[Closed] Anybody else been offered the vaccine yet?

Its open to me to get it now and has been for a few weeks. I haven't organised it yet and will wait a couple more weeks as in my estimation I am not at high risk for a healthcare worker. Let those in the acute hospitals get it first.

Had my first dose yesterday (I’m a doctor). Feel a like a big moment. No ill effects apart from a surprisingly sore arm.

Now I’ve just got to keep my nose out of trouble for a couple more weeks until I develop immunity. Have an unfortunate colleague who tested positive 48hrs following his vaccine (obviously he picked the virus up before he got the shot).

easily

Being vaccinated does not mean yo can stop precutions. You can still get it and you can still carry it. It just reduces the risk not eliminate it

Superficial - I hope they are ok?

I’m in the “gen pop” so not expecting it for a long time. I’ve no idea whether my new role as a NHS COVID Vaccinator might put me as an essential worker when they’ve done all the top 9 groups.

Thanks tj, I'm aware of that. I don't intend to ease up anytime soon. It just feels like the first positive step for me in a long time. Workwise that is, other things are going ok - I wouldn't want anyone to worry.

’ve no idea whether my new role as a NHS COVID Vaccinator might put me as an essential worker

Damn well should be - IN Scotland they are top of the list

tjagain
You can still get it and you can still carry it. It just reduces the risk not eliminate it

Do they know that yet? I thought they didn't know about whether it stops you getting or not?

We’ve been told nothing so far.

TJ - I know you have concerns about the programme. What I know so far, we will be in Teams with professional backup, whilst responsible legally for our own work. Our training is to recognise warning signs and get help - absolutely not “have a go heroes”.

Had mine last week.

I’ve no idea whether my new role as a NHS COVID Vaccinator might put me as an essential worker

Very good chance you'll be offered it instead of chucking away a partially used vial.

I had my 2nd dose 2 days ago. Had no after effects from the 1st, but 2nd made my bones ache yesterday and my arm was so sore I couldn't lift it. All good, now though.

Think I can’t get my head round is logic of putting all the health care workers in the priority 1 group if it’s not proven to reduce transmission

I absolutely get the front line workers are at far more risk of getting it, and if I was in front line I’d be wanting it. However given we’ve repeatedly been told anyone under 50 is not going to die from it (and the governments approach appears to be vaccinate the over 50s and the rest can take their chances), it seems a bit odd that we’ve got folks working in pharmacy’s getting the jab before people I know who are 80 with numerous comorbilities

I mean my mate, fit as a fiddle, works in the part of the hospital that is COVID negative, is on list to get it shortly. As far as I can tell he’s at no more risk of getting it than any shop worker, and far less at risk than a school teacher

tpbiker
Full Member
Think I can’t get my head round is logic of putting all the health care workers in the priority 1 group if it’s not proven to reduce transmission.

As far as I can tell he’s at no more risk of getting it than any shop worker, and far less at risk than a school teacher

But health workers work with people that have underlying health issues. So if it was found to reduce transmission(we still don't know but it's possibly likely), then it makes absolute sense to treat health workers even if they aren't in the covid areas. It's a disease that affects the vulnerable hardest, so kinda makes sense to start there and with the people that interact with them and work backwards.

Plus if health workers are vaccinated. More than likely will reduce absence rates in the hospitals too, which will help everyone.

Health workers get it to help prevent spreading it others particularly the vulnerable who they will be in contact with. Thought that was obvious.

Think I can’t get my head round is logic of putting all the health care workers in the priority 1 group if it’s not proven to reduce transmission

It's not proven not to, so logically we should vaccinate HC workers in case it does, rather than wait to find out.

Exactly Rob

As far as I can tell he’s at no more risk of getting it than any shop worker, and far less at risk than a school teacher

Thats not correct. Many of us work with multiple known covid cases where we have no option but to get up close and personal. Healthcare workers are the highest risk of catching it, vulnerable people are the highest risk of dying from it. More than half my colleagues caught it over 2 outbreaks at work. that includes domestics and admin support staff

Dants - I think you slightly misunderstood my post. Anyone delivering the vaccine should be right at the top of the list for getting vaccinated . Nothing to do with my reservations.

Hmmmmmmm - checking the guidance it seems to have changed slightly. IMO if we are training and preparing a large cohort of people to be doing this vaccination then it makes perfect sense that they should be vaccinated as they are a potential transmission source to the most vulnerable and also due to multiple contacts at risk themselves

As an aside - if you are a not a registered nurse administering medication under the supervision of a registered nurse by my understanding the nurse remains accountable legally for your actions. ( unless there has been some exception set up)

Getting mine tomorrow, wife had hers yesterday - both healthcare workers. Wife seems ok so far except for sore arm as expected.

