No More Tiers (Enough is Enough)

[WaxOnFeckOff]

Here it is - thread 365 - was getting too twitchy....

@rookiemere

That is good news about your DPs *@RaspberryCoulis*.

DH been sharing lots of chat about different groups thinking they need the vaccine before their turn in the queue - police, teachers, sportspeople yadda, yadda and so on. But it seems to me that the best thing was just to get on with the priority list as it stands.

Put my age into the Scottish omnicalculator, and at age of 50 it reckons I'll be getting my first vaccine 26/03- 02/04 which I'd be happy with. Maybe they are getting on with it after all.

That's what I think. I'm a teacher but see no need for us to be prioritised. I think if we were it would be to appease the unions, rather than for any real practical reasons. Stick to the list. Then clinically vulnerable teachers / police / whatever will be done according to their level of need anyway.

Great news as it is about people getting their first vaccine, I’m now really worried about the 12 week debate. What an absolute waste of everything if the 12 week gap doesn’t work and it should only have been 3 (or 6, or whatever). I can’t even ....

DH showed me a tweet this morning saying that council office (WFH) staff in one of the Ayshires have been vaccinated and the BBC story says food bank volunteers in Midlothian have had it. There is something wrong here when my almost 80 parents haven't even had an invitation (and my emergency services DH) will have to wait for months but others are getting it. NS is on Marr saying the focus has been on care homes so why are people not on the JCVI list getting it.

On my Scottish Parliament committee meeting thing yesterday there was an epidemiologist and a woman from the British council of immunologists (or something like that).

She was asked about the 12 week thing and what she said was this: immunologists support the 12 week decision because there is no evidence against it. Pfizer's research shows that it's fine to wait 6 weeks but they did not test up to 12 weeks. Their judgement is that there's no reason/evidence to show this can't be extended, and the greater gain is to get first jabs into more people as the first jab gives most of your immunity, it's the second jab that boosts it a bit, but the second jab is more to extend its lifecycle.

That's how I understand it after hearing from those people yesterday. One guy did say we should stick with the evidence and use it as licensed but the immunologist and someone in charge of vaccines somewhere else said they support the government's plan only if everyone gets their second jab in the 12 week period.

Not a squeak here about vaccines for either of the over-90s in our family. Just the appointment at the gp's for my housebound mil who's 89. She's now back at the bottom of their list because we had the cheek to cancel that one. And that is genuinely how the receptionist made me feel when I spoke to her on the phone. It's such a lottery.

Thanks for clarifying that @IncludeWomenInTheSequel it makes sense if that's the case.

In positive vaccine related news DH (you may recall him, extensive experience of injecting salmon) has been offered a temporary NHS job helping with vaccinations in Fife. This is after completing paperwork nearly a year ago to work in a lab.

Coming to a Fife vaccine hub near you.

He is not cleared / trained for actually stabbing people so will help manage fridges, supply etc.

We are very much hoping for a high viz jacket and a clipboard.

He might get bumped up the vaccine queue as a result but is nearly 60 so is probably due anyway in the next couple of months. MiL is done and I am in a vaccine trial so we are feeling a bit more optimistic today.

Thanks for all the cheerful support when I had a low day the other day.

Thanks Raspberry

I was thinking about the logic of prioritizing care homes, the residents are probably at less risk than the elderly who rely on care in the community.
I know of two elderly ladies who's care is divided by their 3 kids and the odd bit of help from others (adult grandchildren and siblings).
Oh and dementia patients in the community aren't classed as priority, regardless of how many people they have contact with.

Thank you @IncludeWomenInTheSequel that does make me feel much better!
It’s so hard to know who and what to believe. So much scaremongering.

There really is! It's so hard to know what's correct underneath all the sensationalist headlines.

Great news @Cismyfatarse. Everyone loves a clipboard. I have a family member who works in an admin role at vaccination clinic who was vaccinated last weekend.

CIS that's good news, another experienced stabber recruited, his skills are not going to wasted holding a clipboard.🤣

The uk adverts are really frightening.

Was showed last night when we were watching the masked singer which is for families

The message was that you will kill people if you go out and really close up on faces with pain on their faces and oxygen masks

There is no need for this at all to frighten families children don’t understand this just think we will kill people if we go to the park or shops

It's bread and fucking circuses and a way for them to absolve themselves of the responsibility for their failings, I think.

Push the pressure and blame downwards onto individuals and you will magically forget that Johnson and Hancock gave away billions to their unqualified friends in place of purchasing proper PPE and installing a functioning track and trace system. And on and on and on.

Did anyone else see John Swinney this morning? He was saying they're looking at bringing back nurseries and early primary years and s4-6 first. But no timeline yet.

@IncludeWomenInTheSequel

Did anyone else see John Swinney this morning? He was saying they're looking at bringing back nurseries and early primary years and s4-6 first. But no timeline yet.

This is brilliant news on a Sunday! Hopefully it will be soon especially after Jason Leitch did videos saying how low the transmission and cases were for ELC!

JS said that the other day, youngest kids and exam years but no date and at least 2 weeks warning.
So really for the other years that means it's probably at least 5/6 weeks away. No date yet for the 2 week warning, I'd guess a minimum 2 week gap between the first lot and the rest.

Yeah I'm thinking sometime in March. Although given that schools in my area close on 29th March for the holiday what would be the point?

At that point its after Easter.
DH has just mentioned if they give 2 week notice at the end of the week that would be returning just after half term for the first lot.

I would love it if they got some earlier classes back. My 3 are P1 and under and it’s very hard work trying to do school work with the eldest. At least if the one in pre-school was back then I could teach my p1 whilst the baby sleeps I guess.

I they are saying the youngest primary and nurseries.
That mean P1 definitely, P2, P3 debatable. I think that's going to be a numbers game.

If they can get some back anxiety will ease and parents and teachers will all be happier for more to go back as vaccination ramps up. However the current fear mongering ott advertising campaigns are not doing anything to support this.

@Lockdownbear

At that point its after Easter. DH has just mentioned if they give 2 week notice at the end of the week that would be returning just after half term for the first lot.

Wow, I don't know if I imagined it would be that soon! Who on Earth knows though 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think if I read another thread about children being "disease vectors" and how it can't possibly be safe to get them back to school before Easter at the earliest, I'll cry. I suppose what JS was saying (not seen it, just going by this thread) is promising, though a timeline would be useful. And as a parent of a P5 only child who really needs to go back and be with his friends, the "early primary and late secondary" priority, while logical, doesn't give me that much hope he'll be back any time soon . Where did the 2 weeks come from? If they can order changes to tiers/ lockdown on a Tuesday, coming into force by the weekend, I'd have thought a week at most (for teacher planning etc) would be fine. 2 weeks just seems to be kicking the can a bit, and you know they'd pull it at the last minute if it suited them. Personally, we'd be at school by the afternoon session if opening was announced at lunchtime...

On the other hand, yay for the blue envelopes, and for everyone being jabbed, or handed a hi-vis jacket and clipboard

Personally, we'd be at school by the afternoon session if opening was announced at lunchtime...

Us too!

My kids are p5, s2 and s3 so I can't imagine any of them being a priority.

I hope nursery and p1 get back soon. Those parents (on the whole) must be the worst affected. And maybe p7, that's such an important year for kids too I think. I hope they get some time in the summer term. I've almost given up on the rest of us.