archie
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Post by archie on Nov 23, 2021 18:28:45 GMT
Booster jab booked in. Received a text message from the NHS this morning. Easy process. I had a number of locations offered, the one I chose being a chemist ten minutes walk away. I received a letter from NHS last week advising that I could book a booster jab at one of the mega vax stations. If I want a local appointment then I need to wait to be contacted locally. You can try the walk-in centres :- www.nhs.uk/grab-a-jab
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baboonery
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Post by baboonery on Nov 23, 2021 18:49:04 GMT
Contrast with the incompetent NHS Wales 'service'. I received a phone call out of the blue offering just one location, a mass vaccination centre in Cardiff, a 90 minute round trip by car. It was either that or try to arrange my own appointment nearer home, and, no, she didn't have a clue whether there were any closer centres, but offered me a phone number to try to find out and to arrange my own appointment. Well, I'd heard of others trying this number and never getting through to a human, so for the sake of my blood pressure I opted for the 90 min drive. Just as well, because I tried the phone number out of curiosity. Sure enough, you listen to plastic Annie droning on for 5 minutes about how important the jab is, whether you want to get it in Welsh, etc, etc, and finally how busy all the operators are and you'll need to call back another time... and then promptly cutting the phone off! You couldn't even hold on and wait in a queue. My initial instinct was correct. It was quicker to drive all the way to Cardiff and back than try to organise a jab closer to home. We'll no doubt shortly have to repeat this absurdity for my wife who's due hers soon. The same administration will no doubt be lecturing us next month about how environmentally conscious we ought to be. ๐ And that that contrasts with my โWelshโ experience. I fall within the 60-65 age group and I was notified of appointments for both of my first two jabs by post giving me c. 7-10 days notice. I had them on 18 February and 6 May. 3 November I received postal notification of appointment for booster jab which I had on 9 November. I acknowledge that being located in Cardiff may have been an advantage but I also have relatives of various ages (37-64) around South and West Wales who have all been able to arrange appointments without any significant inconvenience.
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Post by bernythedolt on Nov 23, 2021 20:19:29 GMT
Contrast with the incompetent NHS Wales 'service'. I received a phone call out of the blue offering just one location, a mass vaccination centre in Cardiff, a 90 minute round trip by car. It was either that or try to arrange my own appointment nearer home, and, no, she didn't have a clue whether there were any closer centres, but offered me a phone number to try to find out and to arrange my own appointment. Well, I'd heard of others trying this number and never getting through to a human, so for the sake of my blood pressure I opted for the 90 min drive. Just as well, because I tried the phone number out of curiosity. Sure enough, you listen to plastic Annie droning on for 5 minutes about how important the jab is, whether you want to get it in Welsh, etc, etc, and finally how busy all the operators are and you'll need to call back another time... and then promptly cutting the phone off! You couldn't even hold on and wait in a queue. My initial instinct was correct. It was quicker to drive all the way to Cardiff and back than try to organise a jab closer to home. We'll no doubt shortly have to repeat this absurdity for my wife who's due hers soon. The same administration will no doubt be lecturing us next month about how environmentally conscious we ought to be. ๐ And that that contrasts with my โWelshโ experience. I fall within the 60-65 age group and I was notified of appointments for both of my first two jabs by post giving me c. 7-10 days notice. I had them on 18 February and 6 May. 3 November I received postal notification of appointment for booster jab which I had on 9 November. I acknowledge that being located in Cardiff may have been an advantage but I also have relatives of various ages (37-64) around South and West Wales who have all been able to arrange appointments without any significant inconvenience. Different health boards operating differently, it would seem. Luck of the draw. Ours isn't sending out letters, just a phone call requiring an on-the-spot decision and offering no information and no alternative options.
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09dolphin
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Post by 09dolphin on Nov 24, 2021 5:26:01 GMT
If either the UK or national governments want people to get the booster jab it should make it as easy as possible for people to receive them. They already know what has worked in the past so why aren't they using the same model? As someone who believes in the vaccination route for reducing serious illness or death (I acknowledge it does occasionally fail) it does suggest from the comments here and my own experience that the national governments are not being as successful as they were with their first rollout.
Can I also say I am shocked that some European states are proposing/imposing strict lockdowns and restrictions on the unvaccinated and if it happened in the UK I would be happy to become involved in peaceful local protests. I believe people should have a choice and if they decide to be unvaccinated they take the associated risk of severe illness/death - but it is their choice. I, as a fully vaccinated person, may infect another person but I am not being deprived of various liberties. I know I am less likely to be infected than an unvaccinated person but the fact remains I could be infected and would obviously avoid contact with people I know to be unvaccinated.
