Had my booster yesterday evening in West London. Made the appointment Saturday AM when they said people could book after 5 months. 2 people waiting in the post vaccination holding area and no one else around, 5 Vaccinators twiddling their thumbs. Just my experience, I wasn't even desperate to get the booster but have to fly to USA tomorrow and thought it might be better to have it than not. Also they were giving Pfizer boosters and original Vaccinations were AZ. No side effects so far bar a sore arm.
From the studies, a different booster from your original shots was better than a 3rd of the same.
All boosters in the UK are Pfizer & Moderna I think.
Managed to book our and my parent's boosters using the new 5-month rule on Sunday. Some reports the staff in the vaccination centres were still applying the 6-month rule and turning people away who had bookings. Hopefully sorted now.
I'm under the impression that you can *make* the booking after 5 months, but the booking has to be for a date that's at least 6 months after last jab. Isn't that right?
Managed to book our and my parent’s boosters using the new 5-month rule on Sunday. Some reports the staff in the vaccination centres were still applying the 6-month rule and turning people away who had bookings. Hopefully sorted now.
it’s not 5 months though it’s 6. you can book an appointment a month before the due date but it will still be for 6 months after your second dose.
Actually it can be a few days shorter, both me and my partner booked ours at the weekend for the end of November when the actual 6 months date is the 2nd December
From the NHS site:
Book your vaccination appointment online
You can book your COVID-19 booster dose online if it's been 5 months (152 days) since you had your 2nd dose and you are:
aged 50 and over
aged 16 and over with a health condition that puts you at high risk from COVID-19
You'll be offered appointment dates from 6 months after the date of your 2nd dose.
Booked both of ours on Sunday night. Would only give me dates from when our six months are up so booked for the day after
Ah OK. Perhaps the people being turned away were just turning up.
First day working in the office today.
Luckily able to drive in so avoided public transport, but blimey, traffic onto Nottingham seemed well on it's way back to pre-Covid levels.
Masks required for moving round the office, but it was noticeable that people who've been in working for longer than me were more "relaxed" about it. **** all in the way of ventilation rules being obeyed. Dressed expecting it to be chilly, ended up feeling warm and stuffy in a t-shirt. Sanitiser at the entrance to each building but none obvious on the floor where we were sat.
Alternate desks in use so we were roughly 2 metres apart. Until a group of the office regularsfrom the other team gathered for an unmasked chat at the desks behind me.
Pretty pissed off about it to be honest, and will be mentioning it to my manager tomorrow, trying not to out myself as the whistle-blower. Currently sat in a chain cafe which feels much safer than the office I've just spent 8 hours in.
So I have a question (apologies if it has been answered before). We are a family of four and got our first positive PCR case last weekend (one of the four of us) so daughter one is isolating until Monday. Now my wife has just tested positive (she took a second test after getting symptoms despite the LFT being negative) so the remaining two (daughter two and myself) are taking PCR tests again but due to logistics we are having to get them posted out / posted back so that won't be before Monday when daughter one is out of isolation – so should she be taking another test or is it assumed she won't get it again so soon after having it?
And I assume that, as we aren't displaying any symptoms and daily LFTs being negative, that daughter two and myself don't need to isolate either (she is <18 and I am double jabbed).
so should she be taking another test
No.
daughter two and myself don’t need to isolate either
You don't "have" to... but I would/did in that situation.
You don’t “have” to… but I would/did in that situation.
Her school expects her to be attend as she is negative and not displaying symptoms though – if she doesn't go in (and assuming we don't lie), it would be recorded as unauthorised absence.
As for myself - I guess I could self-isolate, I don't really have an excuse other than my mental health – the thought of having to WFH again (even for a short time) really makes me anxious.
Sorry to hear that johndoh, I hope they get better soon,
The daughter that's tested positive shouldn't take another test for 90 days
You and the other daughter don't need to self isolate unless you show symptoms. Note that the official symptoms aren't a good guide if you've been vaccinated.
https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/do-i-have-covid-or-a-cold-how-to-tell-the-difference
Her school expects her to be attend as she is negative and not displaying symptoms though – if she doesn’t go in (and assuming we don’t lie), it would be recorded as unauthorised absence.
Apologies, by "I", I meant "me"... no negative test children involved in our case... just one positive (and ill) child off school. I isolated while looking after them, because I could, and would rather not risk infecting friends and workmates.
