The best vaccine news we could hope for

Summerlove

*Summerlove can you point out where I said that people should take the vaccine if they don't want to? No, I didn't think so.*

Your tone and disdain for those of us who aren’t ready to jump in head first is clear. Your lack of understanding on our reasons, calling them baseless and implying if not outright stating they are uneducated are enough.

Ah, what can I say that won't sound bad? Nothing, I think. I don't assume you are uneducated, I don't know anything about you other than what you put on Gransnet.

I know that the risks that we are facing with COVID are huge in comparison to any minor risks that a vaccine might present, and we'll all make our own decisions about how we face that.

Years ago I knew someone who was working on a scientific project in London. She was going into work 7 days a week. She eventually moved to Germany because the work was better paid and more appreciated. The last I heard of her she’d married a millionaire. My ex is an engineer and he always bemoaned the fact that engineers are on a par with doctors in other countries but here they’re regarded as below them.

I am a bit concerned about the logistics, there will be 1250 hubs, giving out around 975 vaccines a week each. Each person will need two vaccines, so only reaching 600K people a week. That is going to take a long time to get through even the first half of the chosen groups.

Already we are being told to expect that GP services will have to be cut back to find the time to deliver these vaccines. This is not going to be an easy ride.

Would it make sense to vaccinate those that appear to be spreading it first so the young?
Yes Whitewave

But perhaps try it out on the old and vulnerable first and if they can tolerate it then it should be fine for everyone else!

If not - well, we're old and possibly vulnerable anyway.

I think they should vaccinate swathes of people together.
Whole families, their work colleagues, and anyone who comes into contact with them.

I think that NHS and all other key workers should be offered the vaccine first.
As another poster pointed out, the old, the vulnerable, those not working can, if necessary, stay at home.
It may not be desirable but it is not essential for those groups to go out and mingle with others.

The Oxford vaccine may well be available soon afterwards and those not in the first round could be vaccinated not that much later.

By that little I know I think perhaps the Oxford vaccine could be more acceptable to the public as it’s a more ‘tried and tested’ sort.

After Dr Tamms cautious advice there seems to have been an explosion in the News and stories ranging from the vaccine wont be available until next year to they are rolling it out at the beginning of December. It did seem initially that it would first be given to frontline NHS workers which made sense. It now seems it will be administered first to care home workers and residents. In some ways this makes sense,they have suffered the most deaths and are currently living in almost prison like isolation.
Of course it would be wonderful to think that after their dreadful treatment of this group the government are doing their best to make amends. Best of all they could be reunited with their families for Christmas. Good PR.
It would also be easier to administer as all in one place.
I'm trying to think positively, I really am. I'm hoping care homes wont be a mini experiment. I'm hoping the government can organise what appears to be a complex and logistical nightmare efficiently. It is concerning that GPs will have to reduce services to administer it. Time will tell. Fingers crossed.

^ I'm hoping the government can organise what appears to be a complex and logistical nightmare efficiently. ^

Test, track and trace, anyone?

BlueSky

By that little I know I think perhaps the Oxford vaccine could be more acceptable to the public as it’s a more ‘tried and tested’ sort.

It really isn’t - it’s going through exactly the same stages but just behind in time a little.

GPs will have to reduce services
I don't think mine could reduce his services any more. Unless you count talking on the phone as a service
He has managed 2 trips to Portugal, though.

How do you know the risks are ‘ minor’ alegrias? Even the doctors don’t know that yet.

Suzie what I mean is (without going into details which I don’t know) the Oxford vaccine is produced in a similar way to the flu one while the Pfizer one is a totally new concept. Some people maybe sceptical of the latter. Anyway fingers crossed!

Toadinthehole

How do you know the risks are ‘ minor’ alegrias? Even the doctors don’t know that yet.

Toadinthehole, I don't claim to know that that the risks associated with the Pfizer vaccine are minor because the safety data for the Pfizer vaccine haven't been released yet. So we'll wait for that.

But, for any vaccine that is approved by the JCVI, the risks will be minor compared to the risks we face from COVID, or what would be the point of them approving it for use?

The vaccine is made out of a portion of the RNA, plus the usual bulking substances and a preservative. I would imagine that the most likely bad effect might be something like the effects of catching the whole virus itself naturally. If that happens, it will have been observed in the trials so far. If someone has a sensitivity to the preservative, that would probably already be obvious from their reaction to other vaccinations.

But there's no need for the under-80's to worry. Unless you are in the first wave, there will be people going "over the top" in front of you. Keep reading Gransnet to check whether the oldest posters are still commenting. If the canaries in the coal-mine aren't still singing when it is your turn, you can make your excuses and escape.

Good post elegran

Exactly Blinko, Petra and Elegran?.

Elegran !! ?
It is rather worrying, though, when posters suddenly disappear.

Some people do have reactions to the other agents in vaccines eg albumin, aluminium, gelatine but that is extremely rare.

Priorities for who will get the vaccines first haven't changed since at least the 25th September. JCVI say it may change between now and roll-out depending on the characteristics of the approved vaccine

www.gov.uk/government/publications/priority-groups-for-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-advice-from-the-jcvi-25-september-2020/jcvi-updated-interim-advice-on-priority-groups-for-covid-19-vaccination

I agree we have to start somewhere, but we should be going into it with our eyes open, and cautiously, is all I’m saying. There are no guarantees. If it was a case of everyone is at risk, then any vaccine would be the better option, and take the risk. We started this whole thing off with the knowledge that most people, four out of five, wouldn’t catch it. Of the one in five who do...most survived. In fact, I think it was these statements in the early days which led to complacency. I understand the government not wanting to alarm people, but I think it had the opposite effect. I’m not a scientist ( I leave that to my husband). These are just my opinions.

Elegran wins Post of the Day and its only 10am

BlueSky

Suzie what I mean is (without going into details which I don’t know) the Oxford vaccine is produced in a similar way to the flu one while the Pfizer one is a totally new concept. Some people maybe sceptical of the latter. Anyway fingers crossed!

No it isn’t a new concept - has been around and worked on for about two decades I believe. I’ll see if I can find a link

That’s strange Alegrias, Elegran, wins ‘ post of the day’, but when Esspee said a similar thing, you slated her!

I'm not too concerned about safety. However, I'm more concerned about whether this is actually the magic potion people think it will be.

Professor Anthony Costello posted the following yesterday:

"Two cautions about Pfizer trial. The completion of enrolment and vaccinations was mid-Sept so the data they released was after just six weeks. 1. This is not accepted practice for trials to release data so early and 2. If the antibody response is short-lived, so might protection."

In other words, it's too early to know what kind of protection the vaccine will give. We know that natural antibodies decrease after about four months.

The other point is that it was Pfizer who made the press announcement. Pfizer and AstraZeneca are in a race to produce the first effective vaccine and have already invested a huge amount of money and need to keep their shareholders happy. Announcing that a vaccine is ready to go would make shareholders ecstatic.

It's only six weeks until Christmas and I think any idea that a vaccine will have any effect on plans for the festive period is a tad over-optimistic.

It is true that a very small percentage of people end up in hospital with Covid, particularly in ICU. Nonetheless we have all seen the pictures on the television and we know that a small percentage of the population as a whole is still a large number of people. I would prefer to have the vaccine in order that life can get back to normal because I absolutely hate living like this.