NHS staff NOT first in the queue for vaccine

lemongrove

I think there is a massive difference between blind trust and
Celebrating the wonderful efforts of scientists to produce a vaccine, and hoping to receive a vaccination early next year.
Not believing a word that our government says is just as bad as believing every word ( that any government says.) You also have to remember that a lot of cynical and negative posts are made by people who very much dislike the fact that we have a Conservative government and do all they can via their comments to rubbish almost any advance/ good outcome.
The hardest thing ( for quite a few years now) is not being able to put any trust in news items without checking various sources constantly...even The Guardian gets things wrong and now and then the BBC sites.
Being cautiously optimistic seems the best route through it, and being able to celebrate the good things that happen, such as the efforts of scientists to produce a vaccine so quickly.

Well said lemongrove.

I do agree Lemon ( crikey, twice in a day!), and try to just exercise a small dose of cynicism, but, frankly, when the government is led by a liar and staffed by people more concerned, it seems, with getting contracts for their pals than spending time doing a bit of quick research before opening their mouths, it is very hard. It is not just their own reputation that is out there, it is mine too as a UK citizen, and I mind very much. It must be extremely difficult for the scientists and researchers to listen to the rubbish being trotted out by our representatives. Surely we can agree on that, as a non political point?

Yes, I think that when scientists ( dealing only in bald facts) mix with politicians (who have to somehow spin these facts to make them more palatable to a tax paying and voting public)
Come together then there will always be a disconnect.?
I have never rated Johnson but that doesn’t mean that the whole government is lousy.

Throughout all this pandemic, especially early on, I often thought the scientists were at a disadvantage because they aren't used to being in the public glare and dealing with the media as politicians are.
As it turns out now several of them have held their own superbly and have ended up being those who impart the information and guidelines most effectively. It isn't necessarily all the facts and statistics they spout, but more their controlled, calm manner of delivering these. They instill a feeling of confidence in us.

They instill a feeling of confidence in us, perhaps that is because they are dealing only in facts as they are now, not with a view to being re-elected in a few years' time?

Now I may get yelled at for this but here goes anyway…

Scientists spend their whole working lives defending what they have to say. They present their findings and have them questioned all the time by colleagues and other scientists in other institutions. So, they are used to being prepared, not waffling, and being able to back up their pronouncements with facts and data. Obviously, the best of them make it to senior positions, like JVT and Whitty. They may not be right about everything, but everything is based on good sound arguments. When that gets compared with a politician who just says what people want to hear, or who is good at the kind of debates that are encouraged at debating societies, it’s no wonder that people have confidence in what they say.

lemongrove

Yes, I think that when scientists ( dealing only in bald facts) mix with politicians (who have to somehow spin these facts to make them more palatable to a tax paying and voting public)
Come together then there will always be a disconnect.?
I have never rated Johnson but that doesn’t mean that the whole government is lousy.

I do admire the consistent way you try to see the bigger picture and make fair judgements. If the govt paid the rent/mortgage for the whole population, threw in three months of free food, some on here would be whining about having to pay for their own postage stamps.

God forbid we should be pleased that the vaccine is on the way!

some on here would be whining about having to pay for their own postage stamps
Well they are going up 9p to 85p Kamiso!

Been getting some cards from UK - £1.70 WHAT?

Sent ours from France next door- cheaper but still about 50 Euros- made our own cards with photos of the house and garden covered in snow, so heavier than normal.

I rarely allow myself to get upset about any complete 'tosh' on this forum, however the comment about needing to consider each persons 'worth' is unbelievable
Two of my nearest and dearest might be considered less 'worthy'
My MIL aged 89, she has a lot of worth to me, my DH, her 6 grandchildren and her 17 great grandchildren
My DH who is CEV, he has plenty of worth to me, his mum, our sons and 5 grandchildren, he has worked hard all of his life, he certainly didn't ask for or deserve his illness

Willow73

NHS,POLICE,FIREMEN all should be first. After that give it to the youngsters who are going to carry on socialising no matter how many lockdowns we have to have. Once they are given it then we will be safer going out and socialising.