My other half and I both had our last week.

Much like @Superficial neither of us had any problems apart from a ridiculously sore arm for the following couple of days!

If (BIG if) the vaccination created immunity but didn't stop someone carrying and passing it on, surely we would rely on reliable daily testing on front line healthcare workers otherwise could be increasing risk to patients?

My wife (nurse) is booked in tomorrow, most of her ward including receptionist are booked in.

tpbiker
Full Member
Think I can’t get my head round is logic of putting all the health care workers in the priority 1 group if it’s not proven to reduce transmission

But it does keep all your healthcare workers at work, rather than being off sick. They may still catch it and will have only mild symptoms and be back at work in 2 weeks rather than a longer period of sickness. Given how understaffed and overstretched the NHS currently is, that's a major priority.

Was supposed to have mine yesterday, but the clinic cancelled it. (don't know why) will get one later in the week probably.

TJ - apologies for any confusion. I wasn’t meaning any negativity or criticism of your earlier post.

I’ve no idea whether my new role as a NHS COVID Vaccinator might put me as an essential worker

Yes - working on the vaccine programme you are in a current cohort being called forward. It’s in JCVI guidance. When I find it I will link here. We are interpreting that include people volunteering on the programme too

I had mine at the weekend.

Now I’ve just got to keep my nose out of trouble for a couple more weeks until I develop immunity

thats worrying if a health professional doesn’t understand the consequences.

It is going to take months of data to know how effect the vaccine is, or whether you can still be a carrier whilst having immunity. Therefore nothing changes for the foreseeable in terms of precautions and change in behaviour

They may still catch it and will have only mild symptoms

Exactly, i.e they won't be anywhere near as likely to be seriously ill or die by catching a virus that they are right in the middle of in a hospital.
The virus doesn't completely stop you getting ill and in some cases (<5%) won't actually work but better for healthcare, care home residents etc,. to have it than say me who happily works at home and doesn't need to interact with anyone.

My wife has had the vaccine (NHS staff) and it was via word of mouth as centre was opened but not communicated well so NHS staff were all just telling each other to get down to the centre and queue up for 2 hours which she did as she is not overly healthy and was pretty ill in April with suspected Covid so I am very happy that she has had it.

No worries Dantz. I did not take it that way more that there seemed to be confusion

Oh dear

TJ – I know you have concerns about the programme. What I know so far, we will be in Teams with professional backup, whilst responsible legally for our own work. Our training is to recognise warning signs and get help – absolutely not “have a go heroes”.

For a not quite as brief a moment as it should of been I thought to myself “eh, you just shove that thing up there nose for a second, how much training do you need”

Eventually I remembered I watched Contagion yesterday and that I need to stop blurring reality and fictional media ...

Think I can’t get my head round is logic of putting all the health care workers in the priority 1 group if it’s not proven to reduce transmission

The fact is at the moment we don’t know, until people have been vaccinated and the data becomes available months down the line.

As it stands at the moment a hospital worker can get a COVID positive test result and that can potentially close a department/ward as colleagues then have to self isolate. Hopefully the vaccine will help reduce that 1 person getting the positive test in the first instance.

At the moment the vaccine doesn’t extend to back office nhs staff. I can see the logic, but what happens if an out break takes out your stores team? At that point no one gets PPE, needles etc to the frontline

Had mine a week ago, my wife is front line and also a peer vaccinator so has had her first and second dose. I'm part of the cohort that has been moved from 21 days to 10 weeks for second dose.

we've vaccinated over 50% of staff in our trust so far. bearing in mind that 10-12% can't get it for allergy reasons and approx another 10% are off sick that's not a bad number IMHO.

As it stands at the moment a hospital worker can get a COVID positive test result and that can potentially close a department/ward as colleagues then have to self isolate.

Thats not how it works round here. We are considered not to be at risk or a contact as we are in PPE all the time. Utter bollox of course but if we put all staff in contact with known covid into isolation there would be hardly an staff left

Had my first on Monday, the person administering it said "keep up the precautions you've been doing for around 3 weeks as immunity will be better then"

I said I hoped she wasn't telling everyone that as it sounded like she was saying after 3 weeks you can relax hands face space etc which obviously you can't.

