Covid - news and views
Comments
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In the latest email I have sent to our MP Grant Shapps i have asked him to tell Boris when he puts people forward to face the media to stop pressurising them to follow his take on the latest pandemic problems ,in a futile attempt to try to pull the wool over the eyes of the majority of the the population. with not at least reintroducing the mandatory wearing of face masks
No reply this time as yet
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Wouldn't it be good if all NHS records were linked? I had my flu jab on the 29th of September at a vaccination centre in my local town. I had phoned my GP surgery before that and was told they didn't know when they would get the flu vaccines, so when that option came up I jumped at it.
Today, just over 3 weeks later, I received a text from my GP surgery, telling me that I'm eligible for a flu jab 😕 I rang them, as I wanted to ensure that it was in my record. I had checked the myGP app, and all that showed was my 2 Covid vaccinations.
I was told they'd had a lot of calls today following the flu invitation texts, but I still wanted to make sure it was on my record, and it was.
What a shambles!
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Having watched the 6.00pm News the narrative still seems to be that more people need to take up the booster jab. I can't help feeling they are trying to move the blame for the lack of uptake to the public rather than looking at their own system. Not long ago I went onto the NHS Booster Vaccine website to see what happens if I try to book an appointment. Bear in mind that on the 29th October it will be six months since I had my second AZ vaccination. However the website told me that I was not eligible and to ring 119!!!! I did also notice on a local programme that you don't get your booster until six months plus one week. However I don't understand why on earth we can't just advance book them online?
David
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If you haven't had an invitation to book your appointment for your booster please have patience it really is not a system problem; it's a problem with staffing. When we first got going my centre had plenty of volunteers for all functions and was able to operate up to 12 hours per day seven days a week. We are now struggling to do 10 hours two days a week. Many volunteers have gone back to their day jobs and others have just just given up, many because they are simply worn out and our professionals are on their knees. Today about 21 people did 10 hours straight with breaks only for the toilet and a cuppa if you were really lucky. As said above volunteers are still needed; I will add desperately.
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OH has received his letter to get his booster, we are out of country just now but having our mail checked. Unfortunately his jab was due on the day our mail was checked.
We have tried the link on the letter to re-arrange the appointment but that doesn't work, you get a series of questions then bumped back to your vaccination page. We can't phone the 0800 number as they don't work when out of country.
Nothing else for it but wait until we get back next week, don't want to phone our GP as they have nothing to do with them.
His appointment was exactly 6mths to the day from his 2nd vaccine. I had mine the same day as him but I've not had an invite yet for my booster.
Neither of us have yet had the flu jab with being away. Probably end up getting both at the same time.
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Had an email from our surgery today apologising for the fact that when blanket texts went out to everyone (and all the appointments till the end of the year were taken within 2 hours) it appears that many folk successfully made appointments but it now turns out that a lot are less than 182 days since their second jab so they are having to contact them to rearrange appointments. Meanwhile, neither of us have been able to get a sniff of an appointment. You really couldn't make it up!
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Ros got her NHS email yesterday, inviting her to book an appointment. Went on-line - appts available at our local pharmacy today and tomorrow so she booked tomorrow afternoon and had the choice of times throughout the day. Couldn't have been easier really - all done and dusted within a few minutes. Just waiting for mine, now - which is due in the next week or so.
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I find it very difficult to believe that from an age group that is almost 100% double jabbed and was so keen to get the first two, that over 4 million are too shy to come forward. Therefore it must be a system and processes issue and MPs are doing there normal of deflecting the blame. So how do they propose to solve it. Well if reports in this mornings telegraph are anything to go by, it’s considering lowering the interval to 5 months, which would make a further five million eligible. You couldn’t make it up.
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Also we have Health Minister telling the commons yesterday that those eligible (like us) for a booster should not wait for the call, have tried 119 and NHS website and both say wait.
Exactly the same problem for us too!
It would help everyone if our leaders quoted the correct information for a start. We are within their suggested time scale but cannot get an appointment either?
In fact, we cannot even get a flu jab at our local GP as they have no supplies. I have managed to book these at our local Boots branch but not until November, as long as they have some vaccine, I guess?
How we have gone from leading the way with our vaccination programme to where we are currently, hard to believe really!
