COVID Vaccine !

[Ajax Bay]

Designation as a VoC will allow surge testing resources to be deployed.
Edit: "Public Health England (PHE) have announced that, following a rise in cases in the UK and evidence of community transmission, they have reclassified VUI-21APR-02 (B.1.617.2, classified as a Variant Under Investigation (VUI) on 28 April) as a Variant of Concern (VOC), now known as VOC-21APR-02."
Medscape comment: "Interestingly this is not the so-called “double mutant” (B.1.617.1) although it does have several spike mutations that are concerning and could result in increased transmissibility (specifically L452R and P681R).
“The absolute numbers of cases in the UK remain small but the growth rate is quite high, although at this stage it is hard to say whether this is related to specific biological features of the variant. On the background of declining cases of B.1.1.7 in the UK the growth rate looks alarming when measured as a proportion of cases, however even a variant less or equally transmissible virus to B.1.1.7 could show this effect when there are large numbers of imports in a short period." [Comment: see my earlier post about how much of the increase in numbers is community transmitted versus 'imported'.]

 

[lane]

Better late than never

 

[Poacher]

Having followed the instructions in my invitation letter to the, er, letter, the nearest site offered was over 13 miles away as the crow flies, and a damp sight further by road. Others varied from 16 to more than 50 miles away. What was the official guidance about staying local?
I know for a fact that there is a site within easy walking distance, and several more in Nottingham.
The best advice I can give to anyone else who encounters this problem is to ignore the NHS letter and go on to the swiftqueue website instead. This showed loads of available appointments locally.

Bad form to reply to my own post, but due to unforeseen circumstances, viz. our car being caput, I couldn't easily attend the appointment for my second dose at the Newark showground. Mrs. Poacher reacted very negatively to my suggestion that I could take the train to Newark with my beloved Brommie and ride to the Newark showground site, citing the insanity of drivers on the A46 etc. What? It was fine fifty years ago!
I cancelled it, thinking I could use Swiftqueue to arrange a slot at our local Richard Herrod site. Major error! Apparently someone in the upper echelons has objected big time to Swiftqueue actually working and offering appointments locally, and put a stop to it.
The Swiftqueue site can no longer be used, despite it working fine previously.
The official site still had nowhere closer than >13 miles away, with options > 50 miles away. No change there, then. I know for an absolute fact that local sites, previously bookable via Swiftqueue, are still vaccinating people. Mrs. Poacher is an absolute master of the new-fangled talking-bone, and succeeded where I had failed miserably, managing to get me in for a 14:30 slot within walking distance (took me just over 20 mins despite a very painful left big toe - maybe I'll post pics on an appropriate thread; for those of a strong disposition; I dropped a 30+ Kg door on it from a height of ~25 cm. given the choice, I wouldn't repeat the experiment.) I'm now fully vaccinated, no thanks to official channels.
Richard Herrod is now mainly using Pfizer - about 16 tables compared to one for AZ. I had to wait about 10 mins for AZ doses to be found!

Tl;dr Swiftqueue worked well and was discontinued; the official NHS site is a total crock of crap, and someone in a very well-paid position needs to be sacked, denied any possible gongs, and really should serve some time at Her Maj's pleasure.

 

[cookiemonster]

Just had my second BionTech jab. All good so far.

 

[Ajax Bay]

NEMJ (5 May):
Report from Qatar:
The Pfizer vaccine was effective against infection and disease in the population of Qatar, despite the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants being predominant within the country; however, vaccine effectiveness against the B.1.351 variant was approximately 20 percentage points lower than the efficacy (>90%) reported in the Phase 3 RCT.
The estimated effectiveness (at > or = 14 days after second dose) of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine against any documented infection with the B.1.1.7 variant was 89.5%. The effectiveness against any documented infection with the B.1.351 variant was 75.0%. Vaccine effectiveness was 97.5% against severe, critical, or fatal disease due to infection with any SARS-CoV-2 (with either variant).

