It’s time for my 19 year old son, the Giraffe, to register for his jags. There is a website for Scottish people of that age and in their 20s to do this, since it is understood that this is an age which may not be local to where they are registered wit a doctor (students etc). So, no problem, except that he has to have his NHS number. We have that. But the number we have is only 8 digits rather than the expected 10. Also when he keys himself into the “find my NHS number”. It they seem not to know of him. If anyone in Scotland knows of a way to get round this…… his sister has managed the process and had her first one last week.
Are you sure you're using his NHS number and not his NI number? They're different.
Incidentally, thank you all for your congratulations but I don't feel brave. The opposite in fact; that I need so much help to do what other people think nothing of
When our granddaughter starts kindergarten in September her Papa is expected to stay with her full time for two weeks! Then he is to leave her there a few minutes, slowly building up to all day.
They are doing this with all the kiddos? Is there room for all the kids and adults and for social distancing? Sounds ambitious!
Yes, but there are only six in her class and they don’t all start at the same time, plus most of their play is outside in the forest area.
My son is due his first on Tuesday; he also has a phobia about needles. The last time he had an injection, at the dentist, I went with him to hold his hand. (The dentist was completely unfazed at a 20-something young man needing his hand held - apparently it's not unusual.)
I am hoping that he'll be ok on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, my daughter had her second jab on Monday; she's in an area where they are expediting vaccination due to rising numbers.
My son is due his first on Tuesday; he also has a phobia about needles. The last time he had an injection, at the dentist, I went with him to hold his hand. (The dentist was completely unfazed at a 20-something young man needing his hand held - apparently it's not unusual.)
I am hoping that he'll be ok on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, my daughter had her second jab on Monday; she's in an area where they are expediting vaccination due to rising numbers.
Yes, my middle son, now in his late 40s, is just the same and had to give himself ‘a good talking to’ to manage his Covid jabs.
Well done Karl B! Some of us are lucky in that the injector found a gap between nerve endings and did it before I was ready (jab 1), or unlucky in that they didn't (jab 2, and my muscles were tense).
We have still not managed to get my friend jabbed - no number, and since the site for finding it doesn't know him, it looks as though the surgery has not registered him despite having the form and extras for identifying submitted, probably back in March or April (I didn't note down when he did it). They have not communicated anything back, either to confirm registration or reject him. Nor responded to an email.
According to 119, there are a lot of surgeries out there which are not helping people get jabs, but are referring them to 119, which is not set up to deal with people without registration. Advice from that source, yesterday, was, "Nag them again, but under no circumstances mention covid or vaccine, or he will be referred back to 119, who won't be able to help."
From my understanding @Penny S , there are now quite a few places where you can get a walk in vaccination. I had an email about a site where I used to live a week or so ago, and I noticed there was a large truck in the market square of my new town yesterday advertising vaccinations. I can't believe they'd want your NHS number, as the idea is to get people done. I'm sure if your friend does a bit of research he'll find somewhere, Doesn't excuse the surgery not getting back to him, but he's the one that needs to sort it out.
NHS site difficult. Downloaded spreadsheet list - doesn't include county name so I have to scroll down the entire country to find anything local.
Which I have. But will check for details. They don't give dates or times or whether ID is needed.
Comments under the Express page, which does not cover Kent, are dire anti vaxxing stuff. One "I am not an anti-vaxxer, but..."
I see all the south London places do not need ID etc. Well done them.
I've looked up the Kent pages on the vaccine. FAQs - there are no walk in centres in the county, you have to have an invitation, or have used the national booking system, which means that you have to be in the system. I have an email address for the "small number of people" who cannot access the national booking system to let the county know.
Getting into my email to set up a draft for saving the address I come across the first email from a lost friend for ages. "Global Tyranny and the Great Reset". I have not read it. It is so far down the rabbit hole she will come out next to the rabbit proof fence. Sad.
@Penny S According to the Kent Community Health Trust, there is a walk-in at Folkestone, and from Kent & Medway there is also the information that:
A small number of eligible patients may find the national booking service does not recognise them. If you have tried to book via the system but have been unsuccessful, please contact kmccg.covidvaccine@nhs.net
@Penny S According to the Kent Community Health Trust, there is a walk-in at Folkestone, and from Kent & Medway there is also the information that:
A small number of eligible patients may find the national booking service does not recognise them. If you have tried to book via the system but have been unsuccessful, please contact kmccg.covidvaccine@nhs.net
Don't know if either of those help...
