Europeans - are you getting COVID vaccines? Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the AstraZeneca vaccine

Not the for the UK, USA and Israel, their vaccination effort is turning out to be great. Big shame about the vaccine nationalist EU and their failure.

The Guardian has an article on the use of the Russian vax in Germany and France.

AZ? No.

Putin? Yes.

Ahahaha tries to tear apart one vaccine and then goes for the Russian one. You couldn't make this up, the EU are flailing and it is embarrassing.

Sputnik V came out last August, right? A full 3 months before the first Western vaccine. Now it's approved in 47 countries and counting.

Slight risk of brain exploding? No problemo!

better than drowning in your own snot

Europeans have now gone off the edge of reality, how ignorant can you get?

update on brexit and the US/UK tariffs

I can't help but think Sputnik is pretty much everything different parts of Europe believes about AZ but rolled into one and true. Von der Karen thinks AZ is essentially an organ of the British government being directed by Boris Johnson? Sputnik was developed by the Russian government and future supply is genuinely controlled by an even more hostile Boris. Vast sections of the European population think AZ is trying to kill them? This is one is to Russian standards, and was created rapidly at the same time a suspiciously large number of doctors and scientists were falling out of windows. The only vaccine I trust less is the Chinese one.

[quote]Sputnik V came out last August, right? A full 3 months before the first Western vaccine. Now it's approved in 47 countries and counting.

Yes, if it was first it must be good. Because Russian chemistry and trustworthy application are such absolute synonyms.

^ You think the Lancet is in cahoots with Moscow? Look at this almost begrudging admission.

[quote] update on brexit and the US/UK tariffs

There will never be a time in all of eternity in which The Guardian doesn’t bash Brexit.

I bet the Guardian is PISSED that the vaccination of the UK is successful.

I'd take Sputnik if it were available.

France is finally in real lockdown, YOUPI! It's about fucking time we close our schools! We spend the all month of March watching the figures climb, none of the curfews worked.

What is "YOUPI"?

French for Whoopee?

12% of France has had at least one dose. It's just a matter of getting through the next month or so, I'm sure.

contrast that with 30 percent in the US

And over 50% in the UK.

Right. Both US and UK were at 12% for first shot too. On a global scale, France is not doing badly with getting jabs in arms. Yes, there is a near term issue with a spike in infections. But it’s not a forever-issue.

Macron has been to busy chatting up old granny's than dealing with the vaccine rollout.

That’s his wife!

I thought she was his teacher?

Teacher, mother, secret lover

The mother of a good friend died of Covid on Tuesday. A retired doctor, she went back into service to assist in an overwhelmed hospital. I know fatigue has set in for many of us, but please continue to do what you can to stay safe... and when the time comes, get vaccinated.

[quote]France is not doing badly with getting jabs in arms. Yes, there is a near term issue with a spike in infections. But it’s not a forever-issue.

Yes, temporary, like France’s capitulation to Germany in WWII. Similarly and eventually, someone will bail France out.

What the eff is up with France?

[quote] What the eff is up with France?

Have you ever studied French history?

Has France studied my history?

R30 depends, where are you from?

For the youpi meaning, see this extract from the movie La cité de la peur, where a policeman and a bodyguard have to entertain an audience while they are waiting for a movie at the Cannes film festival, every projectionist get killed.

Got an AZ vaccine last Tuesday. Zero side effects.

Vaccine effectiveness chart.

[...]

This video examines some of the considerations between vaccines.

[quote]The Chinese vaccine is the least risky

And the least effective.

Yikes. I'll try the vaccines effectiveness chart again. Pfizer is still top of the pile.

Anyone in France wants to tell us what it's like?

R38 bien sûr. I managed to get my mum who is 80 vaccinated, but some of my friends who are not in a big towns didn't get their appointment yet despite being over 75. Pharmacists and GP can vaccinate, but they only get 10 doses per week... and it's priority for people with a health condition. In my town they open the vaccin center mid march, 2 months after the start of the campaign because we didn't have enough dose. In the vaccin center in my town they use Moderna, at the pharmacists and GP it's Astra Zeneca (they change name, can't remember it) Apparently we are sitting on huge stock of AZ? I would love to know where they are supposed to be... at the plant?

r39, do your countrymen now regret their desire to hurt the UK because of Brexit, and the bad karma that France received as a result of that?

