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Coronavirus

Coronavirus - The Poll


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Based on that, I’m assuming that in spite of the fact that the day I’m booked in for is listed as AstraZeneca, I’ll be allocated Pfizer on the basis of my date of birth. I’m told I have to give my DOB as a form of identification, and the vaccination centre is told my DOB prior to my appointment, so I assume they know I’m not 18 yet.

I’ll admit I am worrying slightly; what if I get there, and they don’t have any vaccines that I can legally have? I’m assuming they might have a backlog of Pfizer vaccines available, even though 8th March is listed as AstraZeneca, but I’ll admit, I am worrying a bit about it...
 
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Based on that, I’m assuming that in spite of the fact that the day I’m booked in for is listed as AstraZeneca, I’ll be allocated Pfizer on the basis of my date of birth. I’m told I have to give my DOB as a form of identification, and the vaccination centre is told my DOB prior to my appointment, so I assume they know I’m not 18 yet.

I’ll admit I am worrying slightly; what if I get there, and they don’t have any vaccines that I can legally have? I’m assuming they might have a backlog of Pfizer vaccines available, even though 8th March is listed as AstraZeneca, but I’ll admit, I am worrying a bit about it...
Worse case scenario is you get sent to a larger vaccination centre where they have the Pfizer bioNtech vaccine so get delayed by a few weeks.
(It's the harder to distribute due to super cold temps one)
 
I’m going to insert a huge caveat here before I start and say this isn’t aimed at anyone in particular but maybe I’m missing something here, how does having a mental illness or mental disability somehow make you more susceptible to a respiratory illness?
 
I think it's probably because sometimes, people with mental disabilities may not quite realise something's wrong with their bodies, or may struggle to communicate that they feel there is something wrong.
 
Worse case scenario is you get sent to a larger vaccination centre where they have the Pfizer bioNtech vaccine so get delayed by a few weeks.
(It's the harder to distribute due to super cold temps one)
This vaccination centre does have the Pfizer vaccine, and they give it on other days. It’s just that the day I’m booked in for is listed as AstraZeneca.
 
I’m going to insert a huge caveat here before I start and say this isn’t aimed at anyone in particular but maybe I’m missing something here, how does having a mental illness or mental disability somehow make you more susceptible to a respiratory illness?
A massive chunk of the reason why is bias
 
Presumably because it's not just a respiratory illness but a multi-organ/vascular illness too. The BMJ has already listed those with severe mental health issues to have a lower life expenctancy when contracting respiratory diseases by ~10 years and that was pre-covid.

Good Luck with your vaccine @Matt N. Try not to be too nervous, you're helping the nation, the world and theme parks get back to some level of normality in 2021. That's something to get excited about :)
 
A great deal of the risk to people with learning difficulties is the matter of carers changing each day, and the increased risks from smoking, which is more prevalent with people with such conditions.
If all the carers did the decent thing and took the vaccine, then the concern would not be so great.
 
Bias to what? That’s one clever virus if it knows someone has a mental health issue.
I mean the general bias against disabled people in healthcare, there's a strong tendancy in a fair few situations to not interact with disabled people properly which can be lethal in some cases.
 
I'll be getting the vaccine on Saturday as there are children in my class who are classed as extremely clinically vulnerable.

I still think all teachers should be getting it but am considering myself very lucky.

The only other teacher in the school to have been offered the vaccine is unsure whether she will be accepting due to unfounded concerns over fertility.
 
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The only other teacher in the school to have been offered the vaccine is unsure whether she will be accepting due to unfounded concerns over fertility.

Christ, I get that people might be a little wary about a new vaccine but as Prof. Van Tam said a couple of weeks ago (in a live BBC Q&A with the public I think) there has never been a vaccine that has an impact on fertility. It is sad that the spread of misinformation means that people like your colleague are unsure over accepting it.

Meanwhile over in Europe, thanks to certain political leaders stupid comments they now have a scenario whereby 4 out of 5 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine delivered have not been used (Source). All quite ironic when it was only a matter of weeks ago that they made a huge issue of delivery of said vaccine.
 
The JCVI have recommended that once the top 9 priority groups have been vaccinated then the vaccine should be offered by age as follows:
  • all those aged 40-49 years
  • all those aged 30-39 years
  • all those aged 18-29 years
And it strongly advises some particular groups to take up a vaccine as soon as it is offered. They are:
  • men
  • people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities
  • people with a BMI over 30
  • people living in poorer neighbourhoods
They state that this is the best way to reduce serious illness and death, and that priority by job would be more complex and could slow down the vaccination programme.

Source: BBC News
 
I’ve now got an appointment booked to have my first dose on Monday 8th March. I’m not 100% sure which vaccine I’m having, but based on the vaccination schedule on my local vaccination centre’s website, I think I might be having the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

I’m feeling mixed emotions; I’m looking forward to getting a fairly substantial level of protection from COVID fairly soon, but I’ll admit I’m also a little bit nervous at the same time, as I’m not really sure what to expect, and also a little bit guilty, as I feel like there are so many more people who are more in need of a vaccine than me.

I suppose anyone who gets jabbed makes the path to normality come a little bit sooner for all of us, however!

I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting to get the call so soon; I’m not even 18 yet. I thought the minimum age was 18, but the JCVI threshold is apparently 16. I’ve heard varying things; some saying 18 and others saying 16. Judging by the fact my GP called me, I’m guessing it’s 16...

I got the call today to get the vaccine next week too and like yourself I was expecting to be further down the list. I'll be 34 on Tuesday and no underlying health conditions, the only think I can assume is it was due to myself having an adverse reaction to COVID and struggling with long COVID. It does feel weird to be getting it before some people I'd consider well ahead of me in the queue, but equally I'm looking forward to getting jabbed and hopefully ready to move forward with life.

I'll be getting the AZ vaccine too @Matt N and I'll be going in next Friday. If you still feel nervous next week feel free to ask away or drop me a PM and I'll happily answer any questions if it puts your mind at ease :)
 
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