Great Western Coffee Shop

Buses and trains are part of the solution - YES, you may take the bus or trains to get to vaccination centres, some of which are being set up out of town.  Masks must be worn, social distancing observers, etc, on the buses and at public transport access points.  See your invite for details of when and where to  go ... and local publicity for how to get there.

THANK YOU to the bus operators and their paymasters for helping get people to the centres.

---

Lots more centres being announced.  Shuttle buses to places like Bath Racecourse are in place.  Please note that the Salisbury center is in the town centre (at City Hall, I believe) and NOT at the Racecourse as reported in some places.

Forum members welcome to follow up with their area / local details.

Salisbury seems to have a second vaccination centre at the cathedral.

From https://www.englishcathedrals.co.uk/latest-news/another-vaccination-centre-salisbury/

Yesterday I initiated a long thread on my Nextdoor (neighbourhood) website by announcing I had just received a letter from the NHS directing me to its website to book my jab. The nearest place was near Marlow Station, 18 miles away, followed by High Wycombe (22 miles), Slough, Oxford and Guildford. I can get by train from Tilehurst to Marlow in an hour. But I thought it odd that I wasn't being offered a closer site.

Six hours later I got a text from my surgery with a link that enabled me to book an appointment ten minutes' walk up the road tomorrow morning at 0850!

Some of my neighbours had received the same letter a day or two or three before me and a few had already been to Marlow. One had even travelled to Aylesbury. A couple had subsequently received the text message inviting them to a local centre.

A touch of left hand, right hand, I thought.

Our nearest vaccination centre is in the middle of Guingamp so very do-able by train. My wife meets the criteria so can expect to be vaccinated very soon, whereas it is likely to be quite a while for me.

Some areas have removed restrictions on the use of bus passes for a period to facilitate travel to vaccination centres.

Go-Ahead in Swindon (Swindon's Bus Company) and the Isle of Wight (Southern Vectis) have no need to run additional services as the vaccine centres are on existing routes.   However they have been drawing attention to the services on Twitter.

I've seen far more elderly people on the trains the last few weeks, no doubt many are heading for a vaccination.

I can see reasons why this might be likely, if not inevitable. Assuming the coordination between local GPs and the hastily set up centres is a matter for IT, how long would that take? The organisers may face a choice of "do we get stuck in as soon as some doses turn up, or do we wait for ... however long an NHS IT provider's promised two weeks turns out to be"? I think the official policy on this kind of issue is JFDI.

But no-one seems to want to explain the implications of delivery to the deltoid ASAP. That applies also to reports of vaccinators with no vaccine: isn't this (in part anyway) "by design"? The idea is for the rate of injections to be determined by the production rate from the factories. That means that all the downstream steps must match at least that predicted capacity, and reliably so. And there are a lot of  those steps that could, if something goes wrong, hold back the rate - as well as production, as we have seen.

So in practice the best you can do is to size the whole chain at maximum possible production plus a significant margin Then when reality is a bit less (or a lot less) than that maximum foreseen several months ago, most of that extra capacity will be idle (or doing their day job, in the case of GPs). The alternative is to have vaccines having to wait - perhaps a long - time before being used.

But, going back to the local coordination question, it should be possible to do better, by other means if IT was the issue.

WECA, Somerset, Wiltshire have now all removed restrictions allowing travel to vaccination hubs in the South West. I know Surrey has too, might be other counties too.

We need methods of public transport to get to the hubs. Most are or should be only accessible by bus. As far as I am aware the only vaccination centre with a poor bus service in the is Taunton race course which is served by a 3hourly bus or a bus that drops about 20minutes away which isn't suitable for older people and the disabled especially in weather conditions of winter.

As usual, it is the IT question. Private IT providing the Covid IT system. Almost certainly does not connect to the GP systems (not a lot does). Being NHS I had mine locally, although it was noticeable the draught on the buses with all the windows open when you go out of town. I must admit my organisation is running a very slick system, they are doing all the NHS staff in Berkshire, as well as care homes. Just got to wait to see if EU allows my second jab.

I had my first vaccine jab yesterday.

