We had to go to a pharmacy in Kidderminster about 12 miles away from our residence.
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Both flu and covid booked together at the GP’s as last year. Wonder why procedures vary regionally.
John
John
When at doctors this week ask about Flu jab they said we are starting in October so hoping to book appointment asap
Parksy
Moderator
We've had texts inviting us to have the flu jab and the Covid booster.
We're putting both of them off until we come back from Yorkshire.
We're putting both of them off until we come back from Yorkshire.
I'm a bit surprised at this apparent eagerness to get a flu jab. Has anyone any personal experience that they've suffered less from flu since being vaccinated? I know, I'm an old sceptical so and so.
Since having the flu jab over the last 15 years I have not caught flu. When we caught it in our early forties it knocked me and my wife out of work for three weeks and it was quite a while afterwards until our energy level returned. It was a pretty unpleasant experience and one I would want to avoid if at all possible being some 30 (ish) years older. Of course since having had vaccinations I don’t know if I have caught flu, and what possibly passed as a cold could have been flu with its effects ameliorated by the flu vaccine. So my wife and I plan to have our flu vaccination in mid October. Of course it may not be as effective as in pre covid years given the effect that covid has had on the low incidence of flu in the last two years and difficulty of identifying what could be the dominant strain in the northern hemisphere. But I will accept that uncertainty.
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My wife was a Nurse for forty years and during that time has only missed one booster, this coincided with having flu which lead to bad URTI lasting ten weeks. With this over the years and having COPD due to complications of health issues the flu jab is worth its weight in gold giving me cover during the winter months to enable me to build up my immune system. I'd be a fool not to have it and risk anymore complications to my own health........
A little like OC. I remember having flu at about 14. I don't want to repeat that. Since having jabs I have had sever colds with, what I call ‘flu like symptoms’. But not so severe as full on flu. For the last 10 years or so I have only had sniffles. So, though I could easily be wrong, I think the jabs are keeping me safe and I will continue.
John
John
I can understand how your experience may have cast doubts as to the efficacy of the vaccinations, but one of the great imponderables is what might have happened if you hadn't had the prior vaccinations. You might not have been around to tell us....
Right from the outset none of the vaccines could guarantee to prevent you from catching Covid, nor could they guarantee it would reduce the severity of the infection in every case, but the testing, and now the historical data show that they did make a significant impact in both rate of infection and the severity of infections in the population.
As we learn and understand more about Covid, the vaccines will improve and provide better cover for all. Rather like the flu vaccines, I suspect the covid vaccine boosters will need to be tailored to deal with new variants - such is the nature of Viral infections.
Despite the service being called the National Health Service, the way its organised is down to regional boards and clinical commissioning groups. The service is organised this way because a one size fits all approach wasn't working due to regional peculiarities.
Specifically in relation to the Covid Vaccine, each manufacturers product needs different production, delivery and storage requirements, and its impractical for some versions to be held at GP surgeries. Some require almost cryogenic refrigeration storage, and some have to be prepared in time critical batches which might be too many for a GP surgery to be able to use resulting in wastage.
As our knowledge about Covid improves, perhaps vaccines that are less temperamental about storage might be developed.
There’s some good news . This summer Pfizer announced their vaccine once thawed but unopened can be stored in a normal fridge 2-8deg c. for up-to 28 days . As Prof says vaccine storage is improving .
I often wonder why some people shy away from vaccination. Would they pass on polio etc? Having seen two kids at school in callipers avoiding the vaccine is a no no, bar certain medical conditions of course.
I often wonder why some people shy away from vaccination. Would they pass on polio etc? Having seen two kids at school in callipers avoiding the vaccine is a no no, bar certain medical conditions of course.
Not long after it was first used the restrictions on Pfizer vaccine were reduced in so far as it was not required to be stored at minus 70 deg C. Since then as more has been learned about it the restrictions have been progressively reduced. From the outset our vaccine doses were administered at a GP surgery and all have been Pfizer. In our family only my grandson has received Astra Zeneca Oxford, and that was only for his first dose. It seems despite their rapid introduction of a vaccine AZO have gone off of the scene.
I'm not against vaccination in principle, but there's a big difference between flu and polio. Unless one has a weak immune system one will recover from a flu relatively quickly. The same cannot be said in the case of polio. In order to keep my natural immune system intact, I shall refrain from vaccination against flu. It's served me well for the past 75 years.
Don’t know the figures where you are Lutz, but in the UK a bad flu year will kill 20,000 people. I believe the average is around 14,000 a year.
mel
I am booked in for my 5th Covid jab and my flu jab Tuesday at 9.15 at local Doctors surgery, then the dog gets his annual jab and Kennel cough squirt at 10.00 at the vets.
I get the impression that there appears to be a contest, for whatever reason, between those who have had or who have booked the most number of jabs. Or perhaps it's only because someone has bought a major consignment of vaccines and they now have to find a way to persuade the public that it's in their best interest to get another jab before the expiry date is reached.
Have you considered that the jabs might actually help build up ones immune system, as opposed to masking it as you seemed to suggest earlier. (of course, I have no way of knowing), just an alternate view.
John
Parksy
Moderator
Flu jabs are routinely offered to elderly patients and those with chronic health conditions by GPs surgeries.
The majority of patients accept the annual flu vaccine, not because of and sense of competition or because of the state of their immune system.
The flu jabs are meant to preserve hospital beds for patients with more serious health issues.
The NHS has a finite number of hospital beds, which could become unavailable if they were occupied by flu patients in the winter.
I presume that the Covid vaccination could become an annual offering from GPs to the same patient demographic for the same reasons.
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