General Chat

Where we live it has been decided that we have to go to the next town, 12 ish miles away for our Covid jabs, all very well if you can drive but 3 to 4 hours round trip by buses and taxis plus the expense and fitting in any medication that may have to taken during that time.

That’s rough. When they first announced the centres I couldn’t believe it. About an hour away and no public transport.
We are incredibly lucky that out own surgery is doing it - but mine will be well down the line.

It is quite a hike for the jab.

I've been speaking to my pal this evening and her daughter (and no doubt her fellow medics and colleagues), who works in critical care at our local hospital has suggested leisure and sports centres being opened for vaccinations. Big halls and refrigerstors (so space and a suitable store for at least one type of vaccine - and two soon, I expect).

Even our local church hall and our community centre have fridges - so around the country there are numerous possibilities.

Perhaps the delay is due to staff numbers?

I live on the edge of a city - but it's still 2 bus journeys totalling 45 minutes, then there's the wait for the second bus.

Is the limitation due to the fact that one vaccine needs to be kept at -70 to -80C, and the other at -20C.

Most common refrigerator/freezer units or freezers do not go down even to -20C.

Ours, in the kitchen, goes to -20, Sylvia, and we've had it for several years - so, as they're rolling out the AZ vaccine at the moment it would be suitable. (In case any eco-aware person is reading, I hasten to add that we don't have it set at such a low temperature.)

The much newer one in the laundry room also goes down that low so there must be plenty of this type around so with a bit of good fortune, some of these types may be already installed in leisure centres, community centres and such.

In any case, our local news programme has just announced that GP's surgeries are going to give the AZ jab from today so I guess the majority of fridge-freezers sold here do go down to a temperature suitable for that particular vaccine. No doubt the Pfizer vaccine will continue to be given out at our university medical centre which is where two of my pals went.

A neighbour was saying that she had been for her jab. Her sis lives about 30 mins drive away in a completely different NHS area and works for the NHS. Apparently they had had a batch of vaccine, jabbed all the folk who were on the list, then went knocking on doors to use the rest of the vaccine before it spoiled. The neighbour's sis tipped her off and she drove over for it.

Well done them, Franny.

Lovely to hear of people thinking on their feet. :-)

Our jabs are given apparently in the village community centre which is where for past years the flu jab was always given, large hall with kitchen and I assume a suitable fridge. They have been operating since before Christmas although I have not had mine yet being only just 80. And it is on a hourly )I think) bus route.

To amuse myself I checked out the transport from a village that may use our village for their jabs.
Going to ...Maps, neither could provide any public transport info. However I worked over that way a few years ago.
For bus pass holders take the hourly bus into the transport centre (big town) then take a train - usually 2 an hour but may be back down to one an hour to our village. You are unlikely to find the bus service works to the times you need. If timings were perfect it could take around an hour but nothing is perfect. You could wait 59 mins in the village for a train and then 59 minutes for the hourly bus home. That is nearly 3 hours!

Otherwise take 2 trains and hope it works better!

Or drive, 20 - 30 minutes. Pay for parking if you can find any - it is only a village after all with virtually no on street parking!!

OMG - we are so lucky.

Our flu jabs were done in the village school over half-term. Those who couldn't get there were done at home.

As the schools are closed at the moment it is likely that these jabs will be done there as well.

Trouble with that one, Andysmum, is that each surgery does it’s own flu jabs but groups of surgeries are getting together to do the COVID jab in one place. Which could mean it is not your village, but another one.
Fingers crossed.

The surgery we use is less than helpful, in fact totally useless when patients need help.

I hope you're wrong there, namelessone, although, to be fair, the surgery just happens to be in our village, but actually covers a large area and some people have several miles to travel to get there. The villages are all on the same bus route though.

Sorry if I wasn’t clear. I didn’t mean a group of villages that use one surgery. I meant a group of local surgery’s which cover lots of villages.

I’ve just spotted an article in the local paper. Some surgeries in the county have grouped to use a large venue. Some of the villages have 4 buses a day. I think surgeries just assume everyone can get a lift, but as you can’t fill your car with everyone’s grannies it will be very difficult. I once had dealings with a surgery who didn’t accept that people had problems getting to them - they were very unpleasant about it.

I have just read in our local paper that, starting next week, there will be 4 vaccination hubs for this region. Fortunately for us one of them is only a 10 minute walk from our house but if we were still living in our old house in an outlying village the nearest hub would have meant a round trip of 15 miles in an area with very little public transport. I can see some older non-drivers missing their chance of a jab because they can’t get to their allocated centre.

Nameless....
I live 10 minutes away from my jab point, part one appt at 1615

left home1545...arrived 1600, joined the system, and queue. .actually jabbed at 1700....15 minute wait for any reaction...went to atrium to get parking ticket validated..left carpark and arrived home just before 1800....so glad I don't have to faff around with public transport of the type you describe.....
on the down side....got my MOT renewal notification yesterday....and my car tax reminder today....so swings n roundabouts....

Nameslessone, sounds like the way the surgery we use work, selfishly.

Bob, I also live about 10 mins away and am hoping they haven’t changed the jab point by the time I’m due to get it.
I have a lot of sympathy for those that have awkward places to get to. Our village has a railway station and an infrequent bus. A lot of the general users of our surgery have little or no public transport. The surgery is in a valley and my calf muscles still remember how steep the hill is.

They have just stated everyone should be able to be vaccinated within 10 miles of their home.