Delays in rolling out vaccine

Some of those who make those decisions seem to think that the public is too stupid to understand the concept of risk and risk balancing.
 
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Leo Varadkar on the radio at the moment saying that those in the 60 to 69 age bracket who do not sign up to the AZ vaccine this week will probably go to the back of the queue and will probably only be considered for vaccination in the autumn.

Why do I feel I am being punished because of my age?
 
Heard that this morning. There was something threatening in the way he said it all right. If 80% of all adults are to be vaccinate by the end of June why is he saying that those in the 60 to 69 age bracket will have to wait until the autumn?
 
That's a stupid thing for him to say. People over 60 still have a higher risk of hospitalisation and dying then younger people. They didn't create the uncertainty over the vaccine. They didn't flip flop over who it should be used for. They didn't decide it was not suitable for a 70 year old but was fine for a 69 year old. They didn't decide that it was fine for a 60 year old but was too risky for 59 year old. They didn't issue a recommendation that says not suitable for anyone under 60 and then say give it to under 60's if they discuss with GP and accept the risks....Is the fear here about the risks of the vaccine (A declared 1 in 1 million chance of fatal blood clot) or is it litigation?

If the over 60's don't want it, there are plenty of young people smart enough to understand the risks and would be happy to take it. But 'punishing' the over 60's for vaccine hesitancy after the past few weeks is vindictive.
 
Sunny said:
That's a stupid thing for him to say. People over 60 still have a higher risk of hospitalisation and dying then younger people. They didn't create the uncertainty over the vaccine. They didn't flip flop over who it should be used for. They didn't decide it was not suitable for a 70 year old but was fine for a 69 year old. They didn't decide that it was fine for a 60 year old but was too risky for 59 year old. They didn't issue a recommendation that says not suitable for anyone under 60 and then say give it to under 60's if they discuss with GP and accept the risks....Is the fear here about the risks of the vaccine (A declared 1 in 1 million chance of fatal blood clot) or is it litigation?

If the over 60's don't want it, there are plenty of young people smart enough to understand the risks and would be happy to take it. But 'punishing' the over 60's for vaccine hesitancy after the past few weeks is vindictive.
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I broadly agree with you but it is hard to not be annoyed by irrational people.
 
Purple said:
I broadly agree with you but it is hard to not be annoyed by irrational people.
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I agree but to be fair to people between the age of 60 and 70 being told that the vaccine is safe for them, the advice around this vaccine has changed so much that there is going to natural hesitancy. Especially in that age group without sounding ageist. We started off with the vaccine being safe for everyone, then it was for people under 70, then it was stopped, then it was restarted, then it was not suitable for anyone under the age of 60. We have Countries doing different things after months hearing about the EU and Ireland are driven by the EMA but that has now changed as well with the EMA saying the vaccine benefits still outweigh the risks but each Country is responsible for their own vaccine programme.

They should have either paused the use of the vaccine completely and sucked up the delay or else made it available to everyone on a first come, first served basis with the risks clearly communicated and accepted. Limited the vaccine to a small % of the population aged over 60 and under 70 was always going to damage the credibility of the vaccine. Even if they said it could be used by everyone over 60, I could have accepted that but to still have an upper and lower age cap suggests that they have no real idea about this vaccine.
 
Sunny said:
People over 60 still have a higher risk of hospitalisation and dying then younger people
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Doesn't seem to bother Leo. He seemed intent in his comments today, that you will not be vaccinated until the autumn if you don't sign up for the AZ vaccine. Regardless what risk category you are in.
 
EasilyAmused said:
I’m not in the 60-69 age group but I’d be happy to go to the back of the queue to get a non-AZ vaccine.
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The problem is that you might decide to wait....then when you are called you might only have the AZ vaccine available.

We cannot chose what vaccine we can get but the HSE can chose what age group gets what vaccine.
 
If I decide not to register in the 60 to 69 age group for my vaccine but decide to wait until they move to the 55 to 59 age group, then register......will I be given a Pfizer? Will I even be called for vaccination or will my age be flagged in some way and ignored for inclusion in that group?
 
IsleOfMan said:
The problem is that you might decide to wait....then when you are called you might only have the AZ vaccine available.

We cannot chose what vaccine we can get but the HSE can chose what age group gets what vaccine.
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I disagree on that - one can decline to get vaccine X - but you might have to wait (potentially a long time but I guess no one knows) till you are again offered a vaccine (which can be again x or can be the one you prefer).
If you do not want to wait you have to accept what is offered - otherwise you might wait longer. It is a personal decision depending on your risk level in regards to Covid etc ...

