The Vaccine

Diabetics inject themselves at least once a day, it is not a difficult procedure to master. Much less so than phlebotomy, which is nearly always down to HCAs in the community. I don't think you will be able to pick and choose, you will be offered which ever vaccine is to hand, and I for one will be extremely grateful to get released!

I've given myself injections trisher. The pharmacist gives me flu injections. Can't speak for the pharmacist but I've not had any first aid training.

The burly fireman will have been trained in administering vaccines and will probably be good at making me feel relaxed because he is already used to dealing with people in stressful situations. The health authorities are not reckless, they won't be expecting all and sundry to do this with no oversight.

Actually I had to give my cat daily injections for diabetes. I might offer my services to the NHS - nobody is going to be as difficult to handle as she was.

I agree with MOnica, there is always that little bit of doubt lingering in the back of my mind. I will have the vaccine though, even if just so that I can start getting my life back, have a few holidays. This may seem trivial, but at our age, putting things off for a few more years is not an option. I have a couple of friends who have become vocally anti-vacc, I am not sure what they will do, or is the honest truth they are just selfish and want everyone else to have the vaccine and thus reduce the risk for the whole population?

The regulatory authorities will be careful in giving their approval, especially in view of our now litigious society.
I doubt there will be a risk of side effects but I'd rather risk that than risk covid.

I am feeling a bit left out as I have an allergy to egg (vaccines are made through the medium of egg)
My doctor won't give me any of the vaccines, flu, pneumonia because of this.
I have to rely on others being vaccinated to bring infection rates down.

Can anyone explain to me if you can get it more than once, if the vaccine is only available for some people and presumably has only a limited period of protection how exactly it will be safe for vulnerable people to mix with others once they are vaccinated? Presumable the virus will remain in the community in the unvaccinated, so it is entiely possible that it will still be active when the vaccine protection runs out particularly as there will be no long term studies available to show how long immunity lasts.

Allergic reactions are one issue AGAA4, as are people with autoimmune diseases and blood disorders etc. GPs are going to have to go through every patient's records in minute detail not to miss anything. There was a poster on here telling us how snowed under her daughter's GP practice was with information on all the planning and implementation. Sadly some posters chose to attack her knowledge and due to that she is no longer around to give us an insight.
You raise an interesting question trisher.

Being an ex NHS worker I am in touch with NHs consultants and nurses and some I ve spoken to are not eager to get the vaccine for themselves !
I am not anti vaccine as I ve said before but I m not rushing to get this one and what’s causes me to be hesitant is first the speed it’s been ‘found’ and second because of the BIG money involved I m hopeful by this time next winter we ll know a lot more about both the virus and the vaccine and then I can make a decision
I didn’t have the flu jab for five years after it was offered to me as I wanted my own immune system to work for me I have had it for the last five years as I ve got older I did have the pneumonia and shingle jab, they seemed to be main stream and well tested

I m not overly concerned with side effects but whether or not it’s worth having, will it give immunity for at least 12 months and can it impinge on my own immune system ? I am another who is not very trusting of the American vaccine and feel slightly more comfortable with the Oxford one (think chlorinated chickens)

I m also not in the least bothered about volunteers injecting me as it doesn’t take a big amount of training to learn how to inject, diabetics do it every day When my dad was in his last days he needed a daily injection into his tummy for a week which was administer by a family member after just being shown the once This vaccine is not being injected into a vein

I seem to remember Ellianne that the poster with the GP daughter was questioned about spreading false information about the vaccine, not her knowledge of how busy her daughter's surgery was.

When I worked for the NHS I was surprised by how many of my co workers didn’t have a flu jab. However, all of the doctors did and encouraged us to do so. I was one of the few that did.

I'm another one with lots of drug allergies , including all the penicillins and cephalosprins . In fact my old GP told me to avoid anything that ends in "cin" !
I am therefore very cautious (and, truthfully rather scared) about having the vaccine.

I read the article this morning in the Sunday paper about the antibiotic neomycin being one of the ingredients of the Covid vaccine although apparently not in the Oxford one.

I wonder how will we know which vaccine we are getting , how will they all be distributed ? I guess the GP surgery would know if they are giving the Oxford vaccine or the Pfizer one etc?

I won't be rushing to have one

That wasn't my impression Alegrias. I was very interested in the logistics and how every patient had to wait for 15 minutes at the surgery after the injection. If it is to be administered by volunteers in a sports hall or such like, who is going to monitor the patients and administer any treatment?

