Twelve weeks on, Mum still hasn't been called for second jab!

B9exchange

You can book just your second jab on the NHS.uk site, I would go ahead and do that. We booked DH's second AZ jab that way last night as he hadn't heard from the surgery. As a health informatician, I was quite impressed that the system could tell from his NHS number and DoB that he only needed the second jab, what he needed and when, and offered him a choice of appointments only on that day. There was only one site available, and it will be a 30 mile distance, but not a problem for us as we have a car. Slots keep coming up all the time, so my advice would be to keep checking every hour or so, and grab the first one you can get to.

This is do good to know - a reassuring back up. Thank you. Maybe if those of us who can easily travel do this, it would mean more time locally for GPS to deal with those who can’t travel or need a home visit.

Get on to your GP pronto. I'm 54yrs old and booked mine this morning online to go to a vaccination centre and got my date there and then and what date to go for my 2nd one.

You can book just your second jab on the NHS.uk site, I would go ahead and do that. We booked DH's second AZ jab that way last night as he hadn't heard from the surgery. As a health informatician, I was quite impressed that the system could tell from his NHS number and DoB that he only needed the second jab, what he needed and when, and offered him a choice of appointments only on that day. There was only one site available, and it will be a 30 mile distance, but not a problem for us as we have a car. Slots keep coming up all the time, so my advice would be to keep checking every hour or so, and grab the first one you can get to.

Aepgirl

I wasn’t expecting my second jab u til 12 weeks after the first, so I’ve got another couple of weeks to go.

There’s no point in getting in touch with your GO, we just have to be patient.

Sorry but when my second jab is due, if the surgery fobbed me off, there’s no way I’d be patient , and neither should I be.

I wasn’t expecting my second jab u til 12 weeks after the first, so I’ve got another couple of weeks to go.

There’s no point in getting in touch with your GO, we just have to be patient.

My husband had first Pfizer on Jan 14th and got call up today for his second. In London

I was also about to suggest that if you have her NHS number, you book it yourself online.
From what I can gather, due to the storage problems with the Pfizer, it isn't being used as widely as the Astra Zeneca.
I can fully understand your mother's anger, frustration and fear as we are all told that it is imperative that we all have 2 jabs before we can return to what passes for normal life and just hope that it is possible for her to have her 2nd vaccination before too long.

I think we also have to take into account the anxiety of an older vulnerable person.

Sorry not Health Group but local Health Watch group

Bluedaisy

We’ve also got a problem because we’ve moved recently to Sussex from Devon where DH and myself had our first vaccination DH in January and me 5 weeks ago. We’ve signed on with a new GP and the receptionist has told me because we’ve moved areas (5/6 hours away) we’ve got to go back to Devon to have our second vaccination which with our health conditions its completely out of the question! We both had the Pfizer vaccine and apparently our new GP surgery is only sent the Oxford one and only enough vaccine for the patients that have only been done so far with no extra which is utterly ridiculous. I’ve phoned the helpline and they can’t help us! Has anyone else moved areas and got the same problem? My DH is due to have his second shortly and I’ve no idea anymore what to do, the move has been stressful enough without this worry. If we don’t have the second one it will be through no fault of our own but it will stop us being able to go on holidays, cruises, mix with people in the future plus whatever else the government bring in rule wise in the future.

This is unbelievable. Here’s some suggestions from me ( no idea if they’ll help). Find out the Clinical Commissioning Group for your area and contact them or contact your local Health Group. Finally your new MP . The suggestion of returning to Devon is so beyond stupid

Some areas have two systems running alongside each other. One is the National Health service booking system which offers you the second appointment at the time of booking the first. The local scheme usually doesn't let you book the second and it says they "will contact you shortly" re the second jab, which means round twelve weeks later. I know this because I chased it up as I didn't know why I didn't get a second appointment straight away. You can't book through the national NHS if you are in the local scheme. NHS119 are only dealing with Oxford AZ vaccines. You need to wait for the text or call or contact the surgery /practice running your local scheme if nothing happens in a week. Bit chaotic at the mo due to the rush to vaccinate all 50+ as soon as possible. Very impressed with the rollout myself. I think its very important to get the majority of the population done ASAP to damp down this pandemic, so we can all get back to normal. The first dose is very effective, both AZ and Pfizer, and will prevent any serious illness. We will all get the second jab. No one will be forgotten I'm sure! The first jab is the most important.

