Autumn 22 Covid Booster

[88V8]

We booked boosters through the NHS site.

Wondering today about the flu jab, nothing on our GP's site, but today we emailed and had an almost immediate response, that they are organising joint jabs.
So we have cancelled our NHS boosters and rebooked through the GP.

Late October, four days after the cancelled booster-only appt.

V8

[scotia]

We both had our Covid Booster and Flu vaccinations an hour ago.
So my Covid Vaccine score is now: - AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Moderna Bivalent

[stevensfo]

We both had our Covid Booster and Flu vaccinations an hour ago.
So my Covid Vaccine score is now: - AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Moderna Bivalent

A few more and you'll have collected the whole set!

I've had AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca, Moderna.

I also had Covid between the 2nd and 3rd vaccine.

The after-effects of the Moderna vaccine lasted almost exactly 12 hours and were actually worse than Covid itself!

When I had Covid, the loss of smell/taste started towards the end, but continued to a lesser extent for many months.


Steve

[UncleEbenezer]

We both had our boosters (Moderna) on Saturday. Painless at first, but the soreness in our arms changed from fly-bite to wasp sting within a few hours, and three days later it's still at bad-bruise level (although without the bruise, if you know what I mean?)

I'm descended from a long line of blacksmiths, and heredity has very kindly allocated me some fairly satisfactory biceps which I've done absolutely nothing to earn. But even picking up a 20 kg breeze block yesterday was not something I'd want to do more than once. Meanwhile, we are both feeling pretty wiped out, presumably by the antibody reaction. It takes all sorts, I suppose?

BJ

Sounds worse than covid itself, when I had that back in March.

I am due mine on Thursday.

Thursday. Hope you're still with us?

[scotia]

After our Moderna Bivalent Covid Jab and our Flu Jab yesterday, both myself and my wife (ages 78 and 76) have had no significant side effects - apart from a mild bruising pain if the area of the Jabs are pressed. I chose to have a Jab on each arm - but my wife had both on one arm.
I should add that neither of us have experienced any significant problems with any of our Covid or Flu vaccinations.
Does this mean that we have poor immune responses and our bodies accept any invasions without complaint, or does it mean that we have excellent immune responses which happily cope with the invaders without complaining

[Dod101]

We both had our boosters (Moderna) on Saturday. Painless at first, but the soreness in our arms changed from fly-bite to wasp sting within a few hours, and three days later it's still at bad-bruise level (although without the bruise, if you know what I mean?)

I'm descended from a long line of blacksmiths, and heredity has very kindly allocated me some fairly satisfactory biceps which I've done absolutely nothing to earn. But even picking up a 20 kg breeze block yesterday was not something I'd want to do more than once. Meanwhile, we are both feeling pretty wiped out, presumably by the antibody reaction. It takes all sorts, I suppose?

BJ

Sounds worse than covid itself, when I had that back in March.

I am due mine on Thursday.

Thursday. Hope you're still with us?

I have just returned from the clinic. So far I am still here!

Dod

[UncleEbenezer]

Does this mean that we have poor immune responses and our bodies accept any invasions without complaint, or does it mean that we have excellent immune responses which happily cope with the invaders without complaining

No idea. But surely the test that matters is whether you get the lurgy, and how ill it makes you? Against a control sample of an unvaccinated you.

still here!

[Dod101]

And I was offered the flu jab at the same time, at an NHS facility. So now all done for another 6 months or so.

Dod

[Dod101]

Nearly 24 hours after my jabs and I have quite a sore and stiff arm where I had my Covid vaccine. I feel fine otherwise though (I think!)

Dod

[BullDog]

Covid booster booked for next week, flu jab the week after. A shame they aren't joined up enough to do them at one visit. But hey ho.

[6Tricia]

Flu jab last Tuesday, Covid booster booked for Wednesday afternoon. So far I've had 3 Pfizer and one Moderna and had no reaction to speak of. Fingers crossed for the 5th one!

Tricia

[tjh290633]

We both had our Moderna-bivalent boosters last Friday. No reactions whatsoever.

TJH

[Dod101]

Covid booster booked for next week, flu jab the week after. A shame they aren't joined up enough to do them at one visit. But hey ho.

Amazing that NHS Scotland offer the two of them at the same visit. It takes fractionally longer to give both on one visit but what on earth would be the point of organising two separate clinics?

Dod

[BullDog]

Covid booster booked for next week, flu jab the week after. A shame they aren't joined up enough to do them at one visit. But hey ho.

Amazing that NHS Scotland offer the two of them at the same visit. It takes fractionally longer to give both on one visit but what on earth would be the point of organising two separate clinics?

Dod

Good question to which I have no answer. In my case the flu jab was set up by the local GP surgery and the covid booster was set up by the NHS. In both cases I got a text message to my phone from each one of them asking me to make an appointment. So, the system is totally not joined up. At all. FWIW, this is North West England I am talking about.

[Dod101]

Covid booster booked for next week, flu jab the week after. A shame they aren't joined up enough to do them at one visit. But hey ho.

Amazing that NHS Scotland offer the two of them at the same visit. It takes fractionally longer to give both on one visit but what on earth would be the point of organising two separate clinics?

Dod

Good question to which I have no answer. In my case the flu jab was set up by the local GP surgery and the covid booster was set up by the NHS. In both cases I got a text message to my phone from each one of them asking me to make an appointment. So, the system is totally not joined up. At all. FWIW, this is North West England I am talking about.

