Bureaucratic nonsense

Quote from Tom Spector:

Professor Tim Spector of the Zoe Covid Study has said "the average seems to drop about 3% a month.

Nobody is criticising anyone for being scared, but a bit of reality across the board wouldn't go amiss.

DH had another email yesterday afternoon and he has his booster booked for this afternoon. I guess the email last week was just an error.

The post was posted on Tuesday morning, obviously the lady on the phone couldn’t book in an appointment then as couldn’t be booked until Thursday, what’s wrong in waiting couple more days to book ? Why all the fuss over two days ? Ok , would have to go back through the system on the phone , which is annoying, but does it matter ? If there wasn’t a system put into place for everyone to adhere to then it would be absolute chaos . The system is there for a reason , so just be patient and wait until couple days have passed as ring again…..why is everyone wanting everything done “ now “ !

I would add that i'm sure the medical services in any country
would prefer people who know they are going into potential
crowded situations to take the booster and thus reduce the risk of ending up in their care. If I was staying at home I wouldn't
mind any date

Luckygirl I agree with you totally. I am not due my booster
untill the beginning of December and as I am going to Air
Travel a couple of weeks later I want to make sure I have the Booster asap when I become eligible.
So I looked at making an appointment on line and found plenty of slots up to November 30th. I'll wait another week and see if the slots move up into December.
Of course this is France so yet again I can be called 'Smug in
France' as someone on this forum preferes.

maddyone

^Which is a nuisance as she doesn’t drive.^

Seriously? It’s a nuisance? Thank goodness we live in a first world country and the biggest nuisance in life is a couple having to visit the vaccination centre twice in a week, in order to receive a life saving vaccine.

Try telling people in third world countries that it’s a nuisance having to drive twice in a week to receive a life saving vaccine.

But it is a nuisance. Surely it couldn't have been difficult to do them at the same time!

I agree with the inefficient system. I rang to change their booster date only to receive a text to confirm the wrong date. The appointment is 25 miles away, whereas two other local surgeries get theirs done 6 miles away. That’s 150 miles for three visits instead of only 36 miles. Multiply that by 1000 people and that’s a huge amount of pollution that could have been avoided.

Yes, in Scotland we receive appointments in the post - well in the north east we do. Perhaps other health boards do it differently. I had mine last Friday, along with the flu vaccine.

Maybe some of us are really afraid and don’t feel that we can begin to resume any sort of normal life until we have had our booster. Every time I resolve to eg see my family the safety goalposts seem to move further away. As DH and I have both done everything possible to protect ourselves the number of infections has risen and, yes, we’re scared. It might seem petty and silly to you but to me it’s very real. I’ve been ridiculed by many people over the past 20 months for being uber cautious and, quite frankly, I can do without people on here criticising some of us for just wanting the extra safety that the booster will give us. I saw my grandsons today because I’m looking after their dog while they have a mini break. They had to cancel their holiday because my grandson caught covid two weeks before he was due to be vaccinated. The eldest boy has gone from being a child to a young man and I’ve missed seeing that happen. And I’ve shed many tears over it. So being ridiculed by people for being scared doesn’t help matters. I’m as sick of being laughed at I am of being I’m sick of the virus. Perhaps a bit is sensitivity wouldn’t go amiss.

I really am bemused, honestly. I'm going to say "you", but I just mean anyone, not a specific person.

We're getting a booster at least six months after the second dose. Not exactly six months, at least six months. So I seriously don't understand the headlong rush to get it as soon as you possibly can and the concern that if you don't devote all your energy to that you'll either be derided as unvaccinated or will suddenly become significantly more likely to catch covid, almost overnight. Immunity wanes, it doesn't plummet.

It doesn't mean you are being treated like a child if you understand that there are 10s of millions of people to get the booster, and maybe they won't be able to give you a date right now, or take your booking when you want them to take your booking. It is behaving like a child to demand that things are done your way when that's not how things are set up.

If I said what I thought about entitled people I'd get banned too.

Which is a nuisance as she doesn’t drive.

Seriously? It’s a nuisance? Thank goodness we live in a first world country and the biggest nuisance in life is a couple having to visit the vaccination centre twice in a week, in order to receive a life saving vaccine.

Try telling people in third world countries that it’s a nuisance having to drive twice in a week to receive a life saving vaccine.

A friend of mine spent ages on the phone booking his booster. But when he then asked for his wife to have hers (they were both due at the same time) she has to have hers a week later. Which is a nuisance as she doesn’t drive. Am I right in thinking that the Pfizer vaccine no longer has to be kept at sub zero temperatures? I’m sure I read ages ago that it was now easier to transport.

Alegrias1

growstuff

With the original programme I was able to book both doses weeks in advance on a day and time which was convenient. The roll out was a remarkable achievement and I'm not being told by a random person that it's the same this time when it quite clearly isn't.

Trisha's post offers an explanation, as does the earlier one posted by somebody who works in a GP surgery.

Not keen on the evidence presented then? Rather rely on your own experience?

Okey dokey.

I'm not going to respond to you because I would be banned from GN.

