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Anybody had their covid vaccination yet? I’m a healthy over 65 and wondering what the waiting period is.

robin1234

I think I heard that the British government said recently that everyone over 65 should have been vaccinated by the end of March. Maybe differences between countries, Scotland, England etc.

christmasoompa

This may help - https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/vaccine-queue-uk (although it is giving you a date for the 2nd dose based on the new plan of within 12 weeks, so you'd have your first much sooner).

I know lots who've had it, but they're all older than you, so you'll be sometime later in the spring I'd guess.

DaveLovesDee

The calculator originally gave me dates between 1st and 28th Feb for my first dose, but since it change to both doses, it now suggests between 28th March and 22nd May to have had both doses. I suspect there'll be local variations due to supply chain and nurse availability.

I'm in group 6 on the 9-point list, with both a clinically-vulnerable health condition and an underlying health condition.

scot47

Those running the show here do not know. They make it up as they go along. The sensible thing is to live like a hermit - if you can.

durham_lad

We are in the 65-70 age group so don't expect to be vaccinated before March. We know several over 80's who have been vaccinated including 2 who went to our local hospital for scheduled outpatient appointments, nothing to do with Covid, and since they were in the group scheduled for vaccinations were given their first shots. My wife's knitting group have been meeting on Zoom every Wednesday and she doesn't always attend but did attend yesterday. One of the knitters is a nurse at our local, large, hospital and is in fact a "vaccinator" and passed on some interesting news. They have finished all the front line workers at the hospital and are working through the patients, plus catching any outpatients that come in, even if they haven't been contacted previously. They are also well through the care homes in our area, staff and residents.

She said they've seen quite a few allergic reactions, nothing worse than skin rashes, among folks that carry epipens and almost always on their second injection - this is the Pfizer vaccine.

A logistical problem we didn't know about is that neither the Pfizer or Oxford vaccine is licensed yet, just emergency use authorization. This means that a doctor has to explain this and get patient authorization in person, plus be present during the vaccination in case of bad reactions to the vaccine. They can speed things up by doing vaccinations in a room with many vaccinators and one doctor to oversee it.

durham_lad

I watched our local news report last night, "Look North" inside Care Homes where residents are being vaccinated. A few of them turned down the vaccine saying they don't want the German made vaccine (Pfizer) and will wait until they can get the British one (AstraZeneca). You couldn't make it up.

DaveLovesDee

As is their right to go to the back of the queue.

durham_lad

I couldn't agree more, plus there will be plenty who don't want the vaccine at all, no matter where it comes from. I think a 70% acceptance rate is what the government is hoping for, higher if possible.

DaveLovesDee

The expected take-up rate is 70.6% according to the vaccine calculator, so you're spot on. In our area, it seems our local NHS trust is only asking for the AZ/Oxford vaccine as it's easier to store and distribute, and that makes one one vaccine type gets administered.

Personally, I couldn't care less who supplies mine as long as it's the same supplier for both doses, as I haven't seen any trials regarding mixing vaccines. And with the Moderna vaccine approved today, there are a variety of combinations.

durham_lad

Good news indeed.

The Moderna vaccine is expected to be available here in the spring which is about the time my age group should be at the head of the line. I'll take whatever vaccine is offered.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55586410

DaveLovesDee

Yeah, because the UK ordered theirs after the EU order, which the UK chose not to be part of. So we're paying more per dose and are further in the queue, purely down to stubbornness.

Timmy Chch

Not quite. The uk chose to negotiate their own deals which each manufacturer to ensure the right numbers and deliveries to suit them. The oxford vacine is the main choice and is way cheaper to procure and distribute.

scot47

I expect to get mine in March. It is not a panacea. I had Covid back in March last year so I may have some immunity.

DaveLovesDee

In EU countries, each member state gave their numbers to the EU, who then negotiated a price for the total requirement. Each country will receive it's vaccine requirement pro-rata, so if France orders 5% of the total, it receives 5% of each batch distributed by the manufacturer.

The UK does the same on behalf of England and the three regions.