Of course the NHS is doing a great job but here we have an elderly woman who had her first second dose cancelled. The surgery don’t seem to appreciate how concerned she must be feeling to be told they don’t know when she’ll get it. This isn’t good enough and there’s no excuse for it. Surgeries are receiving funding for this work and should use some of it by employing maybe a temp to sort out problems like this.

We’ve also got a problem because we’ve moved recently to Sussex from Devon where DH and myself had our first vaccination DH in January and me 5 weeks ago. We’ve signed on with a new GP and the receptionist has told me because we’ve moved areas (5/6 hours away) we’ve got to go back to Devon to have our second vaccination which with our health conditions its completely out of the question! We both had the Pfizer vaccine and apparently our new GP surgery is only sent the Oxford one and only enough vaccine for the patients that have only been done so far with no extra which is utterly ridiculous. I’ve phoned the helpline and they can’t help us! Has anyone else moved areas and got the same problem? My DH is due to have his second shortly and I’ve no idea anymore what to do, the move has been stressful enough without this worry. If we don’t have the second one it will be through no fault of our own but it will stop us being able to go on holidays, cruises, mix with people in the future plus whatever else the government bring in rule wise in the future.

We had our second jab yesterday, exactly 11 weeks after the first. It was organised by our GP at the local community centre and all went very smoothly.

Helen
I agree, the logistics must be almost impossible. Cheers to your daughters and all the volunteers taking part.

Do you know what? I think the NHS is making an absolutely amazing job of getting this vaccine rolled out. It’s a massive undertaking and we are streets ahead of most other countries. Two of my daughters are working their socks off doing their normal health visitor jobs in the week and then extra shifts at the weekend to vaccinate. I am very thankful.

suziewoozie

This isn’t good enough. We were assured they had planned for the rollout of the second dose. Your mum has done all she can - would she ( or let you ) contact your MP or else your local Health Watch. Good luck

Things happen suziewoozie. Apparently, it is half of an order from the Serum Institute of India which has been delayed. The company has said that there have been shortfalls of vials, glass, plastic and stoppers which come from the US. What would you suggest we do about it?

We have been ahead of the rollout, which gives us flexibility when this sort of thing happens. The current focus is now squarely on ensuring the delivery of vaccines to everyone in priority groups 1-9: that is, the over-50s and everyone over 16 in an at-risk group, and on delivering second doses.

Although we seem now to have a culture of blame for anything and everything this doesn't seem to be anyone's fault. To quote an article I read this morning, the process seems to be reliably unpredictable and we were told that could well be the case.

As for the OP's mum. Ring the GP surgery and remind them. It's the only way you will find out what is happening.

I had an NHS letter asking me to book online which I did, and was able to book a second jab at the same time. First on Feb. 1st, second on April 20th. It does seem that if you are contacted by your GP first, as my friends were, you will only get a one date, with a promise of one later.

Last evening Matt Hancock said that even if the under 50s have to wait, everyone else will get their second jab.

We had ours in mid Jan, told next would be 12 weeks and we’d be texted ( by GP, mustn’t phone them), that will be mid April I guess, however many have got their second appointment straight away.

The problem with changing centres CleoPanda is that some centres only do one type of vaccine. Son and I had pfizer at a GP led centre; we can't choose a dkfferent GP centre as here they are allocated according to which surgery you go to. The nearest mass centre only does Astro Zeneca

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I have my second one on the 1st of May. I had my first on the 4th of February. Not exactly 12 weeks but not a problem.

I would advise she contact GP and try once more - if no luck, contact your local MP. This is such a politically hot topic isn’t it, so hopefully you’d at least get some clarification of the situation via your MP. In our area GP surgeries are booking for a couple of nearby mass vaccination centres. When they contacted me, they booked both parts of the jab at the same time, but my partners’ GP is part of a group of 3 local surgeries acting together as a vaccination hub. He was contacted today to book his first vaccination but they only book the jabs one at a time and say they will contact him when his turn comes for the second part. Apparently this is because vaccine supplies are pre-designated on delivery, so they can’t book second dose patients until they have the specific batches for that group. Seems to be a fair amount of discrepancy in different areas.

If she is worried, understandably, I wouldn't hesitate to book 2nd one online which you can do. The only thing is it may be a little further away, but it may not be.

KarenR

I had my first dose after receiving a text from my GP. At the vaccination centre they told me they would be in touch regarding my second jab. My husband had exactly the same experience.
I became aware that those people who’d booked online via the NHS website had also got dates for their second vaccine. Yesterday I went on the website and was able to book second jabs for my husband and myself. I suggest you give that a go. Good luck!

Thank you that’s useful to know