They might, but the *Kent & Medway* link doesn't seem to work...however, clicking on *Folkestone* does, and there is useful info about Kent & Medway there.
Try again, but the information was quoted above about some folk finding the booking service doesn't recognise them and a contact email in that case....
Try again, but the information was quoted above about some folk finding the booking service doesn't recognise them and a contact email in that case....
I've looked up the Kent pages on the vaccine. FAQs - there are no walk in centres in the county, you have to have an invitation, or have used the national booking system, which means that you have to be in the system. I have an email address for the "small number of people" who cannot access the national booking system to let the county know.
Getting into my email to set up a draft for saving the address I come across the first email from a lost friend for ages. "Global Tyranny and the Great Reset". I have not read it. It is so far down the rabbit hole she will come out next to the rabbit proof fence. Sad.
When I booked I didn't have my NHS no. - just put in my name, DoB and GP surgery and it found me.
The NHS App (different to test and trace) will also recover your NHS No. from those details.
Finely did it with various psychological interventions and diazepam.
Painless my arse. Some people must just lack nerve endings.
Mine was a barely noticeable sting. My suspicion is that if you're tense it's likely to hurt more.
Given @KarlLB has previously indicated he has a needle phobia, and that's it not been about not wanting the vaccine, but psychologically not being able to cope with an injection, that's not very helpful... Of course he was bloody tense, that's why it required psychological interventions & diazepam.
Good on you @KarlLB, and well done for getting this far.
I wasn't having a go at @KarlLB, and I'm sincerely sorry if it looked like I was. I was just suggesting that the people saying it was painless were likely being entirely honest, but that doesn't mean Karl is wrong about it hurting.
And going through with something that scares you is most certainly an act of courage.
We would need the GP surgery. The links to find the number don't work without it.
The Kent site was quite explicit about nowhere without appointments, and no appointments without GP registration. It is also quite a wide county and Folkestone is almost as far from here as can be got to without ending up on the Goodwin Sands. (Dover is furthest.)
We are saving the email address for after one more try at the surgery.
Thanks for looking, anyway.
London is much less fussy. No ID, no number, no GP and in some places no appointment. And we have a friend who works with getting people in there.
I didn't notice who administered my first jab (it was done so quickly that I literally had no time to feel anything!), but the second was done - equally well - by a St John's Ambulance Brigade volunteer.
I guess she's now had considerable experience at jabbing, but she certainly had a gentle but effective touch IYSWIM.
The taking of blood can be a bit more traumatic, especially if one happens to be what is technically known as an *Awkward Bleeder*...
My first jag (given by a delightful retired doctor) was so pain-free I didn't even realise he'd finished. The second (given by an equally delightful nurse) was a little more noticeable, but not much.
(I have crap teeth. My new dentist is the best injector-in-the-gob I have ever, ever had. And she's smiley and about 30, and doesn't stitch me up for cosmetic stuff I don't want. It's great )
We would need the GP surgery. The links to find the number don't work without it.
The Kent site was quite explicit about nowhere without appointments, and no appointments without GP registration. It is also quite a wide county and Folkestone is almost as far from here as can be got to without ending up on the Goodwin Sands. (Dover is furthest.)
We are saving the email address for after one more try at the surgery.
Thanks for looking, anyway.
London is much less fussy. No ID, no number, no GP and in some places no appointment. And we have a friend who works with getting people in there.
Thanks, Doublethink. The link worked.
I'm signed up to a county information newsletter, mostly police, but also health, fire service and trading standards, and yesterday, it had a link to the information about the walk in centre at Swanley, so he's been Pfizered.
Despite Kent being very emphatic about being registered.
There was, I am told, discussion about the matter, but he could tell them the date at which he applied to be registered (April 1st!), and they are, he tells me, communicating with the practice to notify them of his having been jabbed. I hope this gets him confirmation that he is registered, as he wasn't on the system when we tried an earlier method.