We don’t know that the vaccination will prevent transmission yet. That’s giving it to younger people, who are less likely to be hospitalised, would be less effective.

That was my comment nanaK54 and I'm so sorry if it upset you. That was not my intention and all my elderly relatives have worth to me too, like one uncle who was a gp and his brother who was a church minister.
To anyone who was offended these were questions I was asking in my head and out loud, to which I have no immediate answers. I certainly gave no personal opinion.

Ellianne

That was my comment nanaK54 and I'm so sorry if it upset you. That was not my intention and all my elderly relatives have worth to me too, like one uncle who was a gp and his brother who was a church minister.
To anyone who was offended these were questions I was asking in my head and out loud, to which I have no immediate answers. I certainly gave no personal opinion.

Thank you Ellianne

biba70

Been getting some cards from UK - £1.70 WHAT?

Sent ours from France next door- cheaper but still about 50 Euros- made our own cards with photos of the house and garden covered in snow, so heavier than normal.

€50 sounds expensive to me!
Maybe if you took the pictures in summer without heavy snow..........⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️

And the relevance to vaccines for NHS workers was...........?

GagaJo

I think the general order is ok. I'm a teacher and want a vaccine BUT I'm fine with being very low on the list.

I still think healthcare workers should be first. We need them there for the rest of us if case we're unlucky enough to catch Covid. IMO, the elderly should come 2nd.

I do too, Gagajo although I think teachers should be a high priority too.

Vaccinating residents of care homes will be a logistical nightmare with a vaccine which has to be kept at such a low temperature and, once thawed, if disturbed or shaken, it is of no use.

The other problem with care home or nursing homes residents is that they may not be able to give an informed consent so surely the person who who has the Health and Welfare LPA would have to be contacted to do that? That could cause further delay.
Of course care/nursing home residents and vulnerable children should have the vaccine as soon as possible but logistics and problems of consent may delay this programme and I think that the elderly and vulnerable should be kept as safe as possible until a vaccine which can be transported to care homes is available.
Others such as carers and teachers who are able to attend vaccination centres could move up the queue.

So if the vaccine is to be distributed to hospitals all over the UK, if there are any unused/left over in the fridge why can't they be given to medical staff rather than wasting them?

biba70

Been getting some cards from UK - £1.70 WHAT?

Sent ours from France next door- cheaper but still about 50 Euros- made our own cards with photos of the house and garden covered in snow, so heavier than normal.

They must be larger than average cards. It's £1.45 to Europe.

I paid £1.70 for one to go all the way to Australia.

I’m NHS and we’ve been given 12 weeks of lateral flow testing kits that we are supposed to do twice a week. I’m relieved I am not first in line for the vaccine. I don’t work on the front line. I don’t have the flu vaccine and never have. This is my choice. I’m not patient facing.

Elliane I am sure they would be used up in that way, depends on how good the organisation is as to how many are left over!

I think we can be confident they won’t be wasted, they are giving the vaccine in hospitals because they can store and give the vaccine safely, and there will be more demand than supply for this first phase - on the BBC Wales news tonight there’s a feature showing this minute about staff complaining that they can’t get a slot for an appointment because the hospitals have exhausted their supply.

Callistemon

biba70

Been getting some cards from UK - £1.70 WHAT?

Sent ours from France next door- cheaper but still about 50 Euros- made our own cards with photos of the house and garden covered in snow, so heavier than normal.

They must be larger than average cards. It's £1.45 to Europe.

I paid £1.70 for one to go all the way to Australia.

Just checked the pile of envelopes - the top one has 1 stamp, for 1.70- and the others 3 stamps 1.42 (?) + 2p + 1p.

This is fascinating but WHAT has it got to do with vaccines for NHS staff (or indeed anything)?
PS €50 ?

Just over 3000 people in the UK have died from Covid in the last week. Most of them were over 75. The vaccine could have saved many of those lives.

The objective of the JCVI's priority order was to save lives.

It has now become quite clear that care home residents won't be vaccinated for some weeks. Hopefully, there won't be another 3000 deaths a week.

Vulnerable children can't be vaccinated. The Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine wasn't trialled on under 16s and, therefore, isn't licensed for use in that age group.