I don’t think anyone is saying that everything will go back to normal as soon as most people have been vaccinated. We’ll still have to adhere to hands, face, space, ventilate for a while till we know how long immunity lasts. But people that had the previous SARS virus are still protected after many years and there’s no reason why this virus will be different.

trisher

Can anyone explain to me if you can get it more than once, if the vaccine is only available for some people and presumably has only a limited period of protection how exactly it will be safe for vulnerable people to mix with others once they are vaccinated? Presumable the virus will remain in the community in the unvaccinated, so it is entiely possible that it will still be active when the vaccine protection runs out particularly as there will be no long term studies available to show how long immunity lasts.

I'm not to worried about safety or who actually administers the vaccination, but this concerns me too.

I have thought all along that people's expectations of the vaccine are unrealistic. Hopefully, they will stop the person vaccinated from developing symptoms which kill, but they won't stop transmission for many months or years. People will still need to take precautions.

It won't be like the certificates for Yellow Fever or vaccinations against measles.

It would be unethical to expose half of those vaccinated to the infection and half not. Therefore, we can't know whether vaccination stops transmission until significant numbers of a population have been exposed to Covid 19 by accident. It will then take sophisticated modelling to work out whether there is less infection in those who have been vaccinated than those who haven't.

I’m interested to hear you say that BlueBelle, as I’m a very recent retiree from the NHS, and I don’t know of anybody working in the frontline of the NHS who doesn’t want the vaccine, most are keen to have it done as soon as possible. There’s nothing like seeing your colleagues and friends in ITU to make your mind up, and there are literally hundreds of Covid patients in our local hospital at the moment.

growstuff as I understand it in order for vaccines to work a certain percentage of the population needs to be done. With limited amounts of vaccine I can't see how that can happen. Of course it will protect those who are already exposed to the virus, but those sheltering may be lulled into a false sense of security because they have been vaccinated.

There is plenty of the Oxford vaccine and it is being produced in India where they are used to doing things on a vast scale. It just needs to get past the safety checks, having been held up temporarily a couple of times.

Ellianne

That wasn't my impression Alegrias. I was very interested in the logistics and how every patient had to wait for 15 minutes at the surgery after the injection. If it is to be administered by volunteers in a sports hall or such like, who is going to monitor the patients and administer any treatment?

I don't really see why this is a problem Ellianne. My parents has their flu jabs in a sports hall this year. They had to wait 15 minutes afterwards, as I have always had to do. It didn't make any difference that they were in a sports hall, in fact it sounds like a great job for a sensible volunteer - keep an eye on people for 15 minutes and call a medical person if needed.

As for the mother of the GP - it was me who asked her about sources. She made a comment about side effects that was completely wrong and would have scared people. With so much misinformation about vaccines doing the rounds we all need to be responsible about what we say or write.

Ellianne

That wasn't my impression Alegrias. I was very interested in the logistics and how every patient had to wait for 15 minutes at the surgery after the injection. If it is to be administered by volunteers in a sports hall or such like, who is going to monitor the patients and administer any treatment?

I’m another one who is interested in the logistics of the 15 minute wait. It will certainly impact the rate of throughput. I’m sure that every location when jabs are being given will have medical personnel in attendance not just for emergencies but just general oversight. I think it will all take longer than is being said and I wish they’d stop over promising.

I am aware that I am starting to sound like the government's vaccine propaganda service, and I'm not, really

The virus is with us forever trisher. The purpose of the vaccine is to reduce the prevalence of the virus in the community, but no-one will ever be 100% protected, the same way we are not 100% protected from flu. Over time (weeks, months, I don't know) the level of the virus will reduce enough to make the risk low enough for all of us to start our lives again. We might need to get boosters periodically, like we do for flu. That's also why its important for people like AGAA4 that as many of us as possible take the vaccine, to reduce prevalence as much as possible.

The first time I was asked to wait fir 5 mins was this year at Boots. Every other year at the GPS it was out as soon as you’d had it.Also there would have to be sd which adds to the logistical problems.

Alegrias2 I think the general perception is that once you've had the vaccine you can mix as you like.
MayBee70 400 mill doses for Europe but the population is 448 mill- 48 mill not going to get it. That's almost 10%.

I've always had to wait Suziewoozie. Last time I had a wee wander around the ground floor of Boots for 15 minutes. As for SD, that's going to be easier to manage in a sports hall than a doctor's surgery.

Alegrias2

I've always had to wait Suziewoozie. Last time I had a wee wander around the ground floor of Boots for 15 minutes. As for SD, that's going to be easier to manage in a sports hall than a doctor's surgery.

Well I’m just saying what my experiences were. I still think there’s a logistical issue around this that I’d like to hear more about. Not all venues will be sports halls

It would appear that there's always going to be a "yes, but...." Which sounds a little bit like looking for excuses, I'm afraid. If it's not the timing, it's the side effects or the logistics. Which is why the government need to get the communication sorted about this rollout.

Have the vaccine, save lives, including your own. End of.