/07/2021 18:32

I'm in Germany, mine were 3 weeks apart at my doc, friends have had to wait 6 weeks!

It's totally random, well done your DD for showing initiative imo.

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