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I have a story too-I was emailed(NHS) ‘you are eligible for a booster jab, follow this link’ so I followed it-NHS number-done, dob-done. . .’You are not eligible for a booster jab at this time’🤷🏻♂️, this Govt is slowly downgrading NHS to the Govt’s own level of incompetence. They dumped lots of civil servants only to find out they were the ones that made Govt function. The reliability of a once cherished institution is being dismantled slowly but surely☹️
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Amongst all the chaos it’s good to see there are still some in Government we can rely on like Rees-Mogg 🥴
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As I've posted before, we both got texts inviting us to apply about 3 weeks ago, but, having followed the link, all available appointments had, apparently, been taken through till the end of the year. When we queried that at our surgery they told us that the texts had gone out to everyone who had been double jabbed, regardless of when that had been done. In their (the receptionist's) words, "it's a complete mess".
Well, yesterday, 3 weeks on, I got a reply to my email to the surgery and it certainly does appear to be a complete mess because they have now realised that several folk made, and were given, appointments less than 6 months after their second jab.
Here is the relevant paragraph from the email -
"We are unable to give the COVID Booster Vaccine sooner than 182 days after your second dose under any circumstances. We will be in touch in order to move your appointment if it is booked even a few days earlier than the 182-day interval."
Meanwhile, neither of us, nor many of our friends, have been able to make appointments which we are all desperate to do. The official line that sloppy old Joe Public doesn't give a toss is wearing increasingly thin.
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The NHS web site makes it clear who the booster priorities are and the rest of us have to wait for a phone call etc. I'm sorry to hear there's still a large group resisting the vaccine, it would have helped the NHS so much of they'd taken it up.As well as a member of our family who has "resisted" we have two neighbours, newly retired who don't want the vaccine. Years ago I can remember the odd child at school with parents who didn't allow them to have the polio vaccine etc. I presume enough of us were innoculated to eradicate certain diseases so it's sad to see we can't achieve a higher level of immunity to this present virus even when thousands are getting it and there are daily deaths.
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Brue - I think there are 2 different problems here. Yes, some folk, for some reason completely beyond me, are resisting getting vaccinated in the first place. There may, possibly, have been an argument for making vaccination compulsory, though it's not a route I would have wanted to see put in place.
But the problem with boosters seems to be very different. From our personal experience everyone I talk to who took the first two doses is desperate to also get the booster. It's just that the system, at least as far as our PCN is concerned, has been maded unnecessarily complicated.
I accept that there are additional pressures with the roll out of flu vaccinations; it just seems a crying shame that a system that worked so superbly to start with is now getting bogged down and that the government seem to be sending out mixed messages about what to do.
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It was very slow for us in the beginning Moulesy so I have lowered my expectations this time round!
I tend to ignore the bland government statements and look at our local NHS authority web pages. At this point I think there are a few thousand over 80s in our area who have to be vaccinated before us.
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I’m still waiting for the much vaunted ‘herd immunity’ to kick in, it seems to have changed to-‘until we are all safe none of us are safe’ which I take to mean we all need to be vaccinated(worldwide) to be safe from Covid🤷🏻♂️
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If someone could explain to me how herd immunity works, with a virus that is constantly mutating, I’d be happy to listen. It would need to be in lay mans terms though.......
Personally, I would rather like things to get a lot tougher for those resisting vaccination. Not including those who cannot medically have the jab, just the ill informed and ditherers. Making them take out illness insurance for protecting employers, and having to pay for NHS treatment would be a start. A good deal of irrationality and mindless following of the ill informed tends to get a rethink when the kick is to the wallet.
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I think that’s what it said yesterday, mind it was late in evening. OH is 189 days tomorrow, is still classed a very vulnerable, so I shall be looking at sorting something ASAP for him. Sis and me are a couple of weeks on yet. I didn’t see any signs of a vaccination centre at our big Leisure Centre last time I drove past, so maybe it’s as LLM says upthread, staffing is an issue. Wouldn’t surprise me.
The declaration of a critical incident down in Cornwall was worrying yesterday. Not entirely C19 related, more to do with recovering patients unable to leave as there’s no home care in place for them. Suspect this is likely to be mirrored around UK in places. It’s been a crumbling system getting weaker and weaker for a long time before C19☹️
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Yep, 25 ambulances queuing outside A&E and unable to unload their patients. That’s before the winter ills hit us and, if covid takes off, we're all doomed.
Another example of why everyone should get the jabs.
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It makes grim reading around care, not just in Cornwall either. It was a failing system back in 2012 when Dad was taken seriously ill. That’s when we decided to give up our freedom and take on the majority of caring for Mum and Dad, like thousands of others. Mum and Dad were lucky, at least they have willing relatives, a lot sadly don’t, and the care system, be it at home, or going into a home is struggling. It should all have been linked up years ago. My heart goes out to anyone that is going to struggle this Winter☹️
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