Covid and flu Oct 2023

[GUMPY]

1 hour ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

now I didn’t know you could get jib jabbed for shingles, 

shingles is awful,

(so I’ve been told)

 

You can get it on the NHS over a certain age. It was 70 but had been dropped to 65 recently.

It's two injections 6 months apart, well worth doing apparently. 

[ditchcrawler]

28 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Got invited by our GP practice for covid and flu jabs about a month ago. They organised a special Saturday clinic with half a dozen consulting rooms in use, admin staff to take people through, check identities, get sleeves rolled up etc. then nurses flipping between the rooms to give the actual jabs. In and out in a few minutes. I was told they were aiming to achieve an average of one minute per patient.

Ours did the same just for one day, over subscribed but the chemist in the next village sorted us out

15 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

You can get it on the NHS over a certain age. It was 70 but had been dropped to 65 recently.

It's two injections 6 months apart, well worth doing apparently. 

I only had a single jab. They were offering it for two ages , I think it was 65 and 73 but not 100% on that.

2 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Ours did the same just for one day, over subscribed but the chemist in the next village sorted us out

I only had a single jab. They were offering it for two ages , I think it was 65 and 73 but not 100% on that.

Who is eligible for the shingles vaccine in the UK?

 

 

Everyone aged 70 to 79 is eligible for the shingles vaccine. Depending on the type of vaccine you have, you'll have either 1 dose or 2 doses (given between 6 and 12 months apart). Contact your GP surgery if you missed your vaccine. You're eligible up until your 80th birthday.

[GUMPY]

I was told by the surgery it is 65 now.

They also said if you were over 65 on the date it dropped to 65 you have to wait until you are 70.

 

Seems they were right

 

 

Who will get the shingles vaccine
From 1 September 2023, the vaccine programme is being offered to the following:

healthy people aged 70 to 79 years who have not yet been vaccinated
people aged 50 years and over with a severely weakened immune system
healthy people aged 60 to 70 years will become eligible for the vaccine over the next 5 years, when they turn 65 or 70 years

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, GUMPY said:

I was told by the surgery it is 65 now.

They also said if you were over 65 on the date it dropped to 65 you have to wait until you are 70.

 

That is how I understood it. However if you are proper poorly then you can get it even if you missed the age 65 thing. Chicken pox can be lethal to some transplant patients, indeed I have been tested to see if I have anti bodies against chicken pox. Isnt it strange that so called kids diseases can be very dangerous. One of our kids ended up in isolation ward with measles that left her with a squint.

[Guest]

There does seem to be a bit of flexibility about the age thing.

 

Mrs M_JG originaly planned to get her Covid jab and flu jab on the basis of her health conditions. The pharmacist who jabbed her said she didnt need to worry about that as she turned 65 before the 31st March 2024 (her birthday is in January) so she qualified any way, so she got both.

 

The key seems to be you qualify if you turn 65 this winter, not that you need to be 65 at the time you get jabbed.

 

He also jabbed me with both as I turn 65 in April 2024 and said as I was technically only a couple of weeks from qualifying and lived with somebody with LTC's he was happy to jab me, all be it with a different flu jab.

 

So if you ask you just might get if the person giving it is prepared to be a bit flexible. (Remembering of course they are likely paid on a targets basis) 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by M_JG

[Slim]

3 hours ago, churchward said:

Looking at the posts above I think must be fortunate.  I had my flu jab today and I have had my Covid job booked for 11th November.  All was/will be done by our local GP practice.  Given our age now we have also been offered a Pneumonia jab in a couple of weeks. I did not have to ask for any of these appointments they contacted me.  I could have had a Covid booster earlier this month but could not attend as we have been away on the boat for a few weeks.

I think you will find that this is the experience of most. It's just that some seem to thrive on disaster.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Slim said:

I think you will find that this is the experience of most. It's just that some seem to thrive on disaster.

 

Well you say that, but when you book on line they match your postcode to the one that is registered with your GP practice so if you are not registered with a GP practice as in @LadyG 's case how do you book.

 

I think that is the point she was making.

[ditchcrawler]

36 minutes ago, M_JG said:

There does seem to be a bit of flexibility about the age thing.

 

Mrs M_JG originaly planned to get her Covid jab and flu jab on the basis of her health conditions. The pharmacist who jabbed her said she didnt need to worry about that as she turned 65 before the 31st March 2024 (her birthday is in January) so she qualified any way, so she got both.

 

The key seems to be you qualify if you turn 65 this winter, not that you need to be 65 at the time you get jabbed.

 

He also jabbed me with both as I turn 65 in April 2024 and said as I was technically only a couple of weeks from qualifying and lived with somebody with LTC's he was happy to jab me, all be it with a different flu jab.

 

So if you ask you just might get if the person giving it is prepared to be a bit flexible. (Remembering of course they are likely paid on a targets basis) 

 

 

Thats correct about the lee way on birth date

[David Mack]

Maybe it would be easier to get a Covid jab if you were dead.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/24/nhs-investigate-dead-people-invited-covid-flu-jabs

[cuthound]

23 hours ago, David Mack said:

Got invited by our GP practice for covid and flu jabs about a month ago. They organised a special Saturday clinic with half a dozen consulting rooms in use, admin staff to take people through, check identities, get sleeves rolled up etc. then nurses flipping between the rooms to give the actual jabs. In and out in a few minutes. I was told they were aiming to achieve an average of one minute per patient.

 

My GP did exactly the same. Thy offered Mrs Hound a pneumonia jab as well as the covid and flu jabs, which made her really ill for a couple of days.

 

 

 

23 hours ago, GUMPY said:

You can get it on the NHS over a certain age. It was 70 but had been dropped to 65 recently.

