Seems like I'm being left behind!

Yes, I know. It's NOT FAIR!

(Except that it is, actually.)

Have a nice cup of tea.

Boz

Just go in with him and ask to be vaccinated at the same time as you live in the same household etc. etc. They will not refuse.

Is this true?

It would account or so many people between 60 and 65 around me already having the vaccine.

They had vaccine slots locally and were asking for people to go in. I tried but couldn't get a slot because I'm under 65. DH had his with the 70+.

Marm
Dont ask for a slot because they are working "by the book". You need to walk in with someone who has a slot and trust they have extra vaccines. As you didn't go in with your DH this is now a bit difficult for you! But you are very near to having the jab anyway.
I got the impression it saved a lot of admin for them for you to piggyback an older partner. No letter for me. They take your NHS number and get it sorted. It's more efficient.

You most certainly can go in with someone having a vaccine - my husband had his two weeks ago (mid fifties but extremely clinically vulnerable) and I went with him - you are allowed to take a carer with you and that is what I am, not that they asked other than to check whether I was due to be vaccinated that day or not. Didn't think to ask if I could have one as well - I'm group 9, early 50s with no serious health issues. Ah well, the South West are steaming ahead with the rollout so I expect to get mine by April at the latest.

A great number of couples are in this situation- including myself and my spouse. I’ve had mine while he’s still waiting.
In my opinion, it’s better if you have them at different times because you may have a reaction to it like I did (and a few other people I know) I was glad OH was able to look after me which may not have been the case if he’d had his and had a similar reaction to myself!

I understand your feelings entirely. I wrote on the newly shielding thread about how l was disappointed and slightly irked that asthmatics whose symptoms were well controlled were being downgraded in favour of the morbidly obese (although l can, of course, understand why the latter group need the vaccine as soon as possible) because, even though I know there are a multitude of reasons for severe obesity, part of me still feels it is self inflicted. Even though my asthma is generally well controlled and I can understand that I am no more likely to die of covid than anyone else, l take a daily preventative inhaler with long acting reliever medication in it. I have also had several bad asthma attacks and chest infections in the past so I could be very poorly indeed if I caught it and so have been extremely careful. This would put me from group 6 down to group 8. However, it seems that the doctors have obviously been considering cases on their own merit and l had a call this morning asking me if I could have my vaccination on Thursday. I feel as if I have won a gold medal.

They are going through group 6 at the moment (16-65 with underlying medical conditions). Group 7 (60-65) and group 8 (55-60) will be the two largest groups of all. I read some time ago that the year I was born (1964; l was born in December) was the year when more people were born than any year since the end of the Second World War, over a million of us. I certainly remember that we always had large classes in school. Even allowing for the fact that some people will have emigrated and others, sadly, will have died, there are still a great many of us around. We are a ticking time bomb for the next twenty or thirty years as we age further and, despite the fact that we have been around for 55+ years, no prizes for guessing what preparation successive governments have put in place.

I am 63 and was vaccinated today so don’t worry it will be your turn very soon.

Boz

Just go in with him and ask to be vaccinated at the same time as you live in the same household etc. etc. They will not refuse.

I'm afraid they might - refuse that is. I tried this when my DH had his but was told I was too young. This when the centre we were at had capacity for 1500 per day but only had 500 booked in for the day we were there. Crazy really.

It all depends on area. For instance, in Enfield, they're doing the over 50s already.

The people who turn up on the off-chance aren't really queue jumping - just using up spare doses that would have to be thrown away otherwise. The Oxford one has to be used within six hours of opening. It makes no sense to discard it.

When I got my text 'invite' via the GP, I couldn't book online - only through the link on my mobile.

Of course, when I got back, after the jab - there was my invitation letter!

I do understand, in my area they are just starting 60-65 but also including 16- 65 with underlying conditions, a huge group!
I am 61 and have COPD a respiratory disease and all around me are younger people this week having jabs in 30=40's for obesity, diabetes or even pre- diabetes. i know we are all at risk and I feel selfish thinking because I am older that I deserve it first. I don't like myself for my reaction but I have not left house since March and struggle to breath doing daily activities so am terrified of Covid and younger neighbours and extended family members are going about their lives shopping etc and I feel aggrieved. I think it is because I thought I would be hot on the heels of the 65-69's and now feel I have no idea where I am in this queue, if that makes sense.

misty34 your last sentence is very true, but we have seen many things change at the drop of a hat with this virus. By that I mean schools had to close with no notice and travel was curtailed at the last minute etc. That's how it is.
I guess the extra people slotted into the vaccination queue have pushed some of us in the 60 - 65 group further down the list and we just have to hang in there a bit longer. It does feel like we are left dangling a bit and maybe we get even more despondent when others say they were told "yes, fine" when they went along with their partner or friend.