A spokesperson on the TV news in the early evening said that making it easier for people to find the centres, and them being closer to where they live was making it easier for people to get their vaccinations.
Well, hold me while I faint.
The wait for jab two has been shortened from 8 weeks to 21 days, so roll on July 16th.
Interestingly, the centre was not well signposted - I happened to know where it was from a function I attended way back, and that it was next to Aldi. You could get right up to it and if you didn't know, you wouldn't know.
(And Aldi had sold out of the salad cream I like and have been waiting for for a year and a half.)
Thanks again to all for all the concern and help.
Well, yes. But we should not have had to be using random social media to investigate the issue. And I suspect the e-newsletter may not go to everyone in the county - I had to sign up for it. And I also suspect that a lot of people in our age range are not spending ages trawling through the internet, either.
Unless I'm wrong and they all have the smartphones that so many places now assume to be ubiquitous.
My friend cannot now access his university library as an alumnus because the card they issued him with no longer works. He needs a phone app, but doesn't have a phone of that sort.
We can't park in some places, because to pay, we would need a smartphone app. (And two pounds just to use the only public convenience in the area - Southwark. It doesn't save car use because I have to drive round and round the car park while he uses it, and I can't use it myself.)
My son at York uni only knows about the local drop in vaccination clinics because I sent him a link to his local ones after seeing an article on the BBC. He’s signed up for the uni clinic but there seems to be a wait for places on that and no other info. Couldn’t get a local appointment.
A search tells me that the drop in vac centre for Cambridge seems to be in Newmarket!
Well, yes. But we should not have had to be using random social media to investigate the issue. And I suspect the e-newsletter may not go to everyone in the county - I had to sign up for it. And I also suspect that a lot of people in our age range are not spending ages trawling through the internet, either.
Unless I'm wrong and they all have the smartphones that so many places now assume to be ubiquitous.
My friend cannot now access his university library as an alumnus because the card they issued him with no longer works. He needs a phone app, but doesn't have a phone of that sort.
We can't park in some places, because to pay, we would need a smartphone app. (And two pounds just to use the only public convenience in the area - Southwark. It doesn't save car use because I have to drive round and round the car park while he uses it, and I can't use it myself.)
From sorting this out with my parents for the track and trace app (in their case it did actually alert them they’d been exposed !) The cheapest smartphones you can get that will run the NHS apps and take pay as you go sims are about £50 from Argos. My 83 year old dad has rather taken to his because he can alter the screen size and use some voice commands - which he finds useful with his dodgy vision.
You may find you need new sims for new phones, as size and shape has changed, however they are less than a tenner and you can often get a bundle of data, minutes and texts when you first buy the sim. It is also possible to transfer your old number to the new sim and the shop assistant should be able to organise it for you.
Personally I think getting a phone, and then buying a cheap contract is less hassle but ymmv. Also, you can set up the phone to only do data heavy stuff over WiFi to keep your bills down. (So it connects to your WiFi in your house, or free networks /hotspots in public places.)
I do think a smartphone is a utility item if you can afford it. Most folk I know on benefits will have one, even if they don’t own a computer/tablet, because that is how you pay bills, register for housing, stay in touch with family etc etc nowadays. Whereas most will not have a landline unless they are using it for WiFi.
Alot of NHS services will also offer Attend Anywhere video appointments, and you can use a smartphone for these provided its Apple, or you download google chrome (free app) to it.
Likewise, it it be coming common to hold ward rounds, multiagency meetings etc on MS Teams - which you can also access via a smart phone. It’s less great than in person but better than teleconferencing.
From sorting this out with my parents for the track and trace app (in their case it did actually alert them they’d been exposed !) The cheapest smartphones you can get that will run the NHS apps and take pay as you go sims are about £50 from Argos. My 83 year old dad has rather taken to his because he can alter the screen size and use some voice commands - which he finds useful with his dodgy vision.
Another alternative, if you have an idea what you want, may be to go for a refurbished smartphone. You can get an older model at reduced rate & you're also recycling the phone, so reducing waste.
I don't have a smartphone - I don't really want one, but have come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to go there. A friend lent me an old one they no longer wanted, but I didn't like it (largely because it was too big to fit in my pockets) & someone else suggested I looked into refurbed phones as the older models were smaller. (For info, the one that was too big was passed to someone else, so re-used.)
