Second vaccine dose timing

I’m booked for my first vaccine on Sunday.

It is the Pfizer vaccine according to the nurse who phoned to book me in.

I’ll ask about the time interlude. I don’t expect the person doing the jab will know but I’ll give it a go.

Whitewavemark2

Sparkling

Garajo, I don't think many of us on here, well no one actually, is on a Swiss social site and commenting on their handling of the crisis , your criticism of our government is not for you to comment on if it doesn't effect you. No one has a better health service than this country, they are working flat out to help the most people they can, they don't need negativity, from abroad, life's hard enough as it is. People are doing the best they can. I trust you have now had all your vaccines where you live and are vocal in their handling of things.

Don’t be silly sparkling

I am, thanks Sparkling.

This kind of post is so totally out of order- questionning the right of commenting due to nationality or current abode. Bordering on racism.

the rest of the world looks on aghast
Well exclude me from your wild generalisations please, esspee.

I’m quite prepared to believe Jonathan Van-Tam and other expert opinions that the 12-week interval won’t cause any problems, and that there is evidence that the Astra-Zeneca vaccine is more effective with a longer interval.

The rest of the world looks on aghast? I’m quite sure the media could produce statistics and reports to show that, if you say so.
However, my brother and Sister-in-law in Germany wish they had the chance to get a vaccine.
Friends/family in the US, Australia and France and Madagascar, wish they had our chance, and also that there were not so many Covid deniers/vaccine refusers where they live.

Mollygo. Some people (e.g. Boris’s dad) have had both. The rest are going to be left to take part in the unique medical experiment without their permission while the rest of the world looks on aghast.
Not only does this country lead the world in deaths per population but in abject stupidity in conducting a drug trial using an untested regime.

I keep seeing posts here and on FB about the false impression given by daily vaccination figures. I’ve just spent over an hour phoning round people (mixture of neighbours/ family/ friends/ choir members) about what they thought the figures represented. One ‘don’t know’ and the rest said they thought it meant first dose, so they aren’t being misled.
If it means people have had the first vaccine that’s fine by me. It gives me an idea of how far down the list we are.
They could change the wording to say ‘had first dose’ instead of vaccinated. I expect that will happen when a sizeable number have had the second dose, but it will be very upsetting for those who haven’t even had one jab.
My sister in law in Germany messaged me to say they’d been told that they wouldn’t be getting the vaccine because it was only for under 65’s. I looked it up and that refers to the AstraZeneca vaccine. She reckons it’s because the older folk are a drain on the economy, rather than the vaccine not working.?

Franbern

Lucca

No reply from sparkling to two comments yesterday ???

And, we in the UK are the Guinea Pigs. Just wish the media would stop talking about numbers vaccinated - when all they mean is that they have just received the first dose of any vaccine. Reported numbers of those vaccinated should only be those who have received both doses (eg: father of PM)!!!

I was referring to sparkling challenging gagajo on her right to comment !!

Rosie51. The simplest statement I can find on the subject is on the government publication “What to expect after your COVID-19 vaccination” and I quote:-

“The vaccine cannot give you COVID-19 infection, and a full course will reduce your chance of becoming seriously ill. We do not yet know whether it will stop you from catching and passing on the virus, but we do expect it to reduce this risk”

Please note this was published when the jabs were scheduled for a 3 week gap. It does NOT refer to the current ‘probably 12 weeks if we have supplies’ scenario.

Esspee, may I ask what your qualifications are to be making the statement no covid vaccine makes you immune? I've been following Dr John Campbell for a year now and have a different understanding from him. Yes you can still catch the virus because only a percentage will gain full immunity. If you are unlucky enough to be in the 5% to 10% ( depending on the particular vaccine) to catch the virus then you are correct that it should be a less severe illness.

Lucca

No reply from sparkling to two comments yesterday ???

And, we in the UK are the Guinea Pigs. Just wish the media would stop talking about numbers vaccinated - when all they mean is that they have just received the first dose of any vaccine. Reported numbers of those vaccinated should only be those who have received both doses (eg: father of PM)!!!