It is my body so I decide if I take a vaccine or not and if I decide to take one it will be as well my choice which one - not the governments.
 
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Grizzly said:
If I decide not to register in the 60 to 69 age group for my vaccine but decide to wait until they move to the 55 to 59 age group, then register......will I be given a Pfizer? Will I even be called for vaccination or will my age be flagged in some way and ignored for inclusion in that group?
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Who knows. But I suspect that it would probably work out and you'd be offered the same vaccine as the rest of the cohort.

The AZ vaccine seems to be the poor cousin of the Pfizer in terms of efficacy, side effects, and dealing with variants. We should either stop using it or offer it with caveats to whomever wants it, issues notwithstanding. We definitely shouldn't be forcing it on sexagenarians with threats if refused.
 
Grizzly said:
If I decide not to register in the 60 to 69 age group for my vaccine but decide to wait until they move to the 55 to 59 age group, then register......will I be given a Pfizer? Will I even be called for vaccination or will my age be flagged in some way and ignored for inclusion in that group?
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Well you have to give your PPS number so, dunno how you can avoid the cohort you belong to.
 
IsleOfMan said:
The problem is that you might decide to wait....then when you are called you might only have the AZ vaccine available.
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If there is one thing we know about AZ, there will never be too much of it.
The EU and Irish government will turn their backs on AZ ASAP.
They’ve already ordered non AZ vaccines for 2022 and 2023.
 
I'll be getting vaccinated, couldn't give a hoot which vaccine I get and when I do, and if I don't die, I'll be booking a winter stay in Cyprus starting in October. Bring it on is what I say. Lot of whinging going on among some, but I think they'd find an excuse no matter what good news was out there. :cool:
 
michaelm said:
Who knows. But I suspect that it would probably work out and you'd be offered the same vaccine as the rest of the cohort.
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Why don't they allow us to do this instead of Leo coming on the radio and telling us that we will have to go to the back of the queue and wait until the Autumn if we don't sign up NOW.
If the over 60's are a higher risk, surely he should be trying to get vaccines in to us as soon as possible and allow people to choose.
 
I am 68 and in group 4.

I got the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on April 1st last.

I felt more tired than usual for a few days, but no other effects.

I have an appointment for the 2nd dose on June 24th next.

While some risks have been identified so far, on balance, I reckon it is in my best interest to receive the 2nd dose as it would protect me against the worst effects of COVID-19 should I contract it.

I realize of course, that neither AstraZeneca nor any other vaccine will guarantee protection against contracting COVID-19 and so I will continue to observe health guidelines, which are also in my interest.

If there is one thing we know about this pandemic, it is uncertainty.

Ongoing research and new discoveries may alter or modify health advice, but I can only decide on the basis of current recommendations from NIAC.

Recommendations
  • Any authorised COVID-19 vaccine, including Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca, is recommended for those aged 60 years and older including those with medical conditions with very high or high risk of severe COVID-19 disease.
  • Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca is not recommended for those aged under 60 years including those with medical conditions with very high or high risk of severe COVID-19 disease.
  • A second dose of Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca should not be given to anyone who developed unusual blood clots with low platelets after the first dose.
  • Advice for those who have received a first dose of Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca is:
    • Those aged 60 and older should receive their second dose 12 weeks later as scheduled.
    • Those aged under 60 years with a very high risk or high-risk medical condition should receive their second dose 12 weeks later as scheduled.
Those aged under 60 years without a very high risk or high-risk medical condition should have the scheduled interval between doses extended to 16 weeks to allow further assessment of the benefits and risks as more evidence becomes available.
 
noproblem said:
I'll be getting vaccinated, couldn't give a hoot which vaccine I get and when I do, and if I don't die, I'll be booking a winter stay in Cyprus starting in October. Bring it on is what I say. Lot of whinging going on among some, but I think they'd find an excuse no matter what good news was out there. :cool:
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I agree and if the vaccines had taken the normal time to develop we wouldn't have any vaccines and the situation would be worse by a very large factor.

It's really down to the manufacturers to work out what is causing these issues. J&J are actively doing this with the authorities in the US, I haven't seen any comments from AZ what their scientific people are doing.

The 60/69 group has almost 480,000 people and according to RTE over 9000 people registered today in the first hour. A vast majority will take this vaccine.

Edit:used incorrect figure for cohort population
 
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