I looked at backmarket and ioutlet, both of which appear to have pretty good trustpilot reviews.
Make sure you get one with a recent enough operating system to run the apps you need to use. I had, for example, hoped to give my parents my old smartphone (cos I could get a free upgrade with my contract) but it it was android 6 and wouldn’t run the nhs apps.
My son is anxious about germs. He has carried hand gel for years - long before the pandemic. This ongoing anxiety has made the pandemic worse for him than most young men his age. Unfortunately he is phobic about needles. He has simultaneously longed for and dreaded his first vaccination.
Today was the day. I went with him to the door and he asked if his mother could accompany him to hold his hand. "Of course!" they said, "we're used to hand-holding mothers!"
There were about 15 vaccinators at work, and he and I were directed to a vaccinator who is also a dentist and specialises in anxious people. He was lovely, talked my son through some breathing exercises, and vaccinated him!!
It was all so much better than I'd expected!! I don't know how many 27 year olds turn up with their mums, but no-one batted an eye and they gave the impression this was quite normal.
I'm very proud of my son - this was a big thing for him.
I vaguely heard on the radio that Group 3 (over 65) should be contacted for vaccinations before the end of July. I am not holding my breath as it was meant to be before the end of May. NZ handled the beginning of the pandemic well, but the vaccination programme is a bit of a shambles. I suppose as we haven't had any cases in the community for ages it's not as urgent in some ways, but we did have a visiting Australian here for the weekend who had it (apparently he caught it before he arrived but doesn't seem to have passed it on - he was only here for the weekend and scanned QR codes, which made it easier to track his movements.)
Congratulations to NEL and NEQ between them! In his capacity as a World Famous Author, I wonder if he might think about a way to pass on that experience for the benefit of lots of other people, large and small?
I can assure you all as a fellow needle-phobe, the syringe is in fact about a foot long and the needle is a good 2mm wide. Whatever any rulers or other measuring devices might claim.
We arrived back from Greece - an Amber country - on Monday. We are both double vaccinated.
We had to have a test before we flew - both ways, and a test on days two and eight after returning home. We had to fill in passenger locator forms for Greece and Italy and the U.K. (we flew via Milan, it was cheaper) and they had to be linked to our test results and our proof of vaccination. It was a lot of admin! We were glad we had printed paper copies of everything as Milan were very antiquated and had no scanners for anything and insisted on paper copies.
First thing on Tuesday morning, the day after our return, test and trace were on our doorstep - I was still asleep in bed and had to come down in my pyjamas. He wanted to see our passports to prove who we are.
Every day, including that day, they have phoned us both on mobiles and landlines to check we are quarantining. The motivation for not breaking it is high toon- a £2000 fine.
The hairiest bit was my first test which came back ‘inconclusive’ which would mean I couldn’t fly. But, thankfully, they sent it back to the lab and it came back negative. That was when we realised just how easy it would be to fall down at any hurdle.
Our motivation was sky high and seeing our son, DIL and granddaughter for a week was worth any amount of hassle, (they live in Germany and we aren’t allowed to go there at all, so we all met in Athens where her Mum works) - but I don’t recommend it if you are just wanting a holiday. Stay in the U.K.!
Because I got a negative PCR test today (Zoe app wanting a test for summer cold/hayfever symptoms), I remembered to play with the NHS app today (not the track and trace), and produced a certificate that lasts a month. I've also been offered an antibody test.
Can you expand on this "certificate that lasts a month"? Is this for your negative PCR test? And there's some kind of assumption that if you didn't have Covid a month ago, and you haven't had any symptoms since, then you probably don't have Covid now?
Seriously, I have no idea. I tested for Covid19 using a PCR test, not because I thought I had Covid19, but because I'm recording daily results as part of the Zoe study (for University College London) and they asked me to take a test. I had recorded a blocked nose and additional sneezing, but I thought it was hay fever or a summer cold when I recorded it. Now I'm pretty sure it's a summer cold because I made it worse by getting wet and cold, not Covid19 because my daughter is not vaccinated and vulnerable and I'm being very careful to do everything right to avoid infection. But the Zoe study is requesting tests to see how the symptoms of Covid19 are changing with the different variants.
