Vaccination!

24 Replies

It was a slightly surreal experience, leaving the house just after midnight to go for a vaccination. However, despite my misgivings about the lack of clarity in the time of the appointment, we were there for 00.20 and left at 01.00. It would have been quicker but there was, according to Julia, a lot of duplication of information (having filled in a form on-line you have to fill another one in when you get there and then answer the same questions again to a real person). It’s all very bureaucratic and time consuming, which is typical of the NHS.

The vaccination centre is in a building at the Forest Recreation Ground Park and Ride. I would post photos but when I turned my camera on I found I’d left the card in the computer after downloading the fish pie photos.

After the vaccination (which was administered by military personnel) she had to wait fifteen minutes to be released – having to give her details again before they finally let her out.

It seems that they were able to start vaccination of front line staff earlier than planned because they had an unexpected supply of vaccine. The original date had been the second week in February.

It was noticeable, from the increase in pinging on Julia’s phone this afternoon, that something was happening. She checked and found that the code had been released to allow  front-line staff to book vaccination slots. The early adopters seem to be all the cowardly stay-at-home types who have been refusing to come into work at Mencap. They are keen to take the wages, but not quite so keen to actually go to work and help the people they are supposedly there to support. However, show them a vaccine code and they are on it like a pack of dogs. Because they stay at home they are actually at no more risk than I am, but they have all leapt in to claim their priority vaccination.

Two of the Mencap workers have already been vaccinated – one because they are also employed by the NHS and another because they exploited a loophole (now closed). I heard last week that two twenty-somethings had been given a vaccination because a friend rang to tell them there was some left-over vaccine at a local centre. I mention them here only as an example of how the vaccine is not been administered uniformly, as they did nothing wrong.

It is now a case of waiting to see if I get my first dose before Julia gets her second.

While I was waiting I noticed a number of cars with middle-aged men in them waiting for their womenfolk to return. It seems that we stick to certain stereotypes in the UK, even in the 21st century; the women work in the caring professions and the men do the driving.

I thought I’d add that so a 22nd Century PhD student of Pandemic Britain might one day unearth my blog and find a nugget of knowledge.

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24 thoughts on “Vaccination!”

  1. tootlepedal

    You might say that critics are using hindsight but the Astra Zeneca vaccine team was up and running last January so they knew that something needed to be done two months before the government noticed.

    Reply ↓
      1. tootlepedal

        We would if anyone in government was interested in being part of a well informed democracy. For some reason that doesn’t appeal to them.

  4. Helen

    First, odd time for the vaccination to be administered but pleased that Julia was able to get it!

    It’s a mystery why the virus seems so much more prevalent in the U.K. We are more densely populated than most other European countries but after listening the More or Less (programme on Radio 4 about statistics which I trust), I’m still non-the-wiser, as neither was the presenter.

    Anyway, my sister is getting her jab this week, which is a relief. She’s in the vulnerable category.

    Reply ↓
    1. quercuscommunity Post author

      We have a lot of people passing through our airports and we didn’t get a grip on that soon enough. Plus, when you look back, we had people dying of Covid before we even knew it was about. So many factors, and all is hindsight.

      Good that they are getting out with the vaccines – Nottinghamshire has been rather slow due to supply problems.

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  6. Jessica Urquhart

    I have to agree about the rural areas. I’m in Germany, so I can’t compare with how it is in the UK. But in the rural area where I live, there have only been a few cases since this whole mess started, and no one that I’m aware of has gotten seriously ill. Most people are pretty relaxed, but the German people are generally all about following the rules. Only a handful of people I know just do their own thing and only go along with some of the rules out of consideration for others. Personally, my family and I don’t want the vaccine. I hope they won’t make vaccination compulsory, but unfortunately, that’s what I expect will happen once there’s enough vaccines to actually enforce it.

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    1. Laurie Graves

      Very, very weird time but oh happy day that Julia got her vaccination! Hope you get yours soon. Interesting observation about women being in the caring professions and men driving.

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    2. quercuscommunity Post author

      O think some of our rural areas are doing badly at the moment. I think most people in the Uk follow the rules too, and again, it’s out of consideration for others, or self-interest.. I don’t want to infect a bus driver or a postman, for instance, because w need them to keep doing their jobs.

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      1. Jessica Urquhart

        I wonder why it seems the UK is getting slammed harder than Germany. Wearing masks, keeping distance and lockdowns are all mandatory, right? They are here. I doubt masks and 2 meter distance really make much difference, but if both countries are doing mostly the same things, and both countries have a high population density, why the big difference in cases? I don’t expect an answer. I just wonder about such things.

      2. quercuscommunity Post author

        Not just the UK and Germany – why are Belgium and Holland, or Norway and Sweden so different when they are actually attached? It’s a mystery, and there are so many answers. However, help is at hand – politicians and hindsight will soon be offering explanations. 🙂

        The masks and the hand washing are just ways of making people feel in control. It was like when we took down all our railings in WW2 – it made people think they were contributing., but many of the railings were actually not used and were eventually dumped.

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