The general public getting the jab need this reinforced in their minds or it'll take a lot longer to get through this

Side effects so far, mild headache cured by paracetamol. Colleagues who had jab at the same time have had chills and body aches but nothing serious. All had astrazeneca vaccine

Wife (HDU nurse) should be getting her 2nd jab today, I must say I'm very relieved for her. We're definitely both more anxious this time around with the numbers rocketing but less compliance with the guidelines.

eh, you just shove that thing up there nose for a second, how much training do you need

Seeing as I don't keep my deltoids up my nose, I'm very glad you didn't do my injections 😀

adenoids are up there though - surely that'll work ?

My Mum (early 70's but classed as vulnerable due to some recent operations) has her first jab today, the Pfizer vaccine. Her second one is scheduled in for March.

I had the Pfizer one on saturday. Slightly sore arm for a day, but all fine otherwise.
Several of my staff had the AZ one yesterday - all bloody coldy with it now!

DrP

As it stands at the moment a hospital worker can get a COVID positive test result and that can potentially close a department/ward as colleagues then have to self isolate. Hopefully the vaccine will help reduce that 1 person getting the positive test in the first instance.

And here in lies an issue. Said worker could get a -ve test but still be a carrier because we do not yet know the efficacy of the vaccine. Does it prevent you from getting ill, does it just make you less ill, does it prevent you from being a carrier - we don't know.

At the moment a +ve test invokes various safeguarding procedures however we could perhaps find ourselves in a situation where people take a -ve test to mean no risk and so said worker then infects all the poorly patients on the ward. We just don't know yet.

The problem is the vaccine as a solution has been trumpeted as there has been no other good news whatsoever but we have no real idea as to how well it is going to work in the mid to long term. Matt Hancock the other day said re-vaccination every 6 months may be necessary which doesn't say much for their confidence in its long term efficacy.

SIL has had both, but she works in a Nursing Home. MIL finally got one on Monday - 85 highly clinically vulnerable and in the 'same' Nursing Home.

Had my first last week. I felt rotten the next day, really really rotten. It seems to be the case (form a small sample) that people like me who have had a nasty dose of COVID seem to react worse to the vaccine. Not complaining though, its just one of those things.

We have had a lot of positive cases in staff and clients within three weeks of first vaccine. We are now crossing beyond three weeks since vaccinations so it will be interesting to see if we get more positive cases.

Findings on transmission by vaccinated people will be very important. If precautions are relaxed and it's still being transmitted, we just end up with a higher percentage of asymptomatic infections, which could result in higher transmission rates than before.

Some people are saying 'so what, if nobody dies or is seriously ill it doesn't matter if we're all infected' - but as I've understood it there's a risk that a large pool of infection in single dose vaccinated people could be an ideal opportunity for further mutation.

I dont see why single/double dose changes that Greybeard? My understanding was that 2nd jab reinforces longer term immunity rather than materially changing protection.

My daughter's best mate's mum had it last week - plastered it all over instagram.

50 years old, mild asthma but otherwise healthy with no underlying concerns, works from home 100% since March....an obvious candidate for the first phase I'd have thought

(oh did I forget to mention she is a senior manager in the local NHS trust)

f

Superficial – I hope they are ok?

Yes he's fine thank you! Just finished his 10 day isolation and is now back at work 🙂

I don't know if all hospital trusts are doing this, but we are also being tested twice weekly so hopefully that will identify people who could be asymptomatic carriers post-vaccine. I know it's already detected asymptomatic infection in at least one of my colleagues. Importantly, this testing program should also add a wealth of data to determine whether the vaccine is effective at preventing asymptomatic infection / transmission.

It does seem like we do (finally!) have some tools at our disposal at the moment but the numbers of patients on the wards / ITU is scary.

Mum, 80+, had 2 doses of Phizer 3 weeks apart and said it wasn't as bad for her as the normal flu vaccine but as she lives alone and it doesn't change what she can and cannot do or who she can visit or have at her house it has made no difference.

I am sure that it is defending her in some way but how is this likely to pan out in the longer run?

At what point do we decide that enough people are vaccinated to go outside and mix as normal? Do non-vaccinated people have to wear bells around their necks? If we don't know how long it's effects last will it be like "Eat out to help (COVID) out" and simply get people spreading it all over again?

Hard to plan an exit strategy from this without any reliable evidence at this point I guess

I am sure that it is defending her in some way but how is this likely to pan out in the longer run?

Well, I presume the idea is that they'll reduce the restrictions gradually and see what happens to the number of cases.