I am also double vaccinated, and have been for over a month (Prescotted) and now have a negative PCR test, which I think is what allowed the NHS app to give me a certificate to allow me to attend events and/or travel. The NHS app is how we get the Covid19 certificates to go to the theatre or concerts and/or travel. The travel option also requires that I follow any travel guidelines. When I looked at the certificate it was valid to 31st July 2021.
The antibody test is something else the Zoe study offered yesterday and I want to book that because I'd be interested if I've got antibodies. We're pretty sure my daughter had it in March 2020, but my symptoms were pretty minimal.
(I'm due to go back to face-to-face Guides, outside, next week, and at some point to face-to-face youthwork, so I also have a pack of lateral flow tests to use and will start next week.)
I am also double vaccinated, and have been for over a month (Prescotted) and now have a negative PCR test, which I think is what allowed the NHS app to give me a certificate to allow me to attend events and/or travel. The NHS app is how we get the Covid19 certificates to go to the theatre or concerts and/or travel. The travel option also requires that I follow any travel guidelines. When I looked at the certificate it was valid to 31st July 2021.
I'm intrigued by how various places are handling "Covid certificates", because of course taking a test to say that you haven't got Covid is valid up to the point that you take the test, but no further.
But if the certificate is mostly attesting to your Prescott status, with the extra fillip for "you took a PCR test, so we'll assume it was because you had concerns, and will be suspicious of you until the result comes back negative" then it would make more sense to me.
The antibody test is something else the Zoe study offered yesterday and I want to book that because I'd be interested if I've got antibodies. We're pretty sure my daughter had it in March 2020, but my symptoms were pretty minimal.
Wouldn't the anti-body test just show you have anti-bodies? Can it distinguish between anti-bodies following infection in March 2020 and anti-bodies following vaccination?
The type of antibody test we’re offering can only detect antibodies from natural infection, not antibodies that result from vaccination. Having antibodies does not mean you are immune (protected) from further infection.
Comments
Are you sure you're using his NHS number and not his NI number? They're different.
GP will have his NHS number.
We're often our own worst critic I think.
I'm relieved at any rate.
Yes, but there are only six in her class and they don’t all start at the same time, plus most of their play is outside in the forest area.
My son is due his first on Tuesday; he also has a phobia about needles. The last time he had an injection, at the dentist, I went with him to hold his hand. (The dentist was completely unfazed at a 20-something young man needing his hand held - apparently it's not unusual.)
I am hoping that he'll be ok on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, my daughter had her second jab on Monday; she's in an area where they are expediting vaccination due to rising numbers.
Yes, my middle son, now in his late 40s, is just the same and had to give himself ‘a good talking to’ to manage his Covid jabs.
We have still not managed to get my friend jabbed - no number, and since the site for finding it doesn't know him, it looks as though the surgery has not registered him despite having the form and extras for identifying submitted, probably back in March or April (I didn't note down when he did it). They have not communicated anything back, either to confirm registration or reject him. Nor responded to an email.
According to 119, there are a lot of surgeries out there which are not helping people get jabs, but are referring them to 119, which is not set up to deal with people without registration. Advice from that source, yesterday, was, "Nag them again, but under no circumstances mention covid or vaccine, or he will be referred back to 119, who won't be able to help."
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1452978/Covid-vaccine-walk-in-centres-list-get-vaccine-now-evg (This may be the first useful article from the Daily Express in its history.)
Which I have. But will check for details. They don't give dates or times or whether ID is needed.
Comments under the Express page, which does not cover Kent, are dire anti vaxxing stuff. One "I am not an anti-vaxxer, but..."
I see all the south London places do not need ID etc. Well done them.
Getting into my email to set up a draft for saving the address I come across the first email from a lost friend for ages. "Global Tyranny and the Great Reset". I have not read it. It is so far down the rabbit hole she will come out next to the rabbit proof fence. Sad.
Don't know if either of those help...
Edited to fix link - Piglet, AS host
They might, but the *Kent & Medway* link doesn't seem to work...however, clicking on *Folkestone* does, and there is useful info about Kent & Medway there.
Try again, but the information was quoted above about some folk finding the booking service doesn't recognise them and a contact email in that case....