Just as a matter of interest, my GP surgery did the very first Covid jab but since then it has been done by the NHS. The GP surgery used to do the flu vaccine as a matter of course but I think it was two years ago that the NHS took it on at the same time as the Autumn Covid vaccine, and it works well now. It is not often that the Scottish NHS, which is devolved to Edinburgh, uses much common sense. It helps the recipients but probably more importantly it avoids having to set up clinics twice.

Dod

[BullDog]

Covid booster booked for next week, flu jab the week after. A shame they aren't joined up enough to do them at one visit. But hey ho.

Amazing that NHS Scotland offer the two of them at the same visit. It takes fractionally longer to give both on one visit but what on earth would be the point of organising two separate clinics?

Dod

Good question to which I have no answer. In my case the flu jab was set up by the local GP surgery and the covid booster was set up by the NHS. In both cases I got a text message to my phone from each one of them asking me to make an appointment. So, the system is totally not joined up. At all. FWIW, this is North West England I am talking about.

Just as a matter of interest, my GP surgery did the very first Covid jab but since then it has been done by the NHS. The GP surgery used to do the flu vaccine as a matter of course but I think it was two years ago that the NHS took it on at the same time as the Autumn Covid vaccine, and it works well now. It is not often that the Scottish NHS, which is devolved to Edinburgh, uses much common sense. It helps the recipients but probably more importantly it avoids having to set up clinics twice.

Dod

There is undoubtedly a massive inefficiency cost which can with a bit of thought and effort be eliminated. Good on the Scottish NHS for actually achieving an efficiency which appears to elude the third world*** health service we apparently have now in my part of the country.

*** I have to admit to having had both state provided and private health care in what some would call 3rd world countries. I can say without a doubt that the NHS GP service in my area would be considered completely unacceptable in those 3rd world countries.

[Hallucigenia]

There is undoubtedly a massive inefficiency cost which can with a bit of thought and effort be eliminated. Good on the Scottish NHS for actually achieving an efficiency which appears to elude the third world*** health service we apparently have now in my part of the country.

*** I have to admit to having had both state provided and private health care in what some would call 3rd world countries. I can say without a doubt that the NHS GP service in my area would be considered completely unacceptable in those 3rd world countries.

Before people get too carried away, we know that it's the official policy of the NHS in England to do both jabs at the same time. I suspect the problem is that (the private company) Moderna are struggling with vaccine supplies, whereas the NHS has organised more than enough jabbing capacity. I've certainly heard of areas where they aren't getting any bivalent vaccine until "October".

If that's the case, and given what we know about the elderly being far more vulnerable, and that the autumn wave is already starting (and is concentrated in care homes and hospitals, where the elderly spend disproportionately more time), I can see the instruction going out "Just get any vaccine supplies you can into the arms of the 75+, and if that means they have to wait for supplies of the "other" jab to become available, then that's better than the extra strain on hospitals from x% more elderly COVID/flu patients.

Whereas if the 50+ were all newly jabbed, then they might be OK to wait a bit until there were enough stocks of both vaccines locally that they could be done together, as the risk to 40-somethings of waiting another week or two is not that great.

And of course British GPs are all private companies before anyone tries to make points about private vs public....

[BullDog]

There is undoubtedly a massive inefficiency cost which can with a bit of thought and effort be eliminated. Good on the Scottish NHS for actually achieving an efficiency which appears to elude the third world*** health service we apparently have now in my part of the country.

*** I have to admit to having had both state provided and private health care in what some would call 3rd world countries. I can say without a doubt that the NHS GP service in my area would be considered completely unacceptable in those 3rd world countries.

Before people get too carried away, we know that it's the official policy of the NHS in England to do both jabs at the same time. I suspect the problem is that (the private company) Moderna are struggling with vaccine supplies, whereas the NHS has organised more than enough jabbing capacity. I've certainly heard of areas where they aren't getting any bivalent vaccine until "October".

If that's the case, and given what we know about the elderly being far more vulnerable, and that the autumn wave is already starting (and is concentrated in care homes and hospitals, where the elderly spend disproportionately more time), I can see the instruction going out "Just get any vaccine supplies you can into the arms of the 75+, and if that means they have to wait for supplies of the "other" jab to become available, then that's better than the extra strain on hospitals from x% more elderly COVID/flu patients.

Whereas if the 50+ were all newly jabbed, then they might be OK to wait a bit until there were enough stocks of both vaccines locally that they could be done together, as the risk to 40-somethings of waiting another week or two is not that great.

And of course British GPs are all private companies before anyone tries to make points about private vs public....

Our local 3rd world GP surgery (where you cannot actually see a GP) decided at the start of the pandemic vaccine roll out that they were not going to be involved with covid jabs. Hardly a surprise when the most days per week any of them work is three. No wonder nobody can get a GP appointment. The number of GPs in the surgery hasn't increased. So effectively the capacity of the surgery has been reduced by around half compared to when they worked five days per week. Public or private, that's disgraceful.

[Lootman]

of course British GPs are all private companies before anyone tries to make points about private vs public....

The way the vaccinations have been organised, it is impossible to get one outside of the NHS. In that context GPs are a part of the NHS.

Back in late 2020 or early 2021 I asked a private doctor that I have seen before (who does zero work for the NHS) about him giving me a jab and he said that he was "crowded out" of the supply of vaccines.

Nor can you go down to Boots and get a jab.

So I'd agree that the private versus public issue is not relevant here. The question is more whether it should have been. And by the way I believe that even in the US, the government micro-managed the distribution of vaccines, via the States. Despite the fact that it was the private sector that developed the vaccine in the first place.

[Stompa]

We had Pfizer Bivalent boosters a couple of days ago, and both have had very sore arms (significantly worse than with the previous AZ & Moderna jabs). I was interested to find that the 15 minute post-jab wait has been abandoned:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... accination