The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

jk0

Thriftygifty said:

Also who you know plays a reasonable size part. I can't debate this topic it makes me uncomfortable based on my upbringing and our current situation but we will all have different options on fortune and fate and what it means to us. 

Whilst home schooling DS I was thinking about seizing the opportunity with him being home to teach him some OS skills. I was looking at possibly knitting and sewing and going into the garden to explore fire (safely) and getting started on the veg patch for this year, any other suggestions he is 5 but a grown up 5.

I learnt to knit at 5. It was very embarassing in the wool shop, getting my nana to buy me a little girl's knitting kit, so I asked her to say it was for my uncle.

greenbee

cbsexec said:

I didnt think anyone was paying to get the vaccine?

You're right. The vaccine isn't available other than through the NHS for free. Anyone offering a paid-for service is a scammer and god only knows what they're injecting you with. The govt have been very clear on this and are trying to crack down on people claiming to offer vaccines for money.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-why-you-are-being-asked-to-wait/why-you-have-to-wait-for-your-covid-19-vaccine

Can I pay for a COVID-19 vaccine privately or at a pharmacy?

The COVID-19 vaccination is only available through the NHS to eligible groups and it is a free vaccination.

pollyanna_26

cbsexec said:

I didnt think anyone was paying to get the vaccine?

Our local pharmacy do offer the option while they're also doing the free vaccines. The main problem is the area he would normally be working in is near the top of the England outbreaks and the R rate is off the scale. It's been climbing and worsening since the virus began to take hold. The employers in his trust began allowing some staff to wfh early last year and he is able to still work remotely . It makes no sense to us for him to do that long commute on public transport to an area causing great concern to PHE who are ordering people not to travel there. Following the local news feed there are many there who believe covid is fake and constantly state their right to live their lives as they please and intend to keep doing so He's quite laid back normally but I think he'd resign from the role he's been working towards for years before he'd risk ourselves and others. I wouldn't go there if I was offered a million pounds and David Tennant  it would wipe out all the being careful , barely seeing each other apart from now and then and following guidelines as a bubble.We didn't get together for Christmas bubble or no bubble.

pollyx

cbsexec

I understand your concerns about him travelling etc but I dont think it is right for the pharmacy to be offering people jabs if they pay. He should obviously get it much closer to home if possible.  But The nhs site definitely states it is free and people cannot pay for it as green bee states.   I think I would be a bit concerned about what exactly the pharmacy is up to.  

twiglet98

Is this pharmacy in England?  I'm sure they are absolutely not allowed to offer the vaccine in return for payment.

pollyanna_26

I'll have to get him to check it out tomorrow. He did think there was an arrangement in certain conditions. Can't remember which pharmacy is in his village. The pharmacy which has dealt with DDs meds for over 30 years is Boots . No idea what the situation there is but he's stuck to his village and has rarely gone there and never town since this began. Think his chemist may be LLoyds.

pollyx

[Deleted User]

There is a news article about people being able to buy doses of the covid vaccine but it is in Australia not the UK, there is also an article from the USA that says pharmacies are taking bookings from people in the top cohorts of those deemed most at risk to book appointments to be vaccinated but it's not in place and working yet. I don't think you can jump the queue in the UK though for any reason, nothing about being able to buy a vaccination at a pharmacy here that I can find.

VJsmum

I hope it isn't available to buy - it really shouldn't be as those in most need (poorer people who can't afford to isolate, even with symptoms and who are most likely to work in 'at risk' jobs) will slip further back down the queue.

My 'click and collect' has just arrived with no gaps and no substitutions.

mothernerd

It depends how much they are willing to pay. I saw an article on one of the things I read (sorry I won't be able to go back and find it - some are from news sources, others are individuals, mostly well -informed but open to anyone who joins) that said some were paying to fly to Saudi Arabia for paid vaccines - an option not open to most of us.

Mum's vaccination went very smoothly. Lots of helpful people around from the man at the front warning about the steep curb (another man waiting at the end of the pavement and trundling a manual gritter along whenever the path was clear), someone to take us through the checklist of symptoms and contacts (was fine with it being our usual winter colds etc - just that this year we never really shook it off last year so instead of September - March and then well into the hayfever season for me, it just carried on giving), then to a desk to check in (there were several workers/ volunteers at each stage but we were told which one would take care of us). Then to the waiting area (all chairs well spaced) and about 12 booths for actual vaccinations (I think there were six on our side but we were directed to the end one which was number 5 and a similar number on the other side of the room) then round to the waiting area for our 15 minutes (we were given a card and someone checked the time before you were allowed to leave). Again well spaced chairs and another volunteer spraying and wiping chairs as people vacated them.

The only minor criticisms I could make were that they had not allowed enough double chairs although they were very willing to move them. The double chairs were for couples but nearly everyone over eighty had someone (like me) who had gone along to help. Also, although the chairs were 6 feet apart in both directions, when you got up to leave they hadn't allowed an extra pathway width so you were walking between two people sat 6 feet apart. Not really a problem as everyone was in the just vaccinated stage (but might be for others). They even had wheelchairs for people who might need them.

In fact the only minor incidents were caused by old people themselves. Mum demanding to know why she couldn't go to the pavement between two parked cars ('she was only') when I had stopped her because an elderly gentleman was getting out of one of those cars. His daughter had got out of the drivers side, come round to his side, gone in the back to get his walking stick whilst he was heading without the stick towards the steep curb and then the poor woman was calling to him to please wait and give her a chance to lock up the car. I laughed because it reminded me of one of the holidays I went on with mum. On one coach there were three of us with mothers (well 4 daughters but only 3 mothers) who took it in turns to get lost (mostly only in the hotel), being put in the lift and not emerging where they should have and us running up and down stairs trying to find them or standing together shaking our heads and swapping  'mum' stories.

I have put the rubbish out, made jellies, moved veg and chopping equipment into my room (and the grater) so I can do meal prep in there and written a card to my cousin and her husband who have just become grandparents. This is so that the man who comes with the newspaper can put it in a postbox for us - the box near here is collected at 7 am on Saturday and the door alarm won't let me out. Well it will let me out but I have to speak to the woman in the control room when the alarm goes off and I've done that once this week. I had been outside putting washing out when the doctor's receptionist phoned, came back into my room to write the information down in my notebook and left the keys on the bed (they are on a lanyard with mum's alarm). Later I went in my room for two empty boxes to transfer stuff from a broken (sodden) box and it was easier to go across the bed to retrieve the boxes and I must have knelt on the alarm.

Okay mum has gone back to bed (gave her strict instructions to rest if she felt at all unwell) so I am free to venture out into other parts of the bungalow. Will open a window a tidy the front room, then sit sewing and/ or chopping vegetables whilst watching a film. Happy prepping folks.

Serendipitious

I wouldn't go there if I was offered a million pounds and David Tennant

Polly I love this, it's made my morning!

David Tennant would certainly be a game-changer in many things I'd usually avoid!

Hope your DD's boyfriend gets his jab reallocated to a better venue for him. x