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Post by Badly Drawn Stickman on Nov 24, 2021 7:42:07 GMT
If either the UK or national governments want people to get the booster jab it should make it as easy as possible for people to receive them. They already know what has worked in the past so why aren't they using the same model? As someone who believes in the vaccination route for reducing serious illness or death (I acknowledge it does occasionally fail) it does suggest from the comments here and my own experience that the national governments are not being as successful as they were with their first rollout. Can I also say I am shocked that some European states are proposing/imposing strict lockdowns and restrictions on the unvaccinated and if it happened in the UK I would be happy to become involved in peaceful local protests. I believe people should have a choice and if they decide to be unvaccinated they take the associated risk of severe illness/death - but it is their choice. I, as a fully vaccinated person, may infect another person but I am not being deprived of various liberties. I know I am less likely to be infected than an unvaccinated person but the fact remains I could be infected and would obviously avoid contact with people I know to be unvaccinated. It does appear to be not working that well for some, which is unfortunate. For myself and everybody I know the system has worked as well as could have been anticipated to date. I have no problem with people declining the vaccine as long as they are happy to sign an exemption from treatment agreement. Then if they do get ill they can go home and be seriously incapacitated/die at their own inconvenience rather than denying others access to hospitals. Seems a reasonable trade off.
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agent69
Member of DD Central
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Post by agent69 on Nov 24, 2021 9:35:57 GMT
I received a letter from NHS last week advising that I could book a booster jab at one of the mega vax stations. If I want a local appointment then I need to wait to be contacted locally. You can try the walk-in centres :- www.nhs.uk/grab-a-jabThe nearest walk in centre is 25 miles away
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Post by bracknellboy on Nov 24, 2021 11:01:48 GMT
If either the UK or national governments want people to get the booster jab it should make it as easy as possible for people to receive them. They already know what has worked in the past so why aren't they using the same model?As someone who believes in the vaccination route for reducing serious illness or death (I acknowledge it does occasionally fail) it does suggest from the comments here and my own experience that the national governments are not being as successful as they were with their first rollout. ... One consideration is that the initial model is almost certainly unsustainable. Amongst other things, it co-opted GP surgeries (and pharmacies) as vaccination centres. It is not reasonable to on the one hand moan about GP services operating in a degraded fashion and on the other expect those surgeries to also act as significant contributors to ongoing covid vaccination initiatives. Of course govt needs to make significant efforts to reach all parts of the community, but it needs to be in a sustainable way. Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure a lot of our local centres are still operating and not relying just on mega centres, but in general you need to wait for them to contact you (e.g. if you had your initial jabs at x they will contact you for follow-ups). Anyway, the 'all hands to the deck and b****r anything else' approach clearly can't be the forever solution.
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Post by crabbyoldgit on Nov 24, 2021 11:11:59 GMT
Our nearest walkin centre is 45miles away, so me and the wife settled down with two tablets pressing buttons in sync to get we hoped appointments close ish together enabling a single visit for both of us at our nearer hospital site. Between us we were offered on the first page 5 dates each but only one of those appeared in both our lists, strange. But when we went to the next page to book a time on that day none were available.In fact it was the same on all 9 days offered , times available on day page but not available when you tryed to book them. So we cannot get a booster as no other dates were offered, what a heap the nhs systems are. Sorry but my love affair with the nhs is over what with waiting 3 1/2 weeks for a telephone gp consultation which started with the words can we make this quick i need to move on from the gp and was a total waste of time. So of to a and e which is what we should have done nearly a month before. Ps the gp in question has just gone part time so as to provide bottox injections at his girlfreinds hair dressing establishment.
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benaj
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Post by benaj on Nov 24, 2021 11:12:00 GMT
It may be easy to book, but the national booking system wonโt have people booked for an appointment exactly on the 152th day after the 2nd jab. Of course, the other option is just to grab one. 182 days ๐ Got mine booked for the 153th day after my 2nd jab. I receive an invite from one of the NHS trust in London. Been told it can be booked 4 weeks before โdue dateโ via a special link.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2021 11:24:15 GMT
I have every problem with people who will not get vaccinated. They are a cess-pool of disease and need to be removed. I would remove their right to Universal Credit and I would double their taxes.
I normally sit to the left of Ghenghis Khan on most issues, but on this I am pretty firm.
Passports are too gentle.
