Autumn Booster ? 2023 edition [please change vote as you get jagged]

[20Bees]

Had mine yesterday morning at the same pop-up as last time, in a corner of the indoor shopping centre, booked last week through the NHS website. Pfizer bivalent. Appointments only, no walk-ins, no queue, I was 10 minutes early and went straight in. No reaction at all, so far anyway. Flu jab will be done in a fortnight, I keep forgetting to check whether i should have a pneumonia booster.

 

[krtek a houby]

We got pfizered this afternoon. Usual aching arms but so far, so good.

Apart from drinking tonight. For it reasons menu elsewhere. Np a great idea, but ho hum.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I keep forgetting to check whether i should have a pneumonia booster.

Check if your gp will do it at the same time as the flu jab.

 

[dessiato]

Got mine, and my flu jabs on Monday. Achy arm and flu like symptoms on Tuesday. Still aching a bit but nothing too bad.

I asked about a pneumonia booster but was told it's not necessary and I'm still covered by the last one I had.

 

[TopCat]

Boost shot today. Nervous. Not sure I had it last autumn. Always makes me unwell.

 

[20Bees]

Check if your gp will do it at the same time as the flu jab.

Thanks, I messaged the surgery this morning and they have replied saying for most people, one pneumococcal vaccine is enough. The last (only?) one I’ve had was in 2009 when I’d finished chemotherapy, so evidently that will see me through. Flu jab is booked in at Boots, easier parking than at the surgery!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Got the flu one next Saturday.

 

[quimcunx]

My local pharmacist said being over 50 doesn't qualify people for a free flu jab this year. It did even before covid so why they've decided this year it doesn't I can't fathom. Except of course because they're fucking tories.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

My local pharmacist said being over 50 doesn't qualify people for a free flu jab this year. It did even before covid so why they've decided this year it doesn't I can't fathom. Except of course because they're fucking tories.

I'm not sure of the exact reasons, but I think they've reverted to the old eligibility criteria. I've always been eligible due to asthma.

Does your employer pay for it?

 

[TopCat]

My arm was right painful last night. Teeth chattering as I got into bed. Hot cold hot cold etc

 

[quimcunx]

I'm not sure of the exact reasons, but I think they've reverted to the old eligibility criteria. I've always been eligible due to asthma.

Does your employer pay for it?

Which old eligibility criteria? As I said before covid I got it just for being 50. Now he said I didn't qualify just for being 50.

I could pay, but that's not the point.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Which old eligibility criteria? As I said before covid I got it just for being 50. Now he said I didn't qualify just for being 50.

I could pay, but that's not the point.

I think the previous criteria were about medical conditions rather than age.

 

[moochedit]

Which old eligibility criteria? As I said before covid I got it just for being 50. Now he said I didn't qualify just for being 50.

I could pay, but that's not the point.

That's not my memory. This story from 2020 says flu jab was being "extended" to 50-65 year olds at that time.

Free flu jab extended to all over-50s in UK

Over 30 million people eligible for jabs in most comprehensive flu vaccination programme in UK history

www.independent.co.uk

They were going to raise it to 65 last year iirc but u-turned on it.

I'm 51 and had 2 flu jabs in 2021 and 2022. I was not quite 50 for the 2021 jab but qualified.

 

[8ball]

We need an extra option for "caught Covid while standing in line waiting for the jab".

 

[elbows]

They extended the flu vaccine age range in 2020 because they were very nervous about what would happen to the NHS if there was a bad flu wave at the same time as the nasty second wave of Covid. And they were not in a position to vaccinate people against Covid early enough to lower the risk of covid hospitalisation or death that winter. (the covid vaccines existed by then but they couldnt scale up delivery or give enough people a first dose, let alone a second dose, in time).

 

[20Bees]

I’m sure with previous covid and flu jabs I was told that if I was driving myself I was to sit and wait 15 minutes before leaving. It just occurred to me that I was allowed to walk straight out after the covid jab on Tuesday.

No reaction at all to this, might have been tender at the injection site if I bashed it but I’ve had no trouble sleeping on that side, and no other discomfort.

 

[moochedit]

I’m sure with previous covid and flu jabs I was told that if I was driving myself I was to sit and wait 15 minutes before leaving. It just occurred to me that I was allowed to walk straight out after the covid jab on Tuesday.

They only did that with my first one. I think it was because of the "risk" of allergic reactions which they now know isn't as high as was first feared.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Got mine this morning along with the flu.
I think they said Pfizer.

 

[Voley]

I’m sure with previous covid and flu jabs I was told that if I was driving myself I was to sit and wait 15 minutes before leaving. It just occurred to me that I was allowed to walk straight out after the covid jab on Tuesday.

They told me to give it 15 mins before driving this time around.