I really think she should sign up for a booster class in reading comprehension (and try to stop eating lemons).

trisher

growstuff

Thanks trisher. That could explain what's going on. Why didn't the NHS just be honest and say there might be some problems and delays, but hang on, we've got plenty and you'll all be vaccinated? Rather than treating us like mindless zombies who shouldn't question anything and should be grateful we don't live in Timbuctoo.

I think the OP vividly illusrates why they didn't say. Can you imagine how many people would have tried to get themselves pushed up the ladder if they thought it might not work so well? Or attempt to book their jab well in advance so they didn't miss out.

trisher I don't want to be pushed up the ladder. With the first two doses I booked online. My first dose was about a month after I became eligible, but it was the first available. I didn't complain, I put it in my diary and waited. I was able to book the second dose at the same time.

Firstly, communication about how I book has been dreadful. I received a text from my GP ages ago, saying that I would be eligible, not to do anything and not to contact the GP surgery because they wouldn't talk to me about vaccines. There has been no other communication from the health authority or local authority or anything written in the local media. I didn't do anything, as requested. I become eligible for my booster in 10 days. It just so happens that the vaccination centre is a couple of hundred metres away from where I live and I saw a big sign saying "Just walk in" (or similar), so I Googled to find out what was going on. The centre is offering on vaccinations on Saturdays only, which is not at all convenient for me. Cancelling my work on a Saturday would mean losing a big chink of my income.

I'll continue to be patient, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to do.

I don't want to jump any queue. I want to do as the government has requested and get my jab within the next few weeks, but I still don't know how. I could end up as one of the unvaccinated and the "complainers" on here would label me as selfish or worse.

I really don't understand why there can't be an advance booking system. Strangely enough, I'm not happy being treated like somebody in a cattle market, as somebody on here thinks I should be happy about.

I'm not hugely bothered because I don't go out much and I'm always super careful. Quite honestly, I'm more irritated by some of the posters on here, who seem to think we should just be pushed around without an adequate explanation. We're not children.

Touchy, touchy....

Alegrias1

^It isn’t her fault that the infection rate in this country is so bad.^

Nobody has suggested it is. What an odd thing to say.

Well, you know I make a habit of saying silly unsubstantiated things don’t you.

As others have said, it will be built into the booking process and will probably not allow the operator to book. We could not book ours until invited.

By my calculations 30 weeks is more than six months so maybe they need to send their staff back to school to learn weeks and months.

It isn’t her fault that the infection rate in this country is so bad.

Nobody has suggested it is. What an odd thing to say.

I haven’t got a clue what’s happening about having my booster but will be going to a walk in centre on Tuesday to have it done. And that’s only because someone on Facebook told people in our area that the walk in centre was empty because nobody knew about it. There is a definite lack of communication about boosters imo. I think the OP is being very sensible trying to plan ahead, covid wise, for her trip, especially as she has been, from what I can remember of things that she’s said in the past, been very sensible about keeping herself safe throughout the pandemic. It isn’t her fault that the infection rate in this country is so bad.

Just to throw in my tuppence-worth, the system has worked well for me. I received
my blue letter around 2/3 weeks ago with an appointment at the local vaccination centre for last Friday. I had my booster plus flu vaccine as did Dh. No issues at all. but would be nice if everybody’s experience could be this uncomplicated

Magarithea thank you for trying to explain but I think I do understand.

OP told us that she wanted her booster because she was going away and going to a concert. Now I don't know whether she is eligible or not because this thread is full of discussions about what "six months" means. But I do know that she hadn't been called for her booster, but tried to book one anyway, which some people have obviously been able to do, and got a bit annoyed with the person on the phone who wouldn't do what she wanted her to do. Probably because she was not allowed to do that. Because the system wouldn't let her. So no point at all in complaining about the person on the phone, or the system, or anything else.

We've got an almost-miraculous set of vaccines, we're mostly on our third dose while many people have none, and so I'm afraid I do get a bit tetchy with people who complain that they are not getting exactly what they want, when they want it, in the location of their choice, and there has been a lot of that on this thread.

growstuff

Thanks trisher. That could explain what's going on. Why didn't the NHS just be honest and say there might be some problems and delays, but hang on, we've got plenty and you'll all be vaccinated? Rather than treating us like mindless zombies who shouldn't question anything and should be grateful we don't live in Timbuctoo.

I think the OP vividly illusrates why they didn't say. Can you imagine how many people would have tried to get themselves pushed up the ladder if they thought it might not work so well? Or attempt to book their jab well in advance so they didn't miss out.

Following being urged by the government decree of all over 55's (who would not have to wait exactly 6 months and one week) to get a booster ...I tried ......I have the appropriate underlying health conditions but was told I am not eligible ...also heard on TB thousands of others are having this problem .....someone aged under 50 who I know has had a third jab, by going to a walk in centre .........so I tried this, only to be told again I am not eligible .....so, once again, the government says it is irresponsible not to have your third jab whereas in reality it is IMPOSSIBLE to do so !

Alegrias1

Too early to book an appointment, everybody else would be too early too, but because I want mine earlier you should make an exception?

Nah, not on really.

AlegriasI I think you're misunderstanding what the OP is saying. She is eligible for the booster but they won't book until Thursday as the NHS is working on calendar months not actual months. why they can't sort the appointment out while she is on the phone and it's only a couple of days out I don't know!