Initially I had some problems with finding transport. I was put on the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable list last week and so wanted to avoid trains and buses. I'm sure the operators are doing their utmost to keep vehicles/carriages clean but it only takes one person with symptoms to touch a hard surface that you touch soon after for transmission to occur.

I'm without a car at the moment. I was resigned to using public transport to get from Templecombe to Morrisons car park in Yeovil for my jab. That was until I reached out on Facebook and someone suggested Community Transport. I got in contact with them in Wincanton and they suggested trying to re-book my jab for Bruton Community Hall, which is in their area of operation. I was able to do that re-booking on Monday 22nd with an appointment for the following day, Tuesday 23rd.

Community Transport were able to cover that date and time. The only cost to me was £10 membership to South Somerset Community Accessible Transport (https://southsomersetringride.org.uk/). The fares for trips to vaccine centres are being covered by Somerset County Council.

The friendly driver arrived on time, sanitised all hard surfaces and handholds before I boarded, questioned me about symptoms and checked my temperature. I was the only one on the minibus, and he explained that, whilst they can seat 16, they're only carrying a maximum of 4 people at any one time at the moment.

The vaccine itself at Bruton Community Hall was quick, efficient, and painless. I was in and out in 5 minutes. Top marks to the staff of Bruton Pharmacy who are running the centre. And praise to the Community Hall volunteers too. Further praise for the NHS and local authorities for their logistical efforts. I'm glad the vaccine delivery programme has been largely kept out of private hands. It would undoubtedly have been another expensive fiasco, like Test & Trace. The best folk for a mass public health programme are most definitely the NHS and councils.

Whilst the jab itself was painless, I have been experiencing some side effects. I've got a headache and muscle aches at the moment. Also feeling a little nauseous. Mild effects, treated with paracetamol. I guess that's just my body doing its job alongside the vaccine. Anyone else experienced side effects?

I too have been impressed with the efficiency of the operation.  My jab was given at a local chemist, a short bus ride or hilly walk away. I chose to drive combining it with a shopping trip and thus using the supermarket car park. I am fortunate that I have suffered no side affects but the leaflet I was given listed a number of side affects which could be suffered by about 1 in 10 people. Sorry, BNM, you must have been one of the other 9. Side affects also vary by the vaccine used. I was given the Oxford one.

Had ours (Lisa and I) a week ago. Qualified on age. Very efficient indeed - whole process - booking and then at Spencer's Sports and Social Club here in Melksham. No medical side effects (sorry you have had some, BNM, but small price, I think!) - but in sitting there for 15 minutes after the injections, I did get to start thinking about something ... which (being transport related) will be subject of a new thread ...

Wife and I went to the Bath & West showground hub so public transport (on a Sunday) was not really feasible. We went there as we got quicker appointments and it was an opportunity to "go somewhere !".  Very slick operation, someone had obviously thought about how to do it properly.....and they got it 100% right. We drove there and back in a mini blizzard, very scenic but the roads were OK. We both had the Oxford vaccine, wife had a sore arm and nothing else, I felt slightly under the weather for a couple of days but that may not have been the vaccine anyway.
One slight downer - the vaccine centre was in the main bar at the showground.......it was closed !!!

Yes, had my first early February - the Oxford one.
I always have side effects from all jabs!  Just felt yuck for 36 hours and a very sore arm.
Again, paracetamols helped.
One of my work colleagues felt absolutely frozen for half a day or so.  Just couldn't get warm at all, so no sleep that night.
Again, we're both fine now and back working.

I drove to my centre - 10 miles away.
My colleague was at his local surgery, just down the road.

I had mine two weeks ago at the Bath Pavilion, which I walked to (3 miles each way). It was in the evening on the coldest night of the year, and I was queuing outside for about 20 minutes before getting in, but otherwise it went smoothly. I had the Pfizer vaccine as they had just had a batch delivered. Had a sore arm the next day but otherwise fine. Some friends who have had the Oxford Zeneca vaccine have reported various side effects, though none have been too serious.