The attending school while household has positive cases thing is a real dilemma. Any missed class time could be very hard to catch up with at the moment. But the other side of that is if she takes it into her class, many more kids she knows will end up missing class time.
But the other side of that is if she takes it into her class, many more kids will end up missing class time.
I know but that has been school policy for a while now so we can only follow their advice.
Same policy at all schools that I know of, but it's still your choice... they don't own you or your child. Do what you think is best. If that's to send her in... do it. But don't worry about penalties or come backs if you choose not to. You're doing the right thing getting her and yourself tests either way.
We had our Pfizer boosters last night - booked online on Monday - apparently we were 2 days early (180 days) but they honoured it as the system had allowed us to book - had we been walk-ins we would have been turned away - it's a huge vaccination centre but there was hardly anyone there at 1830 last night
Yeah I have my booster booked in for the end of the month but I think if I am gonna get it, I'll have got it by then.
While I'll definitely not refuse a Covid vaccine booster jab after today's news for us 40-somethings, just like my first ever flu vaccine jab scheduled for next week, it's another vaccine jab I'm dreading as regards side effects.
My first OxAZ jab hit me for six for ~3 weeks including being a borderline case for going to A&E due to a 4+ day headache that wouldn't clear with painkillers. I felt pretty bad for a few days after the second, then felt great for a day, before then having a major relapse that left me almost as weak/fatigued as the first jab.
They were a major factor in this year being my worst as regards cycling fitness since my quest began in 2017.
Totally understandable! Hope this one goes smoothly for you.
BBC article says that anyone 40+ and >152 days post last dose can book now. NHS website won't let me though. No tearing rush, since I won't actually hit the 6 month anniversary for another few weeks.
Good news for you is that:
1. All boosters are Pfizer, so different vaccine to the one you reacted to.
2. The booster jab is a lower dose, so reportedly people are having milder side effects.
Yep looking forward to booking my booster next week and hopefully squeeze it in before Christmas
my mum just text me to say that boosters are now available... i have drafted a response, but thought better of it. appreciate your views
it doesnt stop me catching it, it doesnt stop me passing it on in fact it makes it much more likely that i dont even know ive got it. Until the government again blackmails me by taking away my freedoms, im not interested in being sick for four days*, huge increased risk of blood clots** and shifting the expensive stock of drugs that the country simply doesnt want or need. Anyone at risk of severe symptoms and hospitalisation*** from covid might want to, not me
*based on prior experience of 2 x AZ vaccines
**considering im self injecting daily with something to prevent blood clots, from which im at risk due to breaking my leg last week (Tibia Plateau Fracture)
*** recent first hand experience of how stretched the NHS is. its due to decades of chronic underfunding much more than it is from covid (out of the mouths of doctors, nurses and porters alike)
facts and opinions welcome.
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facts and opinions welcome
You're a numpty.
huge increased risk of blood clots**
You missed the bit where is't Pfizer for the booster which (as far as I'm aware) is not implicated in blood clotting. Do try to keep up as your health and the rest of us depends on it. (You'll be boned if your anti-coagulants supplier can't work due to COVID).
IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU!!
It's perfectly reasonable to be reluctant to get ill for a few days (and risk clotting) if there's no perceived benefit.
That's really not the case though. It doesn't STOP you getting it in the sense that it guarantees 100%, but it does reduce the chances massively (again, that won't last forever though, just like the first couple of jabs). Given that you're less likely to catch it, you are also less likely to pass it on. (If you do catch it, then sure, you may still pass it on.) So there is a significant benefit to you and those around you. There really is. It'd be way cheaper for the government to shove it all in the bin than to pay for it to be stuck in people's arms.
I've heard many people say "well if it doesn't mean that I can't catch it then what's the point?" But the statistics are not hard to find, and everyone can understand that a 93% reduction of chance of getting it is actually pretty significant...
Edit to add this link for the 93% figure
Is it five months or six months?
if it’s six months, I’ll be eligible for a booster on Xmas eve…
Six
Should be able to make the booking after 5 months, but for an appointment date that'll be 6 months after last dose.
if it’s six months, I’ll be eligible for a booster on Xmas eve…
Don't worry, we're working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
#shouldhavereadthesmallprintbeforesigningup
Happy Christmas to me.
thanks Gray - I didnt realise that the boosters were pfizer, which may lessen the danger of blood clots.