 

[StoneRoad]

Hmmm, I said I wasn't driving myself [OH had that job] but the jagging team said I didn't need to wait - not that the site really had enough room for people to do the 10 or 15 minutes.
Originally, that wait was enforced in case of an unexpected adverse reaction.
{The place in Hexham that was doing the mass processing last year had a first aid team and a gurney on standby - they dealt with a few things, inc a nose bleed and a couple of panic attacks, or so I was told the last time I was there}

 

[Puddy_Tat]

here seems as good a place as any to ask -

i haven't been jabbed for anything yet this year (and being early 50s means i'm only going to get it if i pay or government changes their mind, don't think visiting mum-tat now and then qualifies me for 'carer for person over 80' status.)

but i'm still occasionally slightly sore where i got jabbed last year (can't remember if it's the arm i got covid or flu vaccine) - on a scale of one to ten, it's occasionally mildly uncomfortable, like if i'd got a slight bruise from having walked in to something lumpy a few days ago, not anything at all drastic. and no visible swelling / redness / bruising or anything.

is this normal / should i do anything about it?

 

[rubbershoes]

Had my flu jab yesterday and asked about a booster. They're not doing them for my age group.

I heard that the other GP surgery in the town is doing them with the flu jab

 

[moochedit]

here seems as good a place as any to ask -

i haven't been jabbed for anything yet this year (and being early 50s means i'm only going to get it if i pay or government changes their mind, don't think visiting mum-tat now and then qualifies me for 'carer for person over 80' status.)

but i'm still occasionally slightly sore where i got jabbed last year (can't remember if it's the arm i got covid or flu vaccine) - on a scale of one to ten, it's occasionally mildly uncomfortable, like if i'd got a slight bruise from having walked in to something lumpy a few days ago, not anything at all drastic. and no visible swelling / redness / bruising or anything.

is this normal / should i do anything about it?

Sounds a bit odd to still hurt after a year. Maybe ring 111 and ask them?

I've never had any side effects from vaccines before myself. I'm 51 so don't qualify this time round either. I think you can have the flu one privately but not covid.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Sounds a bit odd to still hurt after a year. Maybe ring 111 and ask them?

might do, although not sure 111 do much other than say 'go and see your doctor'

I think you can have the flu one privately but not covid.

yes - think i paid for flu jab for few years before 2020 - at that time, i was in a job where i was on crowded trains for an hour or more each end of the working day, so thought it was worth doing. i'll think about it this year, i mostly work from home now...

 

[moochedit]

might do, although not sure 111 do much other than say 'go and see your doctor'



yes - think i paid for flu jab for few years before 2020 - at that time, i was in a job where i was on crowded trains for an hour or more each end of the working day, so thought it was worth doing. i'll think about it this year, i mostly work from home now...

Just googled it and boots do private flu jabs for £19.95. Might do it myself.

 

[kalmatthew]

I'm in my 30s but have had 2 courses of oral steroids for my asthma in the past 24 months so have my jab booked in for tomorrow, I have a flu jab booked for Thursday as well but hoping the covid place will just do both.

 

[MickiQ]

Since I'm 65 I've had an email from the NHS along the lines of "Oi Grandad since you're an old git come and get your nanobots updated" I have thus now booked myself for a CoVID booster on 18th October. It didn't offer me the option of having a flu jab at the same time but Mrs Q always arranges them with the local Pharmacist so we will go and be jabbed for flu together thus proving romance is not yet dead.

 

[gentlegreen]

Yay for "diabetes"

NHS Seasonal Vaccination Invitations: You're invited to book your seasonal COVID-19 vaccination. Your NHS record suggests you may be at increased risk due to a health condition or medical treatment. Go to www.nhs.uk/book-covid or book on the NHS App. Can't get online? Call 119. Contact your GP surgery if you need a home visit. You may also be eligible for an NHS flu vaccine. Visit www.nhs.uk/flujab to check who can get it and how to book. Go to www.england.nhs.uk/seasonal-invites for invites in easy read and other languages and formats. Ignore this message if you've already booked. To opt out of invites: www.nhs.uk/covid-invite-preferences

I will need to get a shower somewhere before I go as I am not really fit for polite society at present ...

 

[Lurdan]

Got a text invite on Wednesday. Booked a covid booster for first thing yesterday morning, at the same pharmacy where I've had the last couple. Seemed to be slots available all day. When I got there it turned out a number of other people even older than me had also booked for first thing. Couple of them were even wearing masks - under their chins. (Last year everyone was masked).

Like last time was offered the flu jab as well and had both. The woman who did it had a standard verbal patter which she employed for both injections. It included the phrase 'feel a slight prick'. Nobly restrained myself from using the 'I'll wait until I get home' gag, figuring she had enough to put up with. Covid jab was pfizer. Today there's a very slight ache near the site of it, but nothing worse than the typical aches and pains of being old.

 

[High Voltage]

Getting a double stickin' tomorrow