New vaccine

[Selbourne]

48 minutes ago, delgirl said:

My eldest daughter has secondary progressive ms. She is in a wheelchair and totally disabled. Had to retire from her teaching job 4 yrs ago as could no longer walk. She is only 41. She spoke to her dr just over a week ago he said she should have been in group 4 as she is extremely vulnerable. Said he would do her injection. She phoned him again today spoke to a different dr who said 'oh god' because they had obviousy forgotten her. I phoned 119 tonight and they said ms is only down as a moderate disease. I said that is okay for the ones that can still walk. MS goes on a edss scale of 0-10 with 10 being death. My daughters edss score is 8 which is classed as end stage ms. Made the mistake telling her that her younger sister is getting her jab next week. She is coeliac which is classed as an auto-immune disease like ms but not severe. (my other daughter is with a different surgery) and was shocked to get the text from her drs. This upset my other daughter and she was inconsolable that is why I rang 119. They said to keep on trying as system is updated every 24 hrs. Also they said to try her hospital consultant. Must add that she was pleased her sister was getting the jab but upset because she wasn't. She has 3 children who will be going back to school in the next 3 weeks so is very scared.

Hi Delgirl. I am sorry to hear about your daughter. I can relate to this as my wife also has secondary progressive MS and, like your daughter, is now a full time wheelchair user. If your daughter is taking immunosuppressant drugs then she should have been classed as ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’ and vaccinated in group 4. If she is not taking immunosuppressant drugs then regardless of the severity of her disability she unfortunately falls into group 6 which has only just started (although not yet bookable online).
 

My wife was on immunosuppressant drugs some years ago but her white blood cell count dropped to a dangerously low level and she had to come off them ,as she was told that her immune system became so weak that contracting a virus or similar could have been fatal for her. The drugs weren’t actually helping her, so it wasn’t a major problem, but if she had still been taking them then she would have been vaccinated by now as part of group 4. As it stands, because she is no longer taking them, even though she is more disabled now than she was then, and hasn’t been out of the house at all since last year, she is now in group 6 and still waiting. 
 

I share your frustration, as you may have seen from my posts over the last 24 hours. We were told yesterday that group 6 vaccinations had begun, yet it is not possible to book them online. Instead, we are told to await contact from our GP surgeries. Meanwhile, vaccination of group 7 (60-64] appears to be progressing at speed, even though this group is at less risk and hasn’t even been announced as having commenced. I certainly don’t blame those in that group for having the jabs, as no sane person is going to turn down the opportunity when offered, but there’s something wrong when we are told that the order of vaccinations has been determined by risk of death from the virus and yet it is not being followed universally. Hopefully your daughter, and my wife, will get some positive news in the coming days. 

[lincslady]

delgirl - I do hope your difficulties have been sorted out.    After encountering something similar, though for us  us less distressing, it seems obvious that while most  people reporting here have had advice when necessary from their GP Practice, just a few are incompetent or not interested in ensuring their patients, particularly those at risk, are helped.  I put this down entirely to their management, not to individual medical staff.  My own family and friends, over 70, have all by now had their first jabs, and in most cases had a phone call from their GP with advice.  Our practice is still saying they have not had any information about vaccination, and their answering message says , first of all, not to contact them on the subject!

 

[Peanut006]

12 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Hopefully it’s not because the anticipated shortages are starting to materialise? Alternatively, it could be because group 6 should be being jabbed this week but none of us can book (not that I’m bitter 😉)

I am group 6 too, would love to get my jab this week but no contact from Dr yet & no email or text. Fingers crossed for us all🤞 

Michelle

[Peanut006]

9 hours ago, delgirl said:

My eldest daughter has secondary progressive ms. She is in a wheelchair and totally disabled. Had to retire from her teaching job 4 yrs ago as could no longer walk. She is only 41. She spoke to her dr just over a week ago he said she should have been in group 4 as she is extremely vulnerable. Said he would do her injection. She phoned him again today spoke to a different dr who said 'oh god' because they had obviousy forgotten her. I phoned 119 tonight and they said ms is only down as a moderate disease. I said that is okay for the ones that can still walk. MS goes on a edss scale of 0-10 with 10 being death. My daughters edss score is 8 which is classed as end stage ms. Made the mistake telling her that her younger sister is getting her jab next week. She is coeliac which is classed as an auto-immune disease like ms but not severe. (my other daughter is with a different surgery) and was shocked to get the text from her drs. This upset my other daughter and she was inconsolable that is why I rang 119. They said to keep on trying as system is updated every 24 hrs. Also they said to try her hospital consultant. Must add that she was pleased her sister was getting the jab but upset because she wasn't. She has 3 children who will be going back to school in the next 3 weeks so is very scared.

