Covid Vaccine

[fruitsalad]

Why is it some 80+ have not heard or had the vaccine and yet in another area a 76 and a 78 year old have had theirs?

[Sqad]

Don't know.
Logistics I would assume.

[margarettom]

It depends on how proactive your local health area has been. We had a vaccination centre set up in the local council offices, that started vaccinations as soon as they received the vaccine. My friend had hers before Christmas. Many centres in London have only been set up recently. Some GP surgeries are better than others. It’s the luck of the draw.

[Peter Pedant]

there is a lot of give and take
( yeah dey give da vaccine and the 80 y o take it hur hur hur)
and this allows natural organisers to get their arrisses into gear.

and others sit and think and drink tea(*)

my practice rings up dolies and other layabouts and tell them to get their butts down to the practice in 5 m for no - shows

the pinch point is the supply of vaccine and not as they thought shy 80 y o not sure if it were safe or not.

[Peter Pedant]

(*) great Anna who three kingdoms do obey
sometime taketh counsel and sometimes tay
( Pope 1720)

[Peter Pedant]

working with natural organisers is pretty impressive when you get them ( rare )
one I was with left office with conferences organised for the next three years ( budgets and speakers of course)
and those that were left (me) just sort of did them

[New Judge]

//It’s the luck of the draw.//

No it's not. It's institutional ineptitude and it stretches from government ministers down to individual GP practices. It has been known since the pandemic began almost a year ago that a mass vaccination programme would be required. The plans for it in every area of the country should have been in place months ago. They should not still be in the process of formulation. Whether or not you receive the vaccine promptly should not depend on "luck of the draw."

It's little wonder things don't get done. I read today that the NHS has just realised there are delays in the postal service in some areas. The government has been proposing plans to minimise some of it by making the letters with vaccination invitations readily identifiable by postal workers so they may be given priority. "High level officials" in Royal Mail met yesterday with government ministers to discuss. Another meeting is planned for next Wednesday. Where's the urgency? Just decide how they will be identified and get on with it.

We're not alone. In Germany officials in a local area (Saxony or somewhere IIRC) have refused to release the personal details of people who require the vaccine ("data protection" you understand). The health people have been reduced to trying to guess people's ages (so that the vaccine can reach the right age group) by their first names. "More modern" names would be assumed to be young people and more "traditional" names those of older people.

As I first suggested when this got under way, it will likely degenerate into a bureaucratic shambles. Seems I'm not yet wrong.

[Peter Pedant]

ooo I love it when a mandarin says the mandarins really are crap

[maggiebee]

Perhaps one area has many aged 80+ and the health professionals are working their way through the list.
Perhaps in another area, all their 80+ residents (who want it) have received their jab so they have moved on to the next age group.

[bednobs]

maybe there are concentrations of 80+ yo in some areas, such as traditional retirement spots? If each area had 100 vaccines to give, but one area had 200 80+ year olds and one had 2, the area with 2 would expect to be doing others quicker

[bobbinwales]

In theory they could of allowed for that though bednobs in there planning.
But in the scheme of things a few weeks is not signficant if you shield while your waiting.

[New Judge]

//Perhaps one area has many aged 80+ and the health professionals are working their way through the list.
Perhaps in another area, all their 80+ residents (who want it) have received their jab so they have moved on to the next age group.//

//maybe there are concentrations of 80+ yo in some areas, such as traditional retirement spots? If each area had 100 vaccines to give, but one area had 200 80+ year olds and one had 2, the area with 2 would expect to be doing others quicker//

So let’s have a look, then.

Up to yesterday, in the North East and Yorkshire 204,140 over 80s had received their first dose. This represents 45.9% of that age group meaning there must be 444,750 over 80s in that area. In London the figure was less than half that – 92,398 or 29.2%. This means there must be 301,950 registered over 80s in London. So London has only two thirds of the numbers of over 80s than there are in the North East. So if they were being vaccinated at the same rate you would expect London to be completed much earlier. If the rate of delivery has been adjusted so that they should both finish together, then London is still way behind.

The only possible explanation for such a discrepancy (apart from bureaucratic ineptitude) is that a large number of invitations could be issued but not responded to. There could be some mileage in this:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/covid-vaccine-newham-london-numbers-b871758.html

But I cannot believe it explains all of the discrepancy between London and the North. Ignoring the age group split, London has administered fewer that 200,000 doses. The Midlands has managed less that 200,000 doses whereas the North East has managed 370,000 and the Midlands 387,000.

[New Judge]

//But in the scheme of things a few weeks is not signficant if you shield while your waiting.//

It is if you're the one doing the shielding, are over 80 and have been doing so for much of the past ten months

[Zacs-Master]

90 people turned down their invitations at a West Yorks hospital yesterday, presumably because of the weather, mainly. I don't think the system was designed with that expectation.

[MWG14]

We’re 82 & 81 and haven’t heard a thing yet.

[237SJ]

It was just slow to get started in some areas. I`m helping at a vaccination centre and we were supposed to start nearly two weeks ago but only got going (for the over 80s yesterday) Myself and one of the other volunteers (who also comes from a time critical industry) were quite shocked at how slow the administration in the NHS is. We didn't have any no shows though - they all battled in in appalling weather bless 'em.

[New Judge]

//Myself and one of the other volunteers (who also comes from a time critical industry) were quite shocked at how slow the administration in the NHS is.//

You obviously have not had cause to get too involved with it! :-)

[Scarlett]

I wonder whether they are giving more doses to areas that are struggling with higher infection rates?

[jazzyjen]

Or perhaps the younger ones have more underlying medical issues?