Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Vaccine roll-out: the logistics

Frau Bahn does volunteering at oldies flu clinics, just shepherding them in, listing to their old waffle and so on, she's been approached to do the same for Covid clinics, but rather than a couple of Saturdays a year it will be almost a fulltime job.
 
I 'spose. Wonder how significant a risk that is, though, when weighed against delays to the programme.

Well quite a big one. If one bottle is contaminated, you'd have to throw it all away. Never mind if it got damaged / dropped / lost in transport. Egggs and baskets innit.
 
I 'spose. Wonder how significant a risk that is, though, when weighed against delays to the programme.

Much like risks should they cut corners with the batch quality control process, its not just a question of the risk to individuals. There is also the risk that if they fuckup something on that front, confidence in the safety of the vaccine will be undermined and that in turn will reduce the number of people willing to accept vaccination.
 
Some stories like this:

"The Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust offered vaccines to ambulance staff on December 27. But anger arose when South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMB) allegedly forbid staff from getting the jab, despite the vaccine potentially going to waste if not used up."

"...it is believed the vaccines supply was 'surplus for the day' and staff had been asked if they wanted the jab to 'prevent wasting a number of doses'. To the horror of ambulance staff, some who had travelled almost 100 miles to access this treatment, they were met by a SECAMB manager who had been instructed to turn the staff away at the door."

"The union shared a Facebook post from the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMB) which say they have 'protocols to follow'. The post read: 'We've been made aware of an offer of staff to drop in for their covid-19 vaccine at a hospital site in our region. 'We appreciate the offer was made in good faith but we have protocols to follow in this regard. We would ask that staff do not do this. The trust has been given strict instructions on how our staff can access the vaccine and we will keep staff informed on when and how they can do this as the vaccine programme continues to be rolled out."


WTF? That makes no sense at all. What protocols? Stupid fucking cunts. They should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Jobsworth cunts.
 
This might be dumb thought, clinically speaking, but it occurred to me that as long as doses are prepared in suitable areas by suitable personnel (something analogous to a hospital pharmacy clean room), then there could be a whole bunch more people who could be competent in the (no pun intended) "sharp end" of admin, injecting and keeping an eye on patients for a bit in case of anaphylaxis etc.

Army, retired medical staff, assorted volunteers etc.
 
Well quite a big one. If one bottle is contaminated, you'd have to throw it all away. Never mind if it got damaged / dropped / lost in transport. Egggs and baskets innit.

Sounds like they're throwing away one in six doses anyway, and that roll-out will be delayed by a lack of vials, so I'd want to see some figures around the likelihood of contamination, and how much more quickly vaccine could be delivered, to weigh the risks.
 
This might be dumb thought, clinically speaking, but it occurred to me that as long as doses are prepared in suitable areas by suitable personnel (something analogous to a hospital pharmacy clean room), then there could be a whole bunch more people who could be competent in the (no pun intended) "sharp end" of admin, injecting and keeping an eye on patients for a bit in case of anaphylaxis etc.

Army, retired medical staff, assorted volunteers etc.

Think that's part of what's being sorted out. I know someone who's got a non-clinical vaccine admin job to free up staff to actually give the jab. TBH you could give a vaccine after a very short training session, lots of people watched over by a qualified clinician would be fine imo, and is also something they're planning on doing. Doesn't need to be a doctor, nurse, paramedic etc. to give a jab.
 
Sounds like they're throwing away one in six doses anyway, and that roll-out will be delayed by a lack of vials, so I'd want to see some figures around the likelihood of contamination, and how much more quickly vaccine could be delivered, to weigh the risks.


I think the issue of large bottles being more likely to be contaminated isn't one I'd think is the problem, it's the manufacturing something from scratch that's probably not been done before that would be the issue I think.
 
When I went for my flu jab last year, the nurse had a small slotted tray with already filled syringes in it ... so just picked one up to jab my arm.
 
Trying to get the last full 1ml out of a small glass bottle is quite tricky, if you're not careful it's easy to get air mixed with the liquid and end up only giving a partial dose. It's like when you finish drinking a milkshake through a straw, when you get to the bottom you start sucking air unless you tilt the cup and move the straw about. Much safer to put an extra ml in the vial so you know you're getting 5 full does rather than 5 and a bit.
 
Last edited:
Frau Bahn does volunteering at oldies flu clinics, just shepherding them in, listing to their old waffle and so on, she's been approached to do the same for Covid clinics, but rather than a couple of Saturdays a year it will be almost a fulltime job.
I've just volunteered to be a 'vaccination marshall'. Mostly because I have nothing better to do, but I confess that a small part of me is hoping for that 'we've got a few doses left, does anyone want one?' moment.
 