I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. I am  in a similar position as I have secondary progressive MS and was retired early six years ago. I can walk about 10 maybe 20 metres on a good day with the help of a walker but I have just been told I now have an irregular electrical impulse to my heart as well. No sign of an injection yet either but hopefully soon. Hope your daughter gets hers soon too 

Michelle

[Peanut006]

8 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Hi Delgirl. I am sorry to hear about your daughter. I can relate to this as my wife also has secondary progressive MS and, like your daughter, is now a full time wheelchair user. If your daughter is taking immunosuppressant drugs then she should have been classed as ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’ and vaccinated in group 4. If she is not taking immunosuppressant drugs then regardless of the severity of her disability she unfortunately falls into group 6 which has only just started (although not yet bookable online).
 

My wife was on immunosuppressant drugs some years ago but her white blood cell count dropped to a dangerously low level and she had to come off them ,as she was told that her immune system became so weak that contracting a virus or similar could have been fatal for her. The drugs weren’t actually helping her, so it wasn’t a major problem, but if she had still been taking them then she would have been vaccinated by now as part of group 4. As it stands, because she is no longer taking them, even though she is more disabled now than she was then, and hasn’t been out of the house at all since last year, she is now in group 6 and still waiting. 
 

I share your frustration, as you may have seen from my posts over the last 24 hours. We were told yesterday that group 6 vaccinations had begun, yet it is not possible to book them online. Instead, we are told to await contact from our GP surgeries. Meanwhile, vaccination of group 7 (60-64] appears to be progressing at speed, even though this group is at less risk and hasn’t even been announced as having commenced. I certainly don’t blame those in that group for having the jabs, as no sane person is going to turn down the opportunity when offered, but there’s something wrong when we are told that the order of vaccinations has been determined by risk of death from the virus and yet it is not being followed universally. Hopefully your daughter, and my wife, will get some positive news in the coming days. 

I feel for you Selbourne and your wife having SPMS. If the drugs you were talking about were Beta Interferon or Rebif I was on those a few years ago and taken off them as they weren’t helping me either. We will all get through this and continue supporting each other the best we can. Stay safe everyone 

Michelle 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Peanut006 said:

I feel for you Selbourne and your wife having SPMS. If the drugs you were talking about were Beta Interferon or Rebif I was on those a few years ago and taken off them as they weren’t helping me either. We will all get through this and continue supporting each other the best we can. Stay safe everyone 

Michelle 

Hi Michelle. I think it was Tecfidera. I’ve just checked the online vaccination booking system yet again this morning for my wife and it still says “You are not yet eligible for the vaccine”, and yet this is the third day that group 6 should have been able to book a jab. An added worry is that Jane (Beckett), a nurse who works at a vaccine hub and posts very useful updates, has posted this morning (on another thread) that they have run out of vaccines and have no more due until next week! I fear that the wait may continue but fingers crossed that something may start moving soon. 

[Peanut006]

14 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Hi Michelle. I think it was Tecfidera. I’ve just checked the online vaccination booking system yet again this morning for my wife and it still says “You are not yet eligible for the vaccine”, and yet this is the third day that group 6 should have been able to book a jab. An added worry is that Jane (Beckett), a nurse who works at a vaccine hub and posts very useful updates, has posted this morning (on another thread) that they have run out of vaccines and have no more due until next week! I fear that the wait may continue but fingers crossed that something may start moving soon. 

I read that on the other thread as well. I have tried to book online as well and got the same message. Hopefully we will all be called soon for our injection and supplies throughout the country will regular.

 

Michelle

[AnnieC]

2 minutes ago, Peanut006 said:

I read that on the other thread as well. I have tried to book online as well and got the same message. Hopefully we will all be called soon for our injection and supplies throughout the country will regular.

 

Michelle

Same message here when I checked this morning for my daughter.

[Windsurfboy]

I think 2 problems,  supply,  Pfizer was predicted to be low in Feb, used up stocks finishing 1 to 4 on time.

 

Secondly,  up until Sunday all the pressure from the top has been to find every over 70 before the deadline and eye was taken off everyone else . No more artificial deadlines till end of April and last of over 50s needs to be chased , so things should regularlise, and moderna vaccine will arrive soon to help supply, fingers crossed.

[Windsurfboy]

Given what seems to happen just after scramble to reach a target , Glad my second vaccination on May  2nd is already booked.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Windsurfboy

[Snow Hill]

11 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

I think 2 problems,  supply,  Pfizer was predicted to be low in Feb, used up stocks finishing 1 to 4 on time.

