Vaccine groups

Greeneyedgirl I've been reading dozens of posts on Twitter saying the same ie that the elderly in care homes haven't been receiving it. Some areas are reporting that they've run out of doses or never received their allocation in the first place.

It was reported in the DM that only 0.3% of those in Care Homes had received the vaccine despite being high priority.
My mother is 96, living at home dependent on carers x 4 daily, and I have been informed that “they have no idea” when she will receive the vaccine.
Considering that the new Covid variant is considered more transmissible I think there is a risk of seeing a similar scenario in Care Homes as earlier in the year. I really hope not.

M0nica

Sarnia the way old people in care homes have been treated during COVID has been brutal and undoubtedly contributed to an increase in non-COVID deaths during the COVID period.

I think this is why growstuff said what she said - and I agree with her. If a fraction of the time spent on concern about children, their education, and their mental and physical health had been spent on thinking about the old, very frail and often mentally disabled, then we could have found more innovative ways of protecting their mental and physical health and the lives of those caring for them.

Thank you MOnica. I'm glad somebody understands what I've been going on about.

I will very happily take whatever vaccine I am offered as soon as I am offered it. Do not care who makes it - just be happy to have that needle
I have never asked anything about who makes, etc the flu vaccine which I have been having for the past 18 years.

Sarnia the way old people in care homes have been treated during COVID has been brutal and undoubtedly contributed to an increase in non-COVID deaths during the COVID period.

I think this is why growstuff said what she said - and I agree with her. If a fraction of the time spent on concern about children, their education, and their mental and physical health had been spent on thinking about the old, very frail and often mentally disabled, then we could have found more innovative ways of protecting their mental and physical health and the lives of those caring for them.

growstuff, why do you say posters think 'there are people who don't seem to think the lives and the quality of life of the elderly matter'?
If we are on Gransnet, then presumably none of us are in the first flush of youth. All of us would hope for care and dignity in our final years, surely.

I'm curious to know what people are waiting for and how long they will wait.

I can't see how people could be offered a choice of vaccine, if one was the Pfizer one. My understanding is that once the doses have been taken out of extremely cold storage, they must be used within a limited time. People won't be able to turn up and say they want an alternative because there would be doses left over at the end of the vaccination sessions and somebody would have to ring round offering it to other members of the community.

It's going to be a logistical nightmare anyway without making the whole thing more complicated than it needs to be.

I agree with you MOnica. If you're over 70 and are admitted to critical care with Covid, you sadly have a 3 in 5 chance of dying. The risk is higher for males and certain pre-existing conditions. Even people who feel fit and healthy are at high risk.

The vaccine offers up to a 90% chance of not having severe symptoms and not being admitted to critical care.

The average infection national infection rate is currently estimated at 2%, which means 1 in 50 people are infected eg 40 at any one time in a large comprehensive school, 1 or more in a supermarket, etc. Even in a family group of six, there is a 1 in 8 chance somebody is infected.

The only safe alternative for anybody over 70 without a vaccine is to shield for years and I don't think anybody really wants that. I feel especially sorry for people in care homes who can't even receive visitors safely. Unfortunately, there are people who don't seem to think the lives and the quality of life of the elderly matter.

vickya

OceanMama

farview

I'm really really not sure yet that I would want the vaccine...and if I had to have it...my gut feeling would be for the Oxford vaccine....tin hat on now and behind the settee...

I'll come join you. I'm quite happy to let other groups go first. It gives us a chance to see what happens among that group and learn more about the vaccine when used more widely. I'd like that kind of data before I make a decision.

I'd like to wait too. Do you think you will get a choice of vaccines, Oceanmama? I heard a suggestion they might insist on having had the vaccine to let people enter certain place when they open, like gyms and pools.

I doubt we will get a choice. If an individual location has more than one brand available and we have a preference, I'd think some of them might be accommodating.

I also think evidence of vaccination will be required for particular activities, like getting on a plane. I think that will happen almost globally. It's all just wait and see at the moment.

OceanMama

farview

I'm really really not sure yet that I would want the vaccine...and if I had to have it...my gut feeling would be for the Oxford vaccine....tin hat on now and behind the settee...

I'll come join you. I'm quite happy to let other groups go first. It gives us a chance to see what happens among that group and learn more about the vaccine when used more widely. I'd like that kind of data before I make a decision.