Vaccinating all the elderly will protect them which is good news. It'll also make the daily death figures much more palatable. My concern is that it won't do anything for the 40-70 year olds who wouldn't qualify for the vaccine but will still need ITU care if /when they get ill. We may see a death rate that appears to be coming down but the hospitals (especially ITUs) are still swamped. A very significant proportion of the deaths is currently those over 80 who often don't even get admitted to hospital.

I don't think we can get back to 'normal' until the whole population is vaccinated (or at least whatever the magic number is for population immunity (75%?).

As soon as vaccinations are done for all 9 categories then I think it should be opened up.

Categories 1-9 cover 90%+ of people who end up in hospital/dead. The healthy under 50s will just spread it around amongst themselves with a MUCH smaller impact than we have seen over the last 10 months.

Health workers get it to help prevent spreading it others particularly the vulnerable who they will be in contact with. Thought that was obvious.

Well it would be obvious if it reduced transmission, however from everything ive read no evidence of that. That said you are right that it makes sense to do it just in case that is the case.

Lady friend of mine has had covid twice now, front line nhs, has worked in covid wards. Second time she got it put her in hospital

Still debating whether to get vaccination as she'd heard some bad things on internet about it..nuts

oh did I forget to mention she is a senior manager in the local NHS trust

Careful with your assumptions about this. I am a senior manager for Social Care and work nearly 100% at home. I'm also fit and healthy so would not look like an obvious candidate to get it now. However we are dealing with COVID in nearly all of our services and I need to go in to support staff who are at crisis point. I am also the backup in the event that we simply run out of enough front line staff, I will work in the service to make up numbers. It may well be that this NHS manager is in a similar position.

At what point do we decide that enough people are vaccinated to go outside and mix as normal?

When this gets back down to something approaching zero.

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there’s a risk that a large pool of infection in single dose vaccinated people could be an ideal opportunity for further mutation

I dont see why single/double dose changes that Greybeard?

@dantsw13 I have no expertise in this area but read about it as a possibility. It made sense to me by comparison with the rule about antibiotics, that you must finish the course because putting pressure on the pathogens while not wiping them all out is an ideal environment for a mutation to become dominant.

As soon as vaccinations are done for all 9 categories then I think it should be opened up.

Categories 1-9 cover 90%+ of people who end up in hospital/dead. The healthy under 50s will just spread it around amongst themselves with a MUCH smaller impact than we have seen over the last 10 months.

I'm going to share this article here to demonstrate how bad that idea is

Young people being shafted by covid

Is there a point where vaccination becomes problematic after the initial 12 weeks when suddenly those you've vaccinated once are now supposed to be vaccinated again. At that juncture, presumably unless you can ramp up vaccination levels, you rapidly lose the capacity to vaccinate the unvaccinated for the next 12 weeks, because your entire capacity is taken up with those already vaccinated getting a second jab?

So if you believe - and it's a big 'if' given the uselessness of our government - the 2 million per week aim is feasible, by early to mid April, you have vaccinated approximately 24 million people once, but now need to vaccinate them again, which would take another 12 weeks, so potentially you'll have limited capacity to vaccinate anyone else until late summer. So unless you can massively increase the capacity of the vaccination system, you have a scenario where, by late summer, approximately 50% of the adult population is vaccinated, and 50% isn't. And then you go through the whole cycle again after 12 weeks.

What happens to the normal functioning of the health service at GP level if the bulk of their resources are focussed on vaccination for that period of time?

What am I missing? That's a serious question btw. Long covid has trashed my capacity for reasoning. You can be reasonably sure that government policy will be to think about it when it happens rather than in advance 🙁

Had my first dose on Fri.

NHS nurse in a hdu, being moved next week to an ITU in neighbouring hospital because they are over run.

Seen a few colleagues be very poorly with covid. Known two to be vented.

I've seen a covid ward with 28 patients being run on 2 staff. Just two. Which is diabolical if you know the acuity and safe levels of staffing required. Why? Because the staff are all off with covid.
Less staff = crap care.

The manager said to me (whilst crying) "the patients are not dying from covid. They are dying from neglect" grim.

So it's fair game we get a chance to have a jab so we can stay in work, feel safer and help the public.
Don't get much else from the government.

So it’s fair game we get a chance to have a jab so we can stay in work, feel safer and help the public.

Spot on Olly, I'm getting mine this afternoon (NHS clinical engineer)I'm looking forward to getting shut of some of that anxiety in a couple of weeks.

BWD - hopefully that’s where the “army” of vaccinators being trained up comes in to its own. If we can allow front line professionals to do their day job instead of vaccinating that’s great.