I got my shot and that is all that matters.

Thanks r39. Is the lockdown as strict as last spring when you risked a €200 fine for just being outside? Who are people blaming for mishandling the rollout? Macron? Merkel? Ursula von der Leyen? And how is the UK's success playing over there? Is anyone admitting the Brits were right to leave the EU?

A friend of mine in Berlin who has many health issues has just got an appointment to be vaccinated next week - her GP has been given 10 doses and assigned one to her. Her elderly parents have appointments in May. Bizarre how Germany has ended up like this.

So the Brits earn a single day of freedom and sunshine in the UK... and they waste no time in trashing the joint.

Disgusting county of low-life drunks - they deserve to have the Muslims take them over.

[quote]Disgusting county of low-life drunks - they deserve to have the Muslims take them over.

Maybe 'the Muslims' took notes from all the brave patriots who invaded The Capitol on 6 January.

[quote]Disgusting county of low-life drunks - they deserve to have the Muslims take them over.

Sir, this is Datalounge, not Stormfront. Please take your Nazi views elsewhere.

There was an interview with Kate Bingham this weekend, the woman who oversaw the UK's vaccine task force.

She spoke about her discussions with the EU and why they didn't progress.

[quote]As we eat, I ask whether her team seriously considered working with the EU vaccine procurement scheme, which would have been possible last year before Brexit took effect. “The Commission was happy for us to join the European procurement but we would not have a seat at the table, we had to abandon all the work we had done to date, we could not speak either then or in the future to any potential vaccine companies that would conflict with what they might want to do, and they would tell us when we would get the vaccine,” Bingham says. “Being a Remainer, it wasn’t as if I came in with any strong views that we had to do it our own way,” she adds. “But, actually, that was not a very difficult decision.”

R42 our only "contact" when it comes to responsibility is president Macron and the premier ministre, we don't think "Europe" on a daily basis.

R40 I personally pity the British for believing the lies of the Leave campaign (you were supposed to stay in the single market, remember?), including my cousin who is in UK since the 80s.

We might still bitter for Dunkerque, you guys abandoned us and then make a movie like if it was a "victory" ? Every French who try to join the boats were welcome with rifle shots "in their general direction". Look up "Marine Lepen", she is the far right leader who is trying to sell us frexit, I don't think she is pushing the argument of leaving EU at the moment. I couldn't tell, I change channel each time she appears on my tele.

[quote]We might still bitter for Dunkerque, you guys abandoned us and then make a movie like if it was a "victory" ?

That's unfair - the British troops were surrounded and at imminent risk of capture. It would have been catastrophic both tactically and for morale if hundreds of thousands of British troops had had to surrender to the Nazis. "Only" around 12% of troops were made POWs by the Nazis, but hundreds of thousands were evacuated,

I don't think many in Britain see it as a victory, more a miracle.

R50 and taking a few hundred Dunkerquois with on the boat was too much to ask? There were children, women who would have loved not to see the german troops from close up.

I agree they should have taken some of the locals but they did come back, when it was safe.

The British (and the Americans) came back to liberate France, since the French couldn’t do it for themselves, and the French resent that as well.

[quote]Disgusting county of low-life drunks - they deserve to have the Muslims take them over.

You really should talk to a doctor about your Tourette's.

Stop with the fucking WW2. Get back to OP's question faggots. BTW faggots are not a cure for COVID.

R11 that may be, but it's the quality control that I question. I can just see Olga working in the vax factory while arguing with her boyfriend on the phone with a cig hanging out of her mouth. Not to mention all that vodka she had on her lunch break.

they waste no time in trashing the joint.

Filthy beasts, and raging drunks, this meshes with all the cheesy dicks too. How can you help degenerates like this?

Do the sexy Brazilians have access to the vaccine? We need to save them!

[quote]Do the sexy Brazilians have access to the vaccine? We need to save them!

The government announced last week they had signed contracts to purchase enough vaccine doses for the entire population. How soon those vaccine doses actually show up and go into sexy Brazilian arms, we'll see. So far only 7% of the population have received at least one shot.

[quote]they waste no time in trashing the joint.