 

Secondly,  up until Sunday all the pressure from the top has been to find every over 70 before the deadline and eye was taken off everyone else . No more artificial deadlines till end of April and last of over 50s needs to be chased , so things should regularlise, and moderna vaccine will arrive soon to help supply, fingers crossed.

In early March they will start giving the second dose, to those who received first dose in late December the numbers receiving 2nd dose then start to increase as the month progresses so we will probably see a slow down in 1st doses given. 

[arlowood]

10 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Given what seems to happen just after scramble to reach a target , Glad my second vaccination on May  2nd is already booked.

My 2nd jab is also booked but earlier than yours - mid April. Despite assurances that there will be adequate stocks to complete the 2nd dose schedule, I'm still not totally confident. My 1st jab was the Pfizer one and from what has been reported, the supply chain for that jab is particularly fragile.

I'm hopeful that all will go as planned but will not be surprised if my 2nd jab date slips by a week or so,

[Dinglebert]

1 minute ago, Snow Hill said:

In early March they will start giving the second dose, to those who received first dose in late December the numbers receiving 2nd dose then start to increase as the month progresses so we will probably see a slow down in 1st doses given. 

Not if they have the vaccine to give.  The 2nd doses for the older public will be back at the GP surgeries.  The vaccination for the younger will be at the big hubs as they can get there.

[Aulanis]

52 minutes ago, Dinglebert said:

Not if they have the vaccine to give.  The 2nd doses for the older public will be back at the GP surgeries.  The vaccination for the younger will be at the big hubs as they can get there.

Ours are not - we are already booked

[majortom10]

Just received telephone call from my GP Surgery appointments made for both my wife and I for Friday at County Showground in Stafford. Both aged 61 and neither of us have underlying health conditions (except wife on medication for high blood pressure which is not a classifying condition for vaccine). Over the moon and cannot wait.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Dinglebert said:

Not if they have the vaccine to give.  The 2nd doses for the older public will be back at the GP surgeries.  The vaccination for the younger will be at the big hubs as they can get there.

My and my wife's 2nd jab are at Superdrug in Guildford High st, so that is neither.

Edited February 17, 2021 by zap99

[purplesea]

7 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Just received telephone call from my GP Surgery appointments made for both my wife and I for Friday at County Showground in Stafford. Both aged 61 and neither of us have underlying health conditions (except wife on medication for high blood pressure which is not a classifying condition for vaccine). Over the moon and cannot wait.

Glad for you. I'm in the same group and haven't heard anything yet. We were slower with the rollout down here though.

[Selbourne]

UPDATE

 

Well our excellent GP surgery has delivered. My wife and I both had texts this morning from our surgery inviting us to book our jabs. We both clicked the link at exactly the same time in the hope that we could get the same date and time and my wife was able to book tomorrow morning but the earliest I could get was Friday 26th. I assumed that this was because my wife has MS and I am her carer, so would understandably have to wait a bit longer, but my wife called them and explained that I would be wheeling her in for her jab tomorrow, so they very kindly changed my appointment to 10 minutes after hers. 
 

What a relief. It’s been a frustrating few days trying (without success) to book online, having been told that we should be able to do so. My thoughts are with the other group 6 people, and their Carers, who are still trying to book. It seems as though it’s a bit of a lottery depending on how efficient your GP practice is (given that booking online isn’t available). Fingers crossed for all of you that you get some good news very soon. 

[Dermotsgirl]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

UPDATE

 

Well our excellent GP surgery has delivered. My wife and I both had texts this morning from our surgery inviting us to book our jabs. We both clicked the link at exactly the same time in the hope that we could get the same date and time and my wife was able to book tomorrow morning but the earliest I could get was Friday 26th. I assumed that this was because my wife has MS and I am her carer, so would understandably have to wait a bit longer, but my wife called them and explained that I would be wheeling her in for her jab tomorrow, so they very kindly changed my appointment to 10 minutes after hers. 
 

What a relief. It’s been a frustrating few days trying (without success) to book online, having been told that we should be able to do so. My thoughts are with the other group 6 people, and their Carers, who are still trying to book. It seems as though it’s a bit of a lottery depending on how efficient your GP practice is (given that booking online isn’t available). Fingers crossed for all of you that you get some good news very soon. 