Trying to get the last full 1ml out of a small glass bottle is quite tricky, if you're not careful it's easy to get air mixed with the liquid and end only giving a partial dose. It's like when you finish drinking a milkshake through a straw, when you get to the bottom you start sucking air unless you tilt the cup and move the straw about. Much safer to put an extra ml in vial so you know you're getting 5 full does rather than 5 and a bit.

Yeah, it's not like they're being not used for no reason. I did read a paper recently looking into what % of vaccines get wasted in normal programs.
 
I think the issue of large bottles being more likely to be contaminated isn't one I'd think is the problem, it's the manufacturing something from scratch that's probably not been done before that would be the issue I think.

And more broadly I would much prefer they minimise the number of deviations away from the normal way these things have been done in the past. I dont want new variables introduced into the mix if it can be helped. My confidence is already delicate due to the giddy rushed atmosphere of the pandemic vaccine launch, and I require mundane and well established elements to be part of the mix in order to keep remaining faith levels up.
 
This might be dumb thought, clinically speaking, but it occurred to me that as long as doses are prepared in suitable areas by suitable personnel (something analogous to a hospital pharmacy clean room), then there could be a whole bunch more people who could be competent in the (no pun intended) "sharp end" of admin, injecting and keeping an eye on patients for a bit in case of anaphylaxis etc.

Army, retired medical staff, assorted volunteers etc.
I've applied to stab people :thumbs:

Not sure how coordinated it is behind the scenes but signing up was pretty confusing: there's NHS trusts advertising directly, both for paid and volunteer vaccinators and various support roles (assisstant vaccinator / steward / volunteer coordinator / etc.), then a national signup thing for roles "offered on a regional basis", then other orgs also taking volunteer applications... I used some website who've passed my application on to St John Ambulance to process.
 
A quick google shows horse vaccines typically come in vials of 10 x 2ml doses. I didn't find any bigger vaccine vials than that.
 
Think that's part of what's being sorted out. I know someone who's got a non-clinical vaccine admin job to free up staff to actually give the jab. TBH you could give a vaccine after a very short training session, lots of people watched over by a qualified clinician would be fine imo, and is also something they're planning on doing. Doesn't need to be a doctor, nurse, paramedic etc. to give a jab.
When I had my flu jab in December, the woman who did it was someone who has previously worked as a receptionist, so she's presumably been trained to do vaccinations fairly recently.

She did a really good job too, I'd be happy for her to stick needles in my arm in future.
 
I've applied to stab people :thumbs:

Not sure how coordinated it is behind the scenes but signing up was pretty confusing: there's NHS trusts advertising directly, both for paid and volunteer vaccinators and various support roles (assisstant vaccinator / steward / volunteer coordinator / etc.), then a national signup thing for roles "offered on a regional basis", then other orgs also taking volunteer applications... I used some website who've passed my application on to St John Ambulance to process.

Yeah, I've been chasing up being a vaccinator through a number of different channels too, and it does all seem a bit stuck and messy atm. I think some of that is inevitable and will hopefully become more efficient and simpler soon....
 
Yeah, I've been chasing up being a vaccinator through a number of different channels too, and it does all seem a bit stuck and messy atm. I think some of that is inevitable and will hopefully become more efficient and simpler soon....

I hadn't really heard whether there was a shortage and only have experience of injecting myself, but would be happy to help out if there was a bottleneck and I could fit it around work. Seems like this part needn't be a bottleneck at all.
 
thats what a vial is

I meant BIG bottles - like 100 doses a pop, for the vaccination hubs with sufficient throughput e.g. hospitals! I don't really know much about this stuff, so was hoping someone could explain why it's better to have loads of small vials. I get there's a greater risk of contamination, but don't really have a feel for the likelihood and severity of that, and whether it outweighs the gains of less wastage (if the one in six is accurate), and quicker rollout (if packaging is the bottleneck).
 
WTF? That makes no sense at all. What protocols? Stupid fucking cunts. They should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Jobsworth cunts.
The protocol is probably fine - it's probably just being used as a figleaf by some mouthbreathing dumbass "COMPUTER SAYS NO" control freak dickhead who's suddenly found his (brief) moment of power.
 
It also sometimes (very occasionally) happens that doing something ad hoc in one because it looks like a good idea can fuck things up in another place in a way that is far worse than sticking to the agreed plan.
 
Hell, why not just have a massive syringe with a ratchet that clicks for every person you jab.
Give the needle a quick lick between jabs. It be reyt. :thumbs:
You can get guns that work that way for livestock! First time helping vaccinate cattle was a bit of a shock after being used to human patients :eek:
 
Back
Top Bottom