[quote]Filthy beasts, and raging drunks, this meshes with all the cheesy dicks too. How can you help degenerates like this?

R57 you're lost, this isn't another thread about the deplorable mob smashing up The Capitol because their criminal 'president' couldn't admit defeat.

I'm in France, and as a healthcare worker I got my first AZ shot on the 19th of March. That means the day after it was authorized again and a few hours before it was stopped for people under 55. So I've been waiting since then to know whether I will be able to get my second shot.

Constant change on which population can get vaccinated and by which vaccine has complicated things: first it was AZ only for younger people, than everyone, than it was stopped, and then only for older people. Having to tell patients one thing and then the exact opposite has made them a bit wary. And AZ changing the name of their vaccine amidst the chaos has not been helpful.

On the upside, I FINALLY got a date to get both of my parents vaccinated. And most of the elderly patients I see now have at least gotten one injection.

[quote]Do the sexy Brazilians have access to the vaccine? We need to save them!

I know too many middle-class Brazilians who voted Bolsonaro because they'd make more money and felt the eminiently sensible Fernando Haddad was even more incompetent than Dilma and more leftist than Lula. They deserve every new variant and no vaccine. Elections have consequences.

On the bright side Lula is most definitely getting re-elected president in Brazil next year. On the downside he'll be inheriting an unholy mess.

Man, AZ is dying a slow, painful death, huh?

r61, that the elderly are having to wait so long is terrible

Good news if you are the CEO of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel just joined the billionaire club, congrats!

[quote]Man, AZ is dying a slow, painful death, huh?

No, patients with Covid are dying a slow, painful death.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is stopping that.

R67 You must be one of those brainwashed brits who accused the EU of being jealous, hence a "smear campaign" against your precious vaccine. Well, turns out the Norwegian doctors who found this link a month ago were right after all.

[quote][R67] You must be one of those brainwashed brits who accused the EU of being jealous, hence a "smear campaign" against your precious vaccine. Well, turns out the Norwegian doctors who found this link a month ago were right after all.

No, I'm not brainwashed.

I understand risk.

R69 I do too. As a young Millennial there is a bigger risk of me dying from a blood clot from AZ than dying from Covid. I refuse to take this vaccine. And no, I'm not an anti-vaxxer. I'll gladly take Pfizer or Moderna.

Face the facts, R67. Human beings have died needlessly from AZ. It’s the Edsel of vaccines.

R71 Exactly. Young and healthy people died from blood clots due to AZ.

Britain produces shit so this isn’t that surprising.

[quote]Britain produces shit so this isn’t that surprising.

Why oh why the world didn't heed the wisdom of a great American president and take to bleach against Covid I'll never know.

[quote][R69] I do too. As a young Millennial there is a bigger risk of me dying from a blood clot from AZ than dying from Covid

As a young Millennial there's more chance of you dying in a car accident than there is of dying from a blood clot from AZ.

The kind of PR AZ is getting is what I thought would happen with Sputnik and Sinovac. What a disaster.

Not going near Johnson & Johnson.

R77 Me neither. J&J contains the same technology as AZ. There was a healthy 25 year old man in the test phase who developed blood clots and needed surgery. Seems like that vaccine will have the same issues as AZ. I trust the mrna vaccines much more. Yes, I am aware people have developed blood clots and some have died from those too, but mostly elderly people with pre-existing conditions. Not healthy young people. I'm a Millennial so I have a fairly high chance of developing blood clots from AZ. I won't take AZ or J&J but would happily take Pfizer or Moderna.

[quote]A friend of mine in Berlin who has many health issues has just got an appointment to be vaccinated next week - her GP has been given 10 doses and assigned one to her. Her elderly parents have appointments in May. Bizarre how Germany has ended up like this.

Especially considering that Germany was a partner with the US in developing the Pfizer vaccine. Is it because there had to be one overarching agreement on procurement spread across the entire EU instead of each country working on their own? I would have thought Germany would have been more on top of things.

R79 Yes. The EU made a shitty deal with the vaccine producers, so here we are. The vaccination pace is so slow it's horrific. I'm sure if every country negotiated a deal on their own most would have had a better deal than the current EU one. Fucking hell I'm from Norway. My country