Our local surgery has a spare building (NB buildings in the north are pretty cheap) so all it took was a 15 minute bike ride after responding positively to a phone call.
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Post by bernythedolt on Nov 24, 2021 12:24:06 GMT
I have every problem with people who will not get vaccinated. They are a cess-pool of disease and need to be removed. I would remove their right to Universal Credit and I would double their taxes.
I normally sit to the left of Ghenghis Khan on most issues, but on this I am pretty firm.
Passports are too gentle.
Our local surgery has a spare building (NB buildings in the north are pretty cheap) so all it took was a 15 minute bike ride after responding positively to a phone call.
Do you include pregnant women in this? My daughter went through months of anguish over this. She desperately wanted the vaccine, like most of us, but was very worried about any impact on the foetus, since this is still an unknown even now. PhD qualified, she knows that no amount of "trials" could produce instant results in this aspect. Thalidomide is still within living memory. She eventually took the jab at arounds 7 months pregnant, judging that by then her infant had probably developed sufficiently .
These thing aren't necessarily so black & white. PS. Our first little grandchild, and he's 5 weeks old now and thankfully thriving. ๐
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agent69
Member of DD Central
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Post by agent69 on Nov 24, 2021 12:26:38 GMT
Our nearest walkin centre is 45miles away, so me and the wife settled down with two tablets pressing buttons in sync to get we hoped appointments close ish together enabling a single visit for both of us at our nearer hospital site. Between us we were offered on the first page 5 dates each but only one of those appeared in both our lists, strange. But when we went to the next page to book a time on that day none were available.In fact it was the same on all 9 days offered , times available on day page but not available when you tryed to book them. So we cannot get a booster as no other dates were offered, what a heap the nhs systems are. Sorry but my love affair with the nhs is over what with waiting 3 1/2 weeks for a telephone gp consultation which started with the words can we make this quick i need to move on from the gp and was a total waste of time. So of to a and e which is what we should have done nearly a month before. Ps the gp in question has just gone part time so as to provide bottox injections at his girlfreinds hair dressing establishment. My local surgery only offers telephone consultation in the first instance. When I enquired about availability I was told the next bookable consultation was 10 days away, but that if you ring up when the surgery opens at 8:30am then they offer consultations on the day. - first day I had my web browser open at one of the sites that shows the exact time. 1 second past 8:30 I pressed the call button and listened to the options. At 30 seconds past 8:30am the recorded message said press one for appointments. Pressed one and the line was engaged.
- tried again the next day and again pressed the call button at 1 second past 8:30am. As soon as the recorded message started 'welcome to ......' I pressed option 1 (so about 5 seconds past 8:30am). This got me to 5th place in the queue.
No idea what happens if you have a serious problem.
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Post by bracknellboy on Nov 24, 2021 12:39:21 GMT
I have every problem with people who will not get vaccinated. They are a cess-pool of disease and need to be removed. I would remove their right to Universal Credit and I would double their taxes.
I normally sit to the left of Ghenghis Khan on most issues, but on this I am pretty firm.
Passports are too gentle.
Our local surgery has a spare building (NB buildings in the north are pretty cheap) so all it took was a 15 minute bike ride after responding positively to a phone call.
Do you include pregnant women in this? ..... PS. Our first little grandchild, and he's 5 weeks old now and thankfully thriving. ๐ If one wanted to go down the route of mandatory or semi-mandatory (higher restrictions on) vaccinations, it is hardly beyond the wit of man to add pregnant women to the list of exemptions (which of course already includes a bunch of categories of people who have very valid medical reasons to not have the vaccine). And yes while they are now confident on the risk/benefit trade off for those who are pregnant, it would not be an unreasonable exemption. However, I would also hope that it would be accompanied by a stack of love bombed information on the risks: 20% of the most critical covid patients are unvaccinated pregnant women (NHS). I have also seen (in passing, not verified etc etc) that maternal/neo-natal morbidity is substantially (x20 ?) greater in those with covid.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2021 12:49:20 GMT
of course there are medical reasons why people cannot be vaccinated and that is easy to manage, while being pregant is hardly an illness
try and get off the whole crazy thinking, the sooner people stop taking non-science from the internet/mate in the pub etc the better
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Post by bernythedolt on Nov 24, 2021 12:50:46 GMT
"...while they are now confident on the risk/benefit trade off for those who are pregnant"
Remember they were equally confident about prescribing thalidomide. Luckily my mother declined it when carrying my second sister.
Nobody can state with 100% confidence that the vaccine is safe for the unborn. There simply hasn't been enough time.
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