At the moment vaccine availability is the limiting factor not staff. That equation will flip at some point.

I read in the indie today that ASDA pharmacies are going to start giving people the jab.

NHS lothian seems to be testing some staff but not others. On long say wards staff are tested. On more acute wards they are not. thats in the small peripheral hospitals

I can also confirm that we are not treated as contacts as we have PPE on and if we were all staff would be off isolating once an outbreak has occurred

Spot on Olly
Thank You for all your hard work BTW

Nurse on question time said exactly the same, to few nurses to cover too many hdu patients who were dying between being seen as the nurse had to go on another ward. Come back, patient dead.

I'm done.

I barely felt it and my arm isn't sore. I didn't cry - even when they explained that I wasn't going to get a lollipop.
I am now feeling very dizzy, so I'm lying down.

After reading this thread I'm a bit worried that I've jumped in front of those who need it more. I usually assume that the health service knows what it's doing, but having read that those giving the injections and working in hospitals haven't been done has made me wonder.

Christ Olly that’s sobering.

Thank you and your colleagues this is when I’m grateful being that one little step away from that now.

it would be obvious if it reduced transmission, however from everything ive read no evidence of that

Just a point of note...
"No evidence" does not equal "does not" - it literally just means that they haven't found any evidence that it reduces transmission (yet)

Israeli Press reporting some encouraging data from their programme about transmission apparently.

Well it would be obvious if it reduced transmission, however from everything ive read no evidence of that. That said you are right that it makes sense to do it just in case that is the case.

It’s exactly the case. As pointed out by others by media use the lack of evidence to say it doesn’t reduce transmission, the fact is they don’t know so won’t claim it does.

Had my first one this afternoon, I'm NHS Estates.

Felt a little bit of adrenalin about an hour afterwards, not sure if it was the shot or that my new forks had been delivered.

Had my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine today, back in April for the second.

Sore arm last night and today, equivalent of a good punch or riding into a tree.

I've got my appointment on Tuesday for the Pfizer jab (work for a nursing home company, rarely go into the homes but do mix with staff that do)

Sore arm last night and today, equivalent of a good punch or riding into a tree.

Likewise. I didn't even feel it going into my arm yesterday

Stood in the queue waiting for my first dose. NHS staff. My trust has expanded its vaccination programme to all staff aged 40+ today.

What are the queues like? Are you waiting long?

Our Trust had staff booked in with a time, I filled out 3 forms then waited about 2 mins.

Mrs B had hers 2 weeks ago she’s a Health visitor doing face to face visits and she’s a vaccinator on her days off, I’m 66 and had heart attack 9 months ago from what I can make out it’ll be mid March at least for mine, must say it’s quite worrying given the current situation

Stood in the queue waiting for my first dose. NHS staff. My trust has expanded its vaccination programme to all staff aged 40+ today.

Ours has opened it up to all staff so I've put my name down. I hope everyone in Olly's shoes at our place has had theirs as I'm about as low risk as can get (young-ish, healthy, WFH).

Just had my parents done, fairly smooth process, no queuing to speak of.

Sandwich Jr was injected today (care home nursing staff).

So far he reports:

"Arm has fallen off

Third eye developed

Can understand fluent Korean

Now female"

This may not be serious!

even when they explained that I wasn’t going to get a lollipop.

@easily That's an outrage! Not even a sticker?

Just had an email, our NHS Trust has done 6000 frontline staff and its now open to all Trust staff. Seems to be going ahead of schedule, fingers crossed.

After reading this thread I’m a bit worried that I’ve jumped in front of those who need it more. I usually assume that the health service knows what it’s doing, but having read that those giving the injections and working in hospitals haven’t been done has made me wonder.

May simply be a question of logistics - if they have spares in the fridge in danger of going off, I'd expect them to be jabbing anyone in the local vicinity rather than chuck them away, so as not to let them go to waste.

Apparently MrsMC missed out on booking a Covid jab today - she's a children's social worker and and they were offered slots today, but as she's on leave this week they'd gone by the time she got the message. Which is a shame, as they've been told face to face interventions must continue in lockdown like they did right through first lockdown.

Her brother works in another county in adult social services and has managed to get a jab booked. He's actually just admin and WFH, but as he's late 50s, very overweight and at least one other comorbidity, so can't blame him for taking it if offered

Well, had the Pfizer jab this afternoon and all good so far.

Next one booked for April 8th so nearer 12 week interval than the licensed 3 weeks, but I think this is fair enough as things stand.