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Original poster

Winter Vaccinations

52 replies

Guiltyfeethavegotnorhythm0 · 04/08/2023 18:33

For anyone living in Scotland the schedule for winter vaccinations opens on 8th of August , so maybe worth checking in on app to book if you are entitled, also includes I think over 50's flu jags .

OP posts:
BrunchBunch · 12/08/2023 14:26

I wonder if that will change if other countries start requiring that people be vaccinated within a certain number of months again. you'd have to have some way of getting it privately then, or maybe it would be back to daily tests while travelling or something.

or if it got that bad again, maybe the UK would change their mind and offer it to under 65s again.

WhalePolo · 12/08/2023 15:37

@AreYouVeryAnti

Thing is - if everyone still needed the vaccine as we did a few years ago you’d be here saying ‘it doesn’t work, don’t get it’.

Thankfully it does work, we’ve built our immunity and we are in a very different place to a few years ago.

Yet you still can’t resist a bit of anti-science BS.

AreYouVeryAnti · 13/08/2023 09:00

It's an interesting argument that we don't now need it because it worked so well. We don't use that as a justification for not giving everyone a flu shot and allow people to pay for it privately if they want to. Also initial course now not being offered to under 65s even if totally unvaccinated. I'd be interested to know which part of what I said constitutes anti Science BS, I just said that things had changed very fast.

Tiqtaq · 13/08/2023 13:58

I'd like to call the government to account to justify why flu jabs are available privately and Covid jabs are not.

AreYouVeryAnti · 14/08/2023 09:28

Me too. I suspect the chances of a straight answer are slim to zero for another decade at least.

Terzani · 14/08/2023 11:35

Maybe the government simply doesn't want to pay even more money to Pfizer and the rest, for a product that perhaps isn't that cost-effective right now. Look at what is happening in the US with the updated booster:

https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1690827550782869504

https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/how-much-could-covid-19-vaccines-cost-the-u-s-after-commercialization/

https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1690827550782869504

loulouljh · 14/08/2023 11:39

How indeed the science moves!!! Even if I was eligible I would prefer to stick pins in the eyes than inject myself with someone like that...but each to their own.

Tiqtaq · 14/08/2023 14:47

Openness and transparency about the science seem strangely lacking.

aramox1 · 17/08/2023 13:26

I haven't kept up - what does the science say now about the benefits of vaccination ? I've had 3 vaxes, had covid twice. Do we still think it makes it lighter and might make long covid less likely?

Tiqtaq · 18/08/2023 07:10

Good luck finding any answers to this question

AllLopsided · 18/08/2023 15:51

It's all about saving money, isn't it?

Anyway I was boosted (no 4) in March and now really sick with it, so not much faith in the vaccine any more...

CrunchyCarrot · 18/08/2023 16:08

AreYouVeryAnti · 12/08/2023 10:22

It's certainly a massive change, just 2 years ago 16 and 17 year olds were being told they wouldn't be able to go to nightclubs if they weren't vaccinated, and a year and a half ago 100k unvaccinated NHS workers came within a week of the sackings commencing. Now you can't buy it! How fast The Science moves.

Yes it does move fast, that's what science does, it responds to the data and evidence collected, in this case over the past 2 years. I would be worried if it did not!

Tiqtaq · 18/08/2023 18:56

@CrunchyCarrot are the government following the science though?
And where exactly is the science?

CrunchyCarrot · 18/08/2023 19:15

Tiqtaq · 18/08/2023 18:56

@CrunchyCarrot are the government following the science though?
And where exactly is the science?

The government is a political body so they were at the time of the outbreak taking into account more than just the science known at the time (which we know now was lacking in many ways), so they were also taking factoring in, for example, the financial state of the country, which might mean NOT exactly following the known science. Plus various govt officials not following their own guidelines, as we later discovered. So the short answer to that is no, not all the time by any means.

Where as in where is it located? In scientific research journals. Which most people cannot understand including govt ministers! There were various podcasts by scientists in the field trying to make sense of what was known. There was a lot of 'we just don't know yet' or 'we don't have enough data', so a definitive course of action was not possible at the outset. Even now there are an awful lot of unknowns.

Tiqtaq · 18/08/2023 19:20

Thank you Crunchy
I was really meaning where is any public discussion of the current science on Covid and vaccinations.

CrunchyCarrot · 19/08/2023 08:18

Tiqtaq · 18/08/2023 19:20

Thank you Crunchy
I was really meaning where is any public discussion of the current science on Covid and vaccinations.

Ah! No there hasn't really been much has there - perhaps because there's no big threat from it now for most folks and because politicians know the public are fed up with the subject!

Forbeehives · 23/08/2023 13:37

I don’t understand why covid vaccines can’t be private, does anyone know if a formal reason has been given?

Both times I’ve had covid had been awful and I'm left with ongoing issues, though nothing that qualifies me for one, I’m 64. I am scared how bad it will be unvaccinated and I hoping that having had the illness has given sufficient immunity, but was a bit panicked when I found out I’m not eligible. (I feel the same about flu but that job vacc is offered here in Scotland).

Tiqtaq · 23/08/2023 15:26

The government is being less than open about the reason why private vaccinations will not be legal.

Forbeehives · 23/08/2023 16:09

@Tiqtaq I'm really curious now!

CrunchyCarrot · 23/08/2023 17:20

There should at the very least be access to Paxlovid if one gets Covid, not making it almost impossible to get hold of!

Tiqtaq · 25/08/2023 06:55

@JustAnotherRandom thank you very much for the link.

It looks like the cost of the vaccine is £10.06 so I still find it very odd that it's not permitted to get it privately like for a flu jab.

They conveniently haven't assessed whether the jab would reduce incidence of Long Covid due to what they say is a lack of clear evidence on this.

shoeawsome · 25/08/2023 07:59

It's very short-sighted to put the age for flu jabs back up to 65, never mind Covid jabs!

When the NHS is in the pickle it is, and the Govt going on about productivity you would think they would want to keep the working age population as well as they can over the Winter 🤷‍♀️!

Forbeehives · 25/08/2023 08:43

@JustAnotherRandom thanks for the link. It really is baffling why people not eligible can’t pay for one. I could understand if by doing so it would push people entitled to it down the queue but surely they would get rightful priority. It doesn’t make sense!

damsoncheese · 25/08/2023 11:30

aramox1 · 17/08/2023 13:26

I haven't kept up - what does the science say now about the benefits of vaccination ? I've had 3 vaxes, had covid twice. Do we still think it makes it lighter and might make long covid less likely?

Yes to it making covid less severe, but unfortunately long covid is only about 10-15% less likely after vaccination, according to the last thing I read. Still, that's better than no difference at all.

Re private covid jabs - I thought the government had said that we would be able to pay for them, and that had been approved, but they might not be available until next year as it's going to depend on how the vaccine providers decide to implement a commercial supply for individuals.