Yes, that works OK - thanks!
When I booked I didn't have my NHS no. - just put in my name, DoB and GP surgery and it found me.
The NHS App (different to test and trace) will also recover your NHS No. from those details.
I wasn't having a go at @KarlLB, and I'm sincerely sorry if it looked like I was. I was just suggesting that the people saying it was painless were likely being entirely honest, but that doesn't mean Karl is wrong about it hurting.
And going through with something that scares you is most certainly an act of courage.
The Kent site was quite explicit about nowhere without appointments, and no appointments without GP registration. It is also quite a wide county and Folkestone is almost as far from here as can be got to without ending up on the Goodwin Sands. (Dover is furthest.)
We are saving the email address for after one more try at the surgery.
Thanks for looking, anyway.
London is much less fussy. No ID, no number, no GP and in some places no appointment. And we have a friend who works with getting people in there.
I guess she's now had considerable experience at jabbing, but she certainly had a gentle but effective touch IYSWIM.
The taking of blood can be a bit more traumatic, especially if one happens to be what is technically known as an *Awkward Bleeder*...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57620771 search link within the article.
I'm signed up to a county information newsletter, mostly police, but also health, fire service and trading standards, and yesterday, it had a link to the information about the walk in centre at Swanley, so he's been Pfizered.
Despite Kent being very emphatic about being registered.
There was, I am told, discussion about the matter, but he could tell them the date at which he applied to be registered (April 1st!), and they are, he tells me, communicating with the practice to notify them of his having been jabbed. I hope this gets him confirmation that he is registered, as he wasn't on the system when we tried an earlier method.
A spokesperson on the TV news in the early evening said that making it easier for people to find the centres, and them being closer to where they live was making it easier for people to get their vaccinations.
Well, hold me while I faint.
The wait for jab two has been shortened from 8 weeks to 21 days, so roll on July 16th.
Interestingly, the centre was not well signposted - I happened to know where it was from a function I attended way back, and that it was next to Aldi. You could get right up to it and if you didn't know, you wouldn't know.
(And Aldi had sold out of the salad cream I like and have been waiting for for a year and a half.)
Thanks again to all for all the concern and help.
Unless I'm wrong and they all have the smartphones that so many places now assume to be ubiquitous.
My friend cannot now access his university library as an alumnus because the card they issued him with no longer works. He needs a phone app, but doesn't have a phone of that sort.
We can't park in some places, because to pay, we would need a smartphone app. (And two pounds just to use the only public convenience in the area - Southwark. It doesn't save car use because I have to drive round and round the car park while he uses it, and I can't use it myself.)
A search tells me that the drop in vac centre for Cambridge seems to be in Newmarket!
From sorting this out with my parents for the track and trace app (in their case it did actually alert them they’d been exposed !) The cheapest smartphones you can get that will run the NHS apps and take pay as you go sims are about £50 from Argos. My 83 year old dad has rather taken to his because he can alter the screen size and use some voice commands - which he finds useful with his dodgy vision.
Personally I think getting a phone, and then buying a cheap contract is less hassle but ymmv. Also, you can set up the phone to only do data heavy stuff over WiFi to keep your bills down. (So it connects to your WiFi in your house, or free networks /hotspots in public places.)
I do think a smartphone is a utility item if you can afford it. Most folk I know on benefits will have one, even if they don’t own a computer/tablet, because that is how you pay bills, register for housing, stay in touch with family etc etc nowadays. Whereas most will not have a landline unless they are using it for WiFi.
Alot of NHS services will also offer Attend Anywhere video appointments, and you can use a smartphone for these provided its Apple, or you download google chrome (free app) to it.
Likewise, it it be coming common to hold ward rounds, multiagency meetings etc on MS Teams - which you can also access via a smart phone. It’s less great than in person but better than teleconferencing.
Another alternative, if you have an idea what you want, may be to go for a refurbished smartphone. You can get an older model at reduced rate & you're also recycling the phone, so reducing waste.
I don't have a smartphone - I don't really want one, but have come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to go there. A friend lent me an old one they no longer wanted, but I didn't like it (largely because it was too big to fit in my pockets) & someone else suggested I looked into refurbed phones as the older models were smaller. (For info, the one that was too big was passed to someone else, so re-used.)