It's two injections 6 months apart, well worth doing apparently. 

 

When I asked about whilst having my covid jab I was told I wasn't eligible because I'm not yet 70. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by cuthound
To add spaces between merged posts

[GUMPY]

56 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

When I asked about whilst having my covid jab I was told I wasn't eligible because I'm not yet 70. 

If you look back you will see it's complicated 

If you are 66 to 70 you will get when you reach 70. If you are 65 or below you will get it at 65.

Well that's how I read it.

[john6767]

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

My GP did exactly the same. Thy offered Mrs Hound a pneumonia jab as well as the covid and flu jabs, which made her really ill for a couple of days.

 

 

 

 

When I asked about whilst having my covid jab I was told I wasn't eligible because I'm not yet 70. 

You should get the Covid jab if you are 65 or almost 65.  I  had mine today at the doctors.  I believe you have been given incorrect info.
 

Had the flu one a month ago at Tesco’s mine was free on NHS as 65, wife had to pay for hers as she is not 65.
 

It is the shingles jab that has the funny age thing that you miss out, as do I, if you are between 65 and 70.  So supposedly I will not get offered that until I am 70 but my wife will get offered it before me when she turns 65.  Seems a weird way of doing it to me.

[mrsmelly]

7 minutes ago, john6767 said:

You should get the Covid jab if you are 65 or almost 65.  I  had mine today at the doctors.  I believe you have been given incorrect info.
 

Had the flu one a month ago at Tesco’s mine was free on NHS as 65, wife had to pay for hers as she is not 65.
 

It is the shingles jab that has the funny age thing that you miss out, as do I, if you are between 65 and 70.  So supposedly I will not get offered that until I am 70 but my wife will get offered it before me when she turns 65.  Seems a weird way of doing it to me.

Remember that the age is only part of all these jabs. If you are lucky enough to be fit then age counts, however if like many there are various illnesses that mean you can get all manner of jabs on the NHS much earlier. Age is only part of the picture.

[Ange]

I'm still in my 50s but I'm eligible for Covid, flu and shingles jabs because I'm on immunosuppressant medication. My hubby is eligible because he's registered as my carer.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Ange said:

I'm still in my 50s but I'm eligible for Covid, flu and shingles jabs because I'm on immunosuppressant medication. My hubby is eligible because he's registered as my carer.

 

This is correct.

[Momac]

I had the flu jab at the surgery on a  Saturday. While there they did the pneumonia jab .

I had the Covid  jab the following week at the pharmacy. Only one pharmacy was doing it.

This was mid to late September.

 

Both appointments were booked online.

 

I could have gone to Boots for the flu jab which would have been free.

I could have had a voucher from my employer for the flu jab but didn't need it.

 

So many people eager to inject !

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

As the lady said to me when giving me my jabs "I like this job, I get to stab lots of men and then they thank me for it"

[David Schweizer]

I am not sure how effective the pneumonia jab actually is. I had mine some years ago, but it didnt stop me being rushed into hospital with a very serious pneumonia infection four months ago. I am much better now but still suffering some of the consequences. I asked about a pneumonia booster when I had my Flu/Covid booster, but apparently it is a once only vaccination.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by David Schweizer

[Naughty Cal]

15 hours ago, MartynG said:

I had the flu jab at the surgery on a  Saturday. While there they did the pneumonia jab .

I had the Covid  jab the following week at the pharmacy. Only one pharmacy was doing it.

This was mid to late September.

 

Both appointments were booked online.

 

I could have gone to Boots for the flu jab which would have been free.

I could have had a voucher from my employer for the flu jab but didn't need it.

 

So many people eager to inject !

 

 

It seems my body just opted to go down the reinfection route this year 

 

Had Covid last week which was thankfully very very mild so should hopefully now be protected for the rest of this winter from that.

 

Had flu last winter so hoping not to be unlucky enough to get it two years on the trot!!

[SLC]

Both of us who are fully vaccinated have Covid and it has totally wiped us out for 2 or more days. A reminder perhaps that Covid is still around and that you should have in place a contingency plan because we aren't going anywhere for 10 days or whatever. In our case, the biggest problem was trying to explain to our 2 dogs why a long walk was not possible!

[ditchcrawler]

I know a couple with it, both felt worse before testing positive

[Momac]

A short while back I have had  Jabs  for Flu, Covid and a Pneumonia so feeling fairly well protected.

But aware Covid is around as it may never go away .

I don't think there are any legal requirements to isolate but I hope most people will be responsible about  isolation if they know they are infectious.

[SLC]

We are certain we caught Covid from our son and daughter in law. They had the same symptoms as us but about a week beforehand. They came over to us after that week but they claim they both tested negative! Well we were positive and for 2 days my wife really suffered with a splitting permanent headache.

Of course the finger is also being pointed at our 10 month old grand daughter who is always catching something! Our challenge is when can we go back into general circulation? For safety's sake, our family Christmas do has had to be cancelled.

Just seen Martyn G post - absolutely.  Just because you have not tested positive does not mean you do not have it. We are isloating for 10 days or until we have a negative test. (Or is it 2 just to be sure?)

Edited December 18, 2023 by SLC
Response to comment just posted

[Guest]

Less people are eligible for COVID jabs this winter so immunity is waining therefore more people are suffering more severe symptoms if they catch it.

[ditchcrawler]

3 minutes ago, MartynG said:

A short while back I have had  Jabs  for Flu, Covid and a Pneumonia so feeling fairly well protected.

But aware Covid is around as it may never go away .

I don't think there are any legal requirements to isolate but I hope most people will be responsible about  isolation if they know they are infectious.

A member here has it and mentioned it on FB saying he was stuck in the house, and someone suggested it was fine to just carry on with normal daily life, its only a cold.  These people are about .