EU Vaccine Passport

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simonhill
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Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by simonhill »

Re booking and location for jab. My first offers on the website were 10 miles away, only trouble was that most of that is Thames Estuary and I have no boat at the moment. More like 50 miles by road and toll bridge. Somewhat annoying when our local theatre, a mere 3 miles away has been turned into a major vaccination centre.

Perseverance and repeated attempts got me my local one. Required a much longer wait. The booking system also offered other local-ish places, but by the time I confirmed they had gone. As an ex IT techy, I think I can say the system is woeful.
st599_uk
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Joined: 4 Nov 2018, 8:59pm

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by st599_uk »

simonhill wrote:Re booking and location for jab. My first offers on the website were 10 miles away, only trouble was that most of that is Thames Estuary and I have no boat at the moment. More like 50 miles by road and toll bridge. Somewhat annoying when our local theatre, a mere 3 miles away has been turned into a major vaccination centre.

Perseverance and repeated attempts got me my local one. Required a much longer wait. The booking system also offered other local-ish places, but by the time I confirmed they had gone. As an ex IT techy, I think I can say the system is woeful.
Which system, there's 2. One run by GPs, one national. It depends which system invited you as to how easy it is to select a location. Indeed many local centres won't show up if it's the national system.
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simonhill
Posts: 5211
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by simonhill »

As I said, the website.

I got the letter the morning after my age announced. I went online to book straight away. It was about 12 attempts before I eventually got booked in the evening, both jabs.

No contact with GP.
markjohnobrien
Posts: 1037
Joined: 4 Oct 2007, 8:15pm

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by markjohnobrien »

Interesting as my experience is the opposite.

Received the e-mail inviting me to book at a specific centre, took a couple of minutes to book, and had a 8.30 am slot for the following day.

All went swimmingly.

It looks like the difference is that I was invited to book for a specific centre (close to work) as it had excess capacity and I met the age criteria.
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simonhill
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Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by simonhill »

Interesting.

In retrospect, I wonder if it might have been better to wait for my GP to contact me. You got email, a friend got a text (which she initially thought was a scam) others a phone call. Standards, what standards.
thirdcrank
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Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by thirdcrank »

Speaking for myself, I'm due for my second jab in the next few weeks. If the invitation is brought by a runner using a cleft stick, I'll be very pleased - so long as the stick is long enough to maintain social distancing. Ditto carrier pigeon, so long as it gets through, or a banner trailing behind a hot air balloon.

IMO this is one part of a chaotic year that's gone well.
simonhill
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Location: Essex

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by simonhill »

In fairness mine would have been OK if they had used road distance rather than crow distance.
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mjr
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Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by mjr »

thirdcrank wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 4:42pm IMO this is one part of a chaotic year that's gone well.
Those of us still waiting for availability have yet to see it.

Being offered what is effectively a choice between frequently shoving sticks up your nose and not doing certain activities would be a rather crap reward for most of us agreeing that older people go first.

We also have to wait and see what will be the consequence of failing to assist our neighbours and the Commonwealth with prompt vaccines. A new variant? No one is safe until all are safe.
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willem jongman
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Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by willem jongman »

Europe is already suffering badly from a mutation that emerged in the UK, probably as the result of Boris Johnson's inept handling of the pandemic in the UK, with far higher infection rates, and about twice as much mortality as over here. Indeed, nobody is safe until all are safe, and limiting travel is a useful tool, however unpleasant.
markjohnobrien
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Joined: 4 Oct 2007, 8:15pm

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by markjohnobrien »

willem jongman wrote: 5 Apr 2021, 12:52pm Europe is already suffering badly from a mutation that emerged in the UK, probably as the result of Boris Johnson's inept handling of the pandemic in the UK, with far higher infection rates, and about twice as much mortality as over here. Indeed, nobody is safe until all are safe, and limiting travel is a useful tool, however unpleasant.
You may be correct that the Kent variant emerged first in Britain but, also, it may be that it was detected first here as we have some of the most effective genome tracing in the world.

Definitely agree that limiting travel (and restricting the spread of new mutations) is needed, however irksome it is.

We are not out of the woods yet as, inevitably, the third wave seen in Europe will arrive here. The sooner as possible people are vaccinated on both sides of the channel, the better for everyone.
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thirdcrank
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Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by thirdcrank »

In this era of printing money, perhaps somebody has twigged that the fewer of us going abroad on holiday, the better it will be for the economy. And the fewer air travellers the better all round. The sky here hasn't been so clear of vapour trails since that trouble with the Icelandic volcano a couple of years ago.

"Older readers" may remember when the balance of payments was never out of the news.
willem jongman
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Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by willem jongman »

"Older readers" may remember when the balance of payments was never out of the news.

It should be again, in the UK: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/national ... cember2020
willem jongman
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Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by willem jongman »

And yes, the skies are clearer, and where I live there is much less traffic noise.
ANTONISH
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Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by ANTONISH »

willem jongman wrote: 5 Apr 2021, 12:52pm Europe is already suffering badly from a mutation that emerged in the UK, probably as the result of Boris Johnson's inept handling of the pandemic in the UK, with far higher infection rates, and about twice as much mortality as over here. Indeed, nobody is safe until all are safe, and limiting travel is a useful tool, however unpleasant.
Well I think you may have a point about Boris Johnson - but the "UK variant" AKA the "Kent variant" was first diagnosed in the UK but may not have originated there - it was first detected in Kent which is the closest county to France but may have originated somewhere else - like "Spanish Flu" and "Dutch elm disease".
I'm not happy with the early response of the UK government but the EU response seems rather poor also.
willem jongman
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Re: EU Vaccine Passport

Post by willem jongman »

You are right that the Spanish Flu was not Spanish and that the Dutch elm disease was not Dutch. I don't know about French sequencing, but I do know that the British mutation did not originate in the Netherlands, and that its first occurrence here could be connected to travel from the UK.
More generally, it is known that such mutations thrive on high infection rates, and that the UK had precisely that, due to Johnson's downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic, with a mortality rate that has been about twice as high as it has been in Germany or the Netherlands. It is for the same reason that I am troubled by his move to open pubs etc before many experts said it is safe. It looks as if he has not learned from his previous mistakes.
Since it is also known that travel favours spreading of infections, I would expect EU authorities to be reticent about lifting travel restrictions too early. Do not forget that Angela Merkel is a former research scientist in quantitative chemistry.
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