I looked at backmarket and ioutlet, both of which appear to have pretty good trustpilot reviews.
Today was the day. I went with him to the door and he asked if his mother could accompany him to hold his hand. "Of course!" they said, "we're used to hand-holding mothers!"
There were about 15 vaccinators at work, and he and I were directed to a vaccinator who is also a dentist and specialises in anxious people. He was lovely, talked my son through some breathing exercises, and vaccinated him!!
It was all so much better than I'd expected!! I don't know how many 27 year olds turn up with their mums, but no-one batted an eye and they gave the impression this was quite normal.
I'm very proud of my son - this was a big thing for him.
I vaguely heard on the radio that Group 3 (over 65) should be contacted for vaccinations before the end of July. I am not holding my breath as it was meant to be before the end of May. NZ handled the beginning of the pandemic well, but the vaccination programme is a bit of a shambles. I suppose as we haven't had any cases in the community for ages it's not as urgent in some ways, but we did have a visiting Australian here for the weekend who had it (apparently he caught it before he arrived but doesn't seem to have passed it on - he was only here for the weekend and scanned QR codes, which made it easier to track his movements.)
That's not a needle - it's a stiletto!
We arrived back from Greece - an Amber country - on Monday. We are both double vaccinated.
We had to have a test before we flew - both ways, and a test on days two and eight after returning home. We had to fill in passenger locator forms for Greece and Italy and the U.K. (we flew via Milan, it was cheaper) and they had to be linked to our test results and our proof of vaccination. It was a lot of admin! We were glad we had printed paper copies of everything as Milan were very antiquated and had no scanners for anything and insisted on paper copies.
First thing on Tuesday morning, the day after our return, test and trace were on our doorstep - I was still asleep in bed and had to come down in my pyjamas. He wanted to see our passports to prove who we are.
Every day, including that day, they have phoned us both on mobiles and landlines to check we are quarantining. The motivation for not breaking it is high toon- a £2000 fine.
The hairiest bit was my first test which came back ‘inconclusive’ which would mean I couldn’t fly. But, thankfully, they sent it back to the lab and it came back negative. That was when we realised just how easy it would be to fall down at any hurdle.
Our motivation was sky high and seeing our son, DIL and granddaughter for a week was worth any amount of hassle, (they live in Germany and we aren’t allowed to go there at all, so we all met in Athens where her Mum works) - but I don’t recommend it if you are just wanting a holiday. Stay in the U.K.!
Enjoy the quarantine period, IYSWIM...
Seriously, I have no idea. I tested for Covid19 using a PCR test, not because I thought I had Covid19, but because I'm recording daily results as part of the Zoe study (for University College London) and they asked me to take a test. I had recorded a blocked nose and additional sneezing, but I thought it was hay fever or a summer cold when I recorded it. Now I'm pretty sure it's a summer cold because I made it worse by getting wet and cold, not Covid19 because my daughter is not vaccinated and vulnerable and I'm being very careful to do everything right to avoid infection. But the Zoe study is requesting tests to see how the symptoms of Covid19 are changing with the different variants.
I am also double vaccinated, and have been for over a month (Prescotted) and now have a negative PCR test, which I think is what allowed the NHS app to give me a certificate to allow me to attend events and/or travel. The NHS app is how we get the Covid19 certificates to go to the theatre or concerts and/or travel. The travel option also requires that I follow any travel guidelines. When I looked at the certificate it was valid to 31st July 2021.
The antibody test is something else the Zoe study offered yesterday and I want to book that because I'd be interested if I've got antibodies. We're pretty sure my daughter had it in March 2020, but my symptoms were pretty minimal.
(I'm due to go back to face-to-face Guides, outside, next week, and at some point to face-to-face youthwork, so I also have a pack of lateral flow tests to use and will start next week.)
Thanks, @Curiosity killed.
I'm intrigued by how various places are handling "Covid certificates", because of course taking a test to say that you haven't got Covid is valid up to the point that you take the test, but no further.
But if the certificate is mostly attesting to your Prescott status, with the extra fillip for "you took a PCR test, so we'll assume it was because you had concerns, and will be suspicious of you until the result comes back negative" then it would make more sense to me.