2nd vaccine date given little notice

GTR_King

Thanks My GP Will most likely ring me or send me a letter to book my vaccine 1st week of may and have it done 2nd week of may, 

justworriedabit

od244051 said:

GTR_King said:

I am still waiting for my 2nd dose, had it at my gp surgery 23rd Feb some one I work with had his (Same place) 16th February and no call yet, likely they will call/txt us when the next batch comes in which should be soon

If your practice uses 11 week gap, like they do at hospitals - your colleague should get his first week in May. You should get yours 2nd week May. You had your first dose a couple of days before me. The way things are going at my GP practice that you get text a day before. If your colleague gets a text 2 days before his 2nd dose then you can be pretty much certain that yours will be more/less the same gap between 1st and 2nd doses as to him.

If you don't hear anything by the Friday 14th (your colleague 7th May) - give your GP practice a call.

Great, helpful post.
We booked our at 12 weeks but decided to go in early as gp was ringing us, so we took the 2nd early and on our return home cancelled online the 12 week appt. In our areas advised by the gp appointment caller they were finding it hard to get hold of pfizer as this was more up to the line but easy on AZ

Mnoee

I got mine through my GP (in NI) and the second date was already booked in and written on the card. Happens to be my birthday, a sore arm is a great way to celebrate! 

cannugec5

Mnoee said:

I got mine through my GP (in NI) and the second date was already booked in and written on the card. Happens to be my birthday, a sore arm is a great way to celebrate! 

My second one is booked in for my birthday too! 

silvercar

Yesterday the government lowered the age range to 40+.

I was in the middle of a GP led clinic at the time. Some of our surgeries sent booking links out to their patients through the day and patients were able to book a same day appointment throughout the day. The clinic was timed to finish at 3pm. We just kept opening more vials (AZ-Oxford) as patients booked in. Online booking system held up well and we could confirm appointments in real time, hand written vaccine cards, very happy customers. Last patients booked in for 3.30pm, last late patient arrived at around 3.50 and we shut the door. Must have done around 200 extra patients. 

jimi_man

My wife was due her 2nd (Pfizer) in mid May (I think), but got an email on Friday to ask if she was free to have it earlier. She ended up having it that same afternoon.  

I'm guessing they have stocks to use up. 

silvercar

jimi_man said:

My wife was due her 2nd (Pfizer) in mid May (I think), but got an email on Friday to ask if she was free to have it earlier. She ended up having it that same afternoon.  

I'm guessing they have stocks to use up. 

 1,170 doses in a batch of Pfizer, once it is out of the freezer it needs using up. Generally the same people who had from a single batch of Pfizer would be called for their second dose at the same time. Some of those won’t be available due to illness, death, moving away or into a care home etc that leaves unused doses, so people’s appointments are moved forward to take those last doses. 

Given that more Pfizer was used early on and the categories eligible for vaccine at the start were the very elderly and clinically vulnerable, the number not able to have their second dose on schedule can mount up.

Nebulous2

silvercar said:

jimi_man said:

My wife was due her 2nd (Pfizer) in mid May (I think), but got an email on Friday to ask if she was free to have it earlier. She ended up having it that same afternoon.  

I'm guessing they have stocks to use up. 

 1,170 doses in a batch of Pfizer, once it is out of the freezer it needs using up. Generally the same people who had from a single batch of Pfizer would be called for their second dose at the same time. Some of those won’t be available due to illness, death, moving away or into a care home etc that leaves unused doses, so people’s appointments are moved forward to take those last doses. 

Given that more Pfizer was used early on and the categories eligible for vaccine at the start were the very elderly and clinically vulnerable, the number not able to have their second dose on schedule can mount up.

Silvercar - thanks for your sensible, knowledgeable posts about the vaccination process and your experience as a volunteer.  I appreciate what you are doing.....

jackieblack

lisyloo said:

I don’t see what the issue is.
you can book a second appt at a vaccination center with many weeks notice if you want.
this is a very important appointment.

whats the issue with making time up?
seems perfectly reasonable and even flexible to me for what is dependent care.

if it’s awkward at short notice then why not book online ahead.
mine is offering it to me 5 weeks ahead at the moment (at the 11 week point).

That’s good for you, but it’s not the case for everyone.
In this area only people who’ve had AstraZeneca can book their second jab in advance.  Everyone who has had Pfizer has to wait until they get a text, usually just after 10 weeks since their first jab.

At the moment I’m having to take my elderly mother to the hospital 3 days a week for chemotherapy treatment. There’s no-one else who can take her so I’m really hoping I get a choice of date/time for my second jab otherwise there’s a possibility that I won’t be able to make it if it clashes with Mum’s appointments. 

wannabe_a_saver

jackieblack said:

lisyloo said:

I don’t see what the issue is.
you can book a second appt at a vaccination center with many weeks notice if you want.
this is a very important appointment.

whats the issue with making time up?
seems perfectly reasonable and even flexible to me for what is dependent care.

if it’s awkward at short notice then why not book online ahead.
mine is offering it to me 5 weeks ahead at the moment (at the 11 week point).

That’s good for you, but it’s not the case for everyone.
In this area only people who’ve had AstraZeneca can book their second jab in advance.  Everyone who has had Pfizer has to wait until they get a text, usually just after 10 weeks since their first jab.

At the moment I’m having to take my elderly mother to the hospital 3 days a week for chemotherapy treatment. There’s no-one else who can take her so I’m really hoping I get a choice of date/time for my second jab otherwise there’s a possibility that I won’t be able to make it if it clashes with Mum’s appointments. 

If it does clash, you could call the hospital where she is having her chemo, they should be able to arrange transport for her.  People receiving treatment for cancer are one of the priority groups for hospital transport. 

I'm sure your mum doesn't want you delaying or missing your jab.