misty34

I do understand, in my area they are just starting 60-65 but also including 16- 65 with underlying conditions, a huge group!
I am 61 and have COPD a respiratory disease and all around me are younger people this week having jabs in 30=40's for obesity, diabetes or even pre- diabetes. i know we are all at risk and I feel selfish thinking because I am older that I deserve it first. I don't like myself for my reaction but I have not left house since March and struggle to breath doing daily activities so am terrified of Covid and younger neighbours and extended family members are going about their lives shopping etc and I feel aggrieved. I think it is because I thought I would be hot on the heels of the 65-69's and now feel I have no idea where I am in this queue, if that makes sense.

If you have COPD, you should be vaccinated before people beteen 60-65. Your health condition "trumps" your age in this case.

It might be different in Scotland, Wales and NI.

Ellianne Which extra people have been slotted into the queue? As far as I know, they're still sticking to the original priority list in this phase, apart from a few "extras" who have been added when there were extra doses.

My husband (60) for one growstuff!! With no real health condition.

Hopefully with the PMs wish to have everybody vaccinated by the end of July they will now pick up the pace
I think the sooner the better the country is going to start to open up and whilst many are prepared to stay inside I am pretty sure this is not the case among the younger population.
Also many of them cannot work from home and need to be out and about

I assume the "extras" were added in when gps were asked to minutely review their lists in line with any new findings. And rightly so, I'm not going to argue with that.
It was just funny that in our household the younger, healthier, fitter one got there first!
(And he has no side effects today at all! - Grr He can get his own breakfast now!)

and whilst many are prepared to stay inside I am pretty sure this is not the case among the younger population.
True rosie and I have my doubts whether these same people will be prepared to exercise caution for 3 weeks after their jab and beyond. Once jabbed they will be even less careful.

I wonder if you feel like this because your husband has broken ranks. You agreed that you would go together and then he went and booked himself in! Actually I would be a bit cross under those circumstances. Still it won't be long before it's your turn.

Ellianne true also it is not always a case of being less careful as I pointed out to my lovely stepmum who has been vaccinated ages ago and is complaining people are still out and about. She can stay at home her income us not affected but this is not so with many.

Ellianne

I assume the "extras" were added in when gps were asked to minutely review their lists in line with any new findings. And rightly so, I'm not going to argue with that.
It was just funny that in our household the younger, healthier, fitter one got there first!
(And he has no side effects today at all! - Grr He can get his own breakfast now!)

I don't think the priority order has changed. Unless your DH has changed his ethnicity or place of residence, that won't have affected him. Maybe it was a clerical error.

Unless your DH has changed his ethnicity or place of residence
I just knew he is leading a double life! How many extra kids I wonder?

Seriously, thanks everyone.
I think the reason is he had a common happening after a flight a year or so ago but none of the tests have found any reason for it. Maybe unexplained events are included as they could blow up with covid?
Just grateful the gp is cautious.
Thanks.

I’m 81, and had my first jab some weeks ago, but I would have been perfectly happy to wait. I’m fit and healthy, and careful about keeping my distance. I would have been quite content to give my place up to someone like my daughter, who is in daily contact with the public.
Frankly, I can’t understand why you feel the way that you do, especially as you are likely to be called very soon after your husband.

I know that the number of people who have been asked to shield has increased, but could somebody please provide a link showing that these people are now "jumping the queue"? My understanding was that the priority list hasn't changed.

Some areas are further ahead in the roll out due to some peculiar way of allocating doses.

I'm 65 (nearly 66) so I'm Group 5. I haven't heard anything from my GP hub and I know that they have run out of doses and don't know when any more will be delivered.

However, I do have my first vaccination booked for next week at a mass centre run by the NHS, which has a different supply system.

As well as being in Group 5, I'm also in Group 6 (diabetic). I was able to book the appointment because I'm Group 5, not because I'm Group 6. The people in Group 6 under 65 in this area haven't been contacted yet (unless they've been able to slip in under the radar or are eligible because they are healthcare or care workers).

There seems to be a postcode lottery element about the roll out and, personally, I think it's petty to squabble or feel jealous of other people - unless, of course, you genuinely have been left off some list.

My children, aged 46 and 49 have had it! My daughter is a volunteer and my son’s wife is a volunteer so they were offered does which would otherwise have been wasted at the end of the day. My daughter had quite bad side effects for 30 hours though.