Marion and I had ours a couple of weeks ago at Bridport Medical Centre, where all the surgeries in the area had come together to process some 1300 of us once or twice a week, about 3 per minute!
The marshalling was good and the medical staff calming, efficient and happy to answer questions. Since the car was some distance from the centre I used the walking time rather than wait fir the 15 minutes.

As for side effects, I had a mild headache for 24 hours, but Marion was not so lucky. She had a headache for a couple of days and some level of nausea. However, these are far better than the alternative.

... thread at http://www.passenger.chat/24709 ... eureka moment??

My side effects got slightly worse last night, with chills in addition to the headache and muscle ache. However, this morning I feel much better, just slight muscle ache at the injection site on my right arm.

My vaccine was the Oxford/AstraZeneca. Which does appear, anecdotally, to have more people experience some side effects.

Ultimately, one day of feeling a bit poorly is a small price to pay for protection against a killer virus.

... and then he watched the cricket.   ;D

you mean the two-day test match!

... which was just as painful.  ;D

I looked away.

I was summoned by SMS on Tuesday (not sure why, as I'm only just 50 with nothing "underlying" apart from dodgy knees and a sluggish thyroid, but was allocated to Slough which is apparently jabbing its residents so quickly they are running out!)

Awoke to read of signal failures at Ealing, which wasn't great, but TfL didn't seem to be affected much so got into Slough and had a nostalgic, and somewhat saddening walk around the streets where I bought my first house back in 1993.

Got down the the vaccination centre about 10 mins early, pretty much walked straight in and was jabbed and out in 20 mins after the compulsory 15 min sit down afterwards - to be honest there seemed hardly anyone there older than me.

Had the Pfizer vaccine which they tell me is less likely to cause side effects, 7 hours on the arm is a little sore but otherwise all good so far.

According to the First West of England web site, relaxation of the bus pass start times ends in Wiltshire on 8th March, in WECA and North Somerset on 30th April and in Somerset at a date yet to be announced.

Indeed - confirmed for Wiltshire  by FareSaver too. Thanks for bringing us the dates for other areas. Most people in the Bus Pass age range should have had (at least) their first vaccination by now.   From the Melksham Rail User Group (https://www.facebook.com/MelkshamRUG/posts/756453064999476) which links to the Faresaver original.


Much to do with keeping juniors and seniors on buses at different times rather than having them all on board at the same early morning time!

How does that work for buses which cross between different authorities, such as Bath to Frome or to Melksham or any other nearby Wiltshire town?

Bus pass journeys are paid for by the authority where you join, and follow their rules, as I understand it. Certainly for the English and Welsh scheme, English cards are valid for all journeys that run into Wales if you join in England, and vice versa.  But you can't come back from Wales on an English card ...

So presumably if I wanted to travel from Bath to Melksham by bus after March 8th, I could do so for free but would have to pay to return? (and vice versa if you were to make the same journey starting from Melksham). I can see that leading to some interesting conversations between elderly passengers and drivers.

No.  Because (by the time you returned) it would almost certainly be after 09:30 even if you took the first bus out of Bath and your bus pass would have become valid if you joined in Wiltshire.

I got my letter on Thursday 4th February, the middle week of the announced three-week slot for cohort 4 (70-75 plus clinically extremely vulnerable), and pretty much what I expected. It said I had a choice of waiting for my GPs to phone me, and was still thinking about whether to wait or try to book on line when I got that call the next day. I was offered a slot at 5:04 on the following Monday; I was told they had reduced slots from 5 to 4 minutes because us "younger ones" were quicker and more agile!

That worked fine, other than there being a queue outside the centre in Wokingham - and it was still snowing slightly. No-one seemed too miserable, though, because the queue moved fast enough at two a minute; and of course that means any slight mismatch in the rates of joining and being admitted can make the queue grow too.

I was also rather thrown by being injected standing up, adding an extra complication to finding the bare shoulder I had wrapped in many layers before going out. Even more so it made rewrapping said shoulder while walking away tricky, and while marshals were numerous on the way in there were none to be seen on the way out. So that, poor signage of the exit, and the fact I was already thinking ahead to making a quick dash into Waitrose (next door) meant I forgot I was supposed to sit on one of their chairs for 15 minutes. Mind you, I don't recall ever having a reaction to a vaccine, and had none to this (Oxford/AstraZeneca) one.