Interesting the way that some people deliberately misinterpret repeated factual assertions that even two vaccinations 3 week’s apart are not designed to stop you contracting Covid.

NO COVID VACCINE PREVENTS COVID. The ones so far tested were never expected or designed to stop you contracting the virus.

NO COVID VACCINE MAKES YOU IMMUNE. They were designed to alert your immune system so that when attacked you have a heightened means to fight back.

Properly vaccinated with a three week gap you can still catch the virus. The resulting infection should be less severe and possibly asymptomatic.

As for what will result from widening the gap between vaccinations - nobody knows. It has not been tried and tested. It is an ongoing experiment.

No reply from sparkling to two comments yesterday ???

Sparkling

Garajo, I don't think many of us on here, well no one actually, is on a Swiss social site and commenting on their handling of the crisis , your criticism of our government is not for you to comment on if it doesn't effect you. No one has a better health service than this country, they are working flat out to help the most people they can, they don't need negativity, from abroad, life's hard enough as it is. People are doing the best they can. I trust you have now had all your vaccines where you live and are vocal in their handling of things.

Don’t be silly sparkling

Do we know what the production problems that are referred to in the article are?

Of course it affects gagajo she is British and has a daughter and grandson living in the UK.

I now understand your comment on gagajo thread about capitol incident.

Are we only allowed to display interest in the country we live in ?

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

There is insufficient time to do lengthy testing of the most effective interval between vaccinations. So we must trust the current received theory about the how many weeks or days is best.
Please be assured any interval within reason is better than no second vaccine.

Same for Tim Hartford, re solving the conumdrum with the gap between does. He is NOT qualified to do so

When people are as hung up on data and statistics as they are -in the media and here on GN- it is both refreshing and useful to have a statistician to unpick those figures. That is what Tim Harford does - he does not pretend to be medically qualified but knows how to understand and interpret data and then communicate it in a way the layperson can comprehend.

A slow-down is reported in vaccine production and delivery.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55805903

The point about Tim Harford is not that he isn’t a virologist or an immunologist.
Neither are all the ‘medical correspondents’ who come on the BBC and ITN news to give us our daily dose of doom and gloom.

The point about Tim Harford is that he is an excellent communicator which is why he’s employed by the BBC to do More or Less, and to write his column for the Financial Times.

As well as his degree in PPE and his MPhil,
He has won the following awards:
(From Wikipedia)
More or Less won the Royal Statistical Society's 2010 award for statistical excellence in broadcast journalism. In 2017 Harford was made an Honorary Fellow of the society.
More or Less won Mensa's award for promoting intelligence in public life.
Harford was awarded the Bastiat Prize for economic journalism in 2007 (shared with Jamie Whyte).
In 2010 he again drew with Whyte, in second place.
He was awarded the OBE in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to Improving Economic Understanding

Managing the pandemic and the rollout of vaccination is as much an economic, logistical and social problem as it is a medical one.

I think Tim Harford is well qualified to comment on the issues from that point of view, more so than the virologists. It’s a team effort, with input required from all sides, not just down to one small segment of the scientific community.

And yes Van Tamm has a point. Anyone pretending that the issue is an easy one, is just plain nonsense. Which is clearly why even those with relevant knowledge and experience do NOT agree.

janeainsworth

Growstuff if you bothered to listen to any of Tim Hartford’s podcasts or programmes you might not be so quick to dismiss him out of hand.

As for Michael Portillo, it’s probably not necessary to be able to build a steam engine in order to make an interesting and informative television programme about a railway journey

Maw I know it is an analogy. In a way, a good one. Portillo is very good at making those amazing journeys, but I am pretty sure he would have NO idea on how to mend the engine!

Same for Tim Hartford, re solving the conumdrum with the gap between does. He is NOT qualified to do so.

Oh that is very encouraging Whitewave. Excellent news.

Thanks whitewave that does sound encouraging.

DD phoned for a chat over the weekend, and dropped into the conversation that she has seen some data that is beginning to suggest that the Pfizer vaccine will be safe to leave a longer gap. Oxford as we know has always been ok.

Apparently more data needs collating, but it was certainly cheerful news I think.