Excellent news. What a relief 

[Beckett]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

UPDATE

 

Well our excellent GP surgery has delivered. My wife and I both had texts this morning from our surgery inviting us to book our jabs. We both clicked the link at exactly the same time in the hope that we could get the same date and time and my wife was able to book tomorrow morning but the earliest I could get was Friday 26th. I assumed that this was because my wife has MS and I am her carer, so would understandably have to wait a bit longer, but my wife called them and explained that I would be wheeling her in for her jab tomorrow, so they very kindly changed my appointment to 10 minutes after hers. 
 

What a relief. It’s been a frustrating few days trying (without success) to book online, having been told that we should be able to do so. My thoughts are with the other group 6 people, and their Carers, who are still trying to book. It seems as though it’s a bit of a lottery depending on how efficient your GP practice is (given that booking online isn’t available). Fingers crossed for all of you that you get some good news very soon. 

Brilliant news Selbourne.  Really happy for you both.  Jane.x

[purplesea]

8 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

UPDATE

 

Well our excellent GP surgery has delivered. My wife and I both had texts this morning from our surgery inviting us to book our jabs. We both clicked the link at exactly the same time in the hope that we could get the same date and time and my wife was able to book tomorrow morning but the earliest I could get was Friday 26th. I assumed that this was because my wife has MS and I am her carer, so would understandably have to wait a bit longer, but my wife called them and explained that I would be wheeling her in for her jab tomorrow, so they very kindly changed my appointment to 10 minutes after hers. 
 

What a relief. It’s been a frustrating few days trying (without success) to book online, having been told that we should be able to do so. My thoughts are with the other group 6 people, and their Carers, who are still trying to book. It seems as though it’s a bit of a lottery depending on how efficient your GP practice is (given that booking online isn’t available). Fingers crossed for all of you that you get some good news very soon. 

That is good news. Especially as you can both be vaccinated at the same time.

[Selbourne]

2 minutes ago, Beckett said:

Brilliant news Selbourne.  Really happy for you both.  Jane.x

Thanks Jane. It’s the start of an enormous weight being lifted. Just to echo the comments made on another thread, I’m sorry to hear that your hub has run out of vaccines and won’t get any more until next week, but do take the opportunity to have a breather. We all truly appreciate the fantastic efforts that you and your colleagues are putting in to the vaccination programme and your regular updates continue to be invaluable.

[Adawn47]

17 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

UPDATE

 

Well our excellent GP surgery has delivered. My wife and I both had texts this morning from our surgery inviting us to book our jabs. We both clicked the link at exactly the same time in the hope that we could get the same date and time and my wife was able to book tomorrow morning but the earliest I could get was Friday 26th. I assumed that this was because my wife has MS and I am her carer, so would understandably have to wait a bit longer, but my wife called them and explained that I would be wheeling her in for her jab tomorrow, so they very kindly changed my appointment to 10 minutes after hers. 
 

What a relief. It’s been a frustrating few days trying (without success) to book online, having been told that we should be able to do so. My thoughts are with the other group 6 people, and their Carers, who are still trying to book. It seems as though it’s a bit of a lottery depending on how efficient your GP practice is (given that booking online isn’t available). Fingers crossed for all of you that you get some good news very soon. 

I'm so pleased for you both, as I know how frustrating it can be. We waited for our doctor to get in touch with us as they tend to be more understanding in certain situations. We went into the room together and were both vaccinated at the same time.

Avril

Edited February 17, 2021 by Adawn47

[Angel57]

29 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

UPDATE

 

Well our excellent GP surgery has delivered. My wife and I both had texts this morning from our surgery inviting us to book our jabs. We both clicked the link at exactly the same time in the hope that we could get the same date and time and my wife was able to book tomorrow morning but the earliest I could get was Friday 26th. I assumed that this was because my wife has MS and I am her carer, so would understandably have to wait a bit longer, but my wife called them and explained that I would be wheeling her in for her jab tomorrow, so they very kindly changed my appointment to 10 minutes after hers. 
 

What a relief. It’s been a frustrating few days trying (without success) to book online, having been told that we should be able to do so. My thoughts are with the other group 6 people, and their Carers, who are still trying to book. It seems as though it’s a bit of a lottery depending on how efficient your GP practice is (given that booking online isn’t available). Fingers crossed for all of you that you get some good news very soon. 

Fantastic news and what a relief for you both.

Gill x

[Angel57]

42 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Just received telephone call from my GP Surgery appointments made for both my wife and I for Friday at County Showground in Stafford. Both aged 61 and neither of us have underlying health conditions (except wife on medication for high blood pressure which is not a classifying condition for vaccine). Over the moon and cannot wait.

Fabulous. Hearing more and more that the 60+ are now being offered jabs. I’m same group but not expecting to get done for a few weeks yet. Am trying to be patient 🙄