Im not moved by the 93% reduction in chance of getting symptomatic covid, unless last years tales that its "asymptomatic spread" that is the hidden danger, have since been proven unfounded.
cheers Sandwich
ive only been prescribed anti coagualants due to the fear of clots linked to the AZ vaccine
"Its not all about you"
it is, i will apparently have similar viral load for a similar time regardless of vaccine status - so its all about me, im not protecting you or your loved ones either way.
to the rest, sorry, i stopped regularly checking this thread around a year ago when the echo chamber became nasty, shame to see that vibe remains in some posters.
Yes the vibe remains because some of us have relatives working in close proximity to the sharp end of the disease. These relatives will have some form of PTSD and we are sick of those in-duh-viduals who refuse to learn and think they're special. We are none of us special, we all pull our trousers or jeans on one leg at a time.
Yes I'm annoyed, very, very pissed off after nearly 2 years from inception that we're still doing this.
huge increased risk of blood clots**
I don't know what the rate is as a result of your anti-clot treatment, but this increased risk is a tricky one to navigate even without the change to the Pfizer top-up.
If you buy a ticket, your chance of winning the lottery is insignificant. If you buy 10, your chances increase hugely but are still insignificant.
sandwich, i neither refuse to learn (hence seeking advice, again, here) nor think im special.
I simply do not think that on information currently available, me having a further vaccine changes anything for anyone else... in which case I would choose to pass and risk my own consequences. if i had to sign the waiver and not get NHS treatment should it go against me, i would.
not trying to antagonise, simply asking if i had missed anything pertinent. aside from the booster being pfizer it seems not.
51%
It really does change things though.
It dramatically reduces the risk of you catching it. For one thing that reduces the chances of your being really sick with it affecting others around you, including family and healthcare workers who would look after you, as well as the other people they couldn't look after because they're looking after you.
The NHS has been under-resourced for ages, yes. Stretching it more now isn't going to help. COVID is not the only problem, but it is one.
I don't know the percentage reduction in chances of getting an asymptomatic infection, and so don't know the overall reduction in the chances of getting-it-and-passing-it-on. It has to be an overall reduction though, unless it magically *increased* the chances of getting an asymptomatic infection sufficiently to cancel out.
I do think it's your right to balance the overall risk / benefit, but so far I disagree with your assessments of those.
shifting the expensive stock of drugs that the country simply doesnt want or need
with that kind of ignorant statement what kind of response did you expect?
you got of lightly TBH.
The strain on the NHS is unimaginable, I had my apendix out as an emergency a few weeks back.
It was generally ok but I had a bad infection so was in hospital for about a week. But I can just see there's no room for manuvre for the staff, they are running at 120% percent, or more, and it's not sustainable.
Frankie Boyle just nailed it.
Even if the threats are true and his booster jab leaves him in agony, surely that's better than living in a world where Right Said Fred know more than scientists
Are people's works' Christmas parties getting booked in? I was expecting low signup but we have several buses' (not that buses will be involved) worth of people signed up - over three quarters as a proportion I reckon.
I simply do not think that on information currently available, me having a further vaccine changes anything for anyone else
To be fair, there has definitely been some mixed messages on this lately. I recall recent studies showing only modest reduction in transmission with vaccination, which if I understand correctly means @soobalias isn't far off the mark with the above. (E.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59077036)
I'll certainly be having the booster though. The odds of coming into contact with the virus are very high this winter, you'd be mad not to have the most protection possible.
But that link is saying that vaccinated people who get infected, are just as likely to infect people in their household, and suggests that this is because although they clear the infection more quickly, their peak viral load is just as high.
So, logically, that suggests that even if you get infected, you'll probably come into contact with fewer non-household people (since your infectious period is shorter). So there's a fair chance that you'll infect fewer people.
But, critically, there's a much lower chance that you'll become infected in the first place! And if you're not infected then you definitely won't be passing it on.
I've not heard any credible expert say that there isn't a significant benefit to the vaccines except in unusual cases.
It's a bit like Brexit (here we go...) - there were essentially zero credible economists (including the government's own reports) who predicted anything other than a significant cost overall. So, fine if you choose to believe that cost is worth it, but it doesn't make sense at all to just choose to believe that Nigel knows better and the NHS will be awash with cash. This is similar - you can decide that the risk to you from COVID is low and you don't want the hassle and risk of a vaccine, that's totally your choice to make. But it doesn't make sense to do that on the basis that 'the vaccines don't help'.