 

[lane]

Second Pfizer today after having a slight delay due to vaccine shortage on Tuesday.

 

[cookiemonster]

Well, over 24 hours since my second BioNtech jab and, apart from sleeping like a log last night, not a single side effect.

Feel like I've been conned.

 

[byegad]

Bad form to reply to my own post, but due to unforeseen circumstances, viz. our car being caput, I couldn't easily attend the appointment for my second dose at the Newark showground. Mrs. Poacher reacted very negatively to my suggestion that I could take the train to Newark with my beloved Brommie and ride to the Newark showground site, citing the insanity of drivers on the A46 etc. What? It was fine fifty years ago!
I cancelled it, thinking I could use Swiftqueue to arrange a slot at our local Richard Herrod site. Major error! Apparently someone in the upper echelons has objected big time to Swiftqueue actually working and offering appointments locally, and put a stop to it.
The Swiftqueue site can no longer be used, despite it working fine previously.
The official site still had nowhere closer than >13 miles away, with options > 50 miles away. No change there, then. I know for an absolute fact that local sites, previously bookable via Swiftqueue, are still vaccinating people. Mrs. Poacher is an absolute master of the new-fangled talking-bone, and succeeded where I had failed miserably, managing to get me in for a 14:30 slot within walking distance (took me just over 20 mins despite a very painful left big toe - maybe I'll post pics on an appropriate thread; for those of a strong disposition; I dropped a 30+ Kg door on it from a height of ~25 cm. given the choice, I wouldn't repeat the experiment.) I'm now fully vaccinated, no thanks to official channels.
Richard Herrod is now mainly using Pfizer - about 16 tables compared to one for AZ. I had to wait about 10 mins for AZ doses to be found!

Tl;dr Swiftqueue worked well and was discontinued; the official NHS site is a total crock of crap, and someone in a very well-paid position needs to be sacked, denied any possible gongs, and really should serve some time at Her Maj's pleasure.

Just to politely point out that the 'NHS' site isn't actually run by the NHS, just for them by another body*.

*And we can all guess which school, university and posh boy's club** the owners attended/joined.

**It involves pigs!

 

[Ajax Bay]

'NHS' [vaccination national booking service] site isn't actually run by the NHS, just for them by another body*

I should hope not. The NHS should not be diverted into trying to run/deliver something it's not set up for.
Edit: Or are you just trying to say "don't blame the NHS for the minor weaknesses in its vaccine booking system".

 

[Craig the cyclist]

Just to politely point out that the 'NHS' site isn't actually run by the NHS, just for them by another body*.

*And we can all guess which school, university and posh boy's club** the owners attended/joined.

**It involves pigs!

Porky's?

 

[classic33]

Local vaccination figures, end of last month.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Might you comment on the reds @classic33 , given your local knowledge?
Has Skircoat Green (@ 56%) got a super-capable surgery serving it?
The "47% of total population" is well below the UK average of 51% (@ 30 Apr - same as your table).

 

[vickster]

Might you comment on the reds @classic33 , given your local knowledge?
Has Skircoat Green (@ 56%) got a super-capable surgery serving it?
The "47% of total population" is well below the UK average of 51% (@ 30 Apr - same as your table).

Young population area?

 

[classic33]

Might you comment on the reds @classic33 , given your local knowledge?
Has Skircoat Green (@ 56%) got a super-capable surgery serving it?
The "47% of total population" is well below the UK average of 51% (@ 30 Apr - same as your table).

It's a council issued piece. It's not been done by local wards(There's only 21) either. Skircoat Green is a smaller area, that is home to the local hospital, which encroaches on three wards.

Cynical me has noted that the best performing areas are those where the local councillors live.
Local figures have been given this way since they started. Making it hard to check any area.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Cynical me has noted that the best performing areas are those where the local councillors live.

Perhaps said councillors have been out and about canvassing and encouraging their neighbours to get a jab.