I'd like to wait too. Do you think you will get a choice of vaccines, Oceanmama? I heard a suggestion they might insist on having had the vaccine to let people enter certain place when they open, like gyms and pools.

Absolutely MOnica. I was trying to make the point that even after vaccination, people should still exercise caution.

farview

I'm really really not sure yet that I would want the vaccine...and if I had to have it...my gut feeling would be for the Oxford vaccine....tin hat on now and behind the settee...

Budge up behind the settee and I'll join you. The Oxford vaccine seems an excellent option. It doesn't need complicated storage and is much cheaper.

No vaccination or medicine or indeed any medical procedure can promise you 100% success.

If I was trapped in a burning building and the fire brigade said there was only a 90% chance of saving me, I would rather they got on and tried than held back until someone came along who could guarantee me a 100% of rescue

Green eyes are often considered as having a certain mystery in them. People with green eyes are found to be mostly curious by nature and are intelligent. They have an incredible zest for life.

Are you trying to pinch my user name ??

Those in care homes aren't out and about are they growstuff? I'm talking about those mingling in the community and collective responsibility.
You make me laugh, I do actually have green eyes!

Greeneyedgirl

The vacc doesn’t prevent infection 100%!!

Do you want to borrow my brick wall Greeneyedgirl?

The green-eyed monster got to you Ellianne?

No, what it will mean is that 80+ year olds in care homes will be able to accept visitors, knowing that their serious risk of premature death has been reduced.

The vaccine does not guarantee efficacy, so people who have been vaccinated will still need to be cautious.

The vacc doesn’t prevent infection 100%!!

It’s amazing that some of our older ones are now getting appointments to be vaccinated.

The trouble is come the end of January all the 80 pluses and vulnerables will be having a whale of a time: pub meals out, hotel holidays………… and I’ll still be keeping my head down and going careful!

You deserve it Nannina as you like many others have tried really hard in the last ten months to go very carefully, so as not to burden the NHS.

Can I ask, will it then be the responsibility of 80 pluses etc. to go carefully to actually protect the likes of me and others in their 60s and 70s, assuming we are not a burden to the NHS? That might be another six months or more?

Where did you read that vaccine doesn’t doesn’t work on new variant Daftbag?
I have read that they’re fairly confident it will!

My understanding is that the vaccine prevents a person from catching Covid, but does not prevent them from passing the illness.

In addition, I personally think that to some degree us oldies and vulnerable ones are a brilliant test and are the most disposable but then I. Feeling very low so maybe it's just how I feel n o w that makes me feel so negative.

But I did read that the current v vaccine is not currently going to work on the second variant, though apparently it will only take around 6 weeks to adapt the current vaccine.

As I understand it the vaccination provokes antibody production in the recipient so preventing or significantly reducing the severity of the virus hopefully reducing hospital admission and death rates. Vaccinated individuals are advised to practice social distancing as there’s no evidence that they cannot still transmit virus. The idea is to vaccinate those likely to die or be severely affected whilst herd immunity develops. I believe the current plan is for vaccination of those clinically vulnerable and over 50s. I, with medication, am normally independent and have a very full and active life but have had to shield for 10 months making me dependent on others and less physically fit, thankfully my mental health has held up. I will be so glad to have the vaccine so that I can rejoin the world albeit in a socially distanced way

I had the vaccine last week as I am 81, my husband also had it , he's 81 with Parkinson's disease. You do have thoughts about it but then I thought I go every year for flu jabs, I had pneumonia and shingles jabs last year and because they have been around for a while you don't give them a second thought, so I have to consider we are lucky to get the covid vaccine early, as we been sheilding since last March.

I am at a loss to understand vaccine reluctance when in the 20th century millions of lives have been saved by vaccination. Sadly some children are still dying in parts of the world from preventable illnesses because they can’t gain access to vaccines, and even in UK many hundreds of measles cases are notified annually. We are so lucky to live where we do.

The logic as I see it, for the hierarchy in vaccinating NHS staff and the elderly first (apart from humanitarian reasons) is because sick elderly fill hospital beds, and the regular work of the NHS then grinds to a halt. This affects everyone, children, elderly, pregnant woman anyone requiring medical intervention.
A struggling health service has a knock on effect on the economy.
Of course all front line workers and younger people need the vaccine as soon as possible, and hopefully we will not be in this rationing situation for too long.