My sister, in Reading, was expecting much the same for cohort 5, and got the same letter I did before its official start on 15th February. However, on the day before, it was announced that the remainder of cohort 6 ( 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions) was being put in the same slot and GPs were doing those as a priority. The 65-70s were expected to book on line for the major centres, and those without cars would use public transport.

I saw some comments around then that the organisers were surprised how many 70-80s preferred to wait for their surgery to call. They expected those with cars to mostly prefer to use them to go to a major centre, keeping warm and avoiding any problems with walking. My sister (and I suspect many others), having spent the last year avoiding public transport, and not having a car, was unimpressed. And I wasn't keen to take her by car (despite being a support bubble) if it meant being away from the nearest known toilet for well over an hour.

And last week there was a news item that Berkshire was lagging in its vaccination rate, with someone a bit official saying they would need more vaccines and to persuade the hesitant. No mention of the most obvious reason, which was that the Reading centre (Madejski) first announced as opening in January didn't actually start until 22nd February (bookings available from 24th). Even then it was hard to get a slot there, due to the backlog, so most offers were for the other "nearby" ones at Slough, Basingstoke, or Oxford. The pharmacy centre at Marlow was also available more than you might expect - possible because there were few takers from longer distances.

Anyway, after a couple of weeks things settled down and at the start of March it was possible to book at the Madejski for the 11th. Now, when the stadium opened its car park was used for an RBC park and ride as well. There were also specific buses to the RBH for hospital staff and patients, which I attempted to use (to avoid driving back from the eye clinic after cyclopeagia and dilation).  The hospital buses didn't last long, and RBC dropped this park and ride after the Mereoak one (further out on the A33) opened in 2015. Of course it's still listed on a lot of sites as a functioning P&R.

So, can you get out to the Madejski by bus? Up to a point yes - get near to there, but not get back! Reading Buses only list match-day buses, and obviously they are not relevant for at least two reasons. RFC do say you are welcome to use their car park gratis outside match days, but don't mention how to find a bus. There are route buses along the A33, and if you get the right stop it's less than half a mile to walk even with B&Q in the way. But those buses don't stop there - or anywhere close - on the way into town.

Then there are the Green Park Greenwave buses, which stop a bit closer but need a bit of research to locate the footpath through to Brook Drive. And the timetable is aimed at getting workers into Green Park and back out, and not so helpful mid-day.  What about buses into the Madejski car park specifically for being vaccinated? Such services exist in some places, but not in Reading - which is a bit odd, given the semi-municipal status of Reading Buses. I've just found a page labelled Wokingham Healthwatch (who?) about going to the Madejski centre, and that has a link to a map of bus stops. It's the Royals' map for match-day buses! I may have to have words with them ...

In the end I did provide a taxi service, and on leaving she was asked if she had come by car and was told to sit in the car for the 15-minute observation period. But that Wokingham Healthwatch site says once you've been done you're free to go - by implication even if driving. Has the 15-minute wait been officially dropped?

Both my wife and I were asked if we were driving and told to wait for 15 minutes if so, but to leave immediately if we were a passenger.

In Reading groups of GPs (Primary Care Networks if your are into the current jargon) have some good set-ups round town which have been working well.

I have just had my second jab cancelled to be re-booked later. Presumably the NHS was a bit too keen and didn't do the correct gap between first and second jabs for its staff. So I will not be going to Wokingham Hospital tomorrow as expected.

Had my second injection of government compliance/Microsoft nanobots yesterday. :P

And exactly the same reaction as the first dose. Been unwell since last night with hot and cold flushes, muscle aches, shakes and a thumping headache.

Had my second jab on Tuesday (Pfizer), I was fine after the first one, but this time I developed a bit of a headache and was a bit shivery - a paracetamol and half a bottle of red wine (not Port!) seemed to sort me out though. Must have been the Bordeaux variant.

Had my second jab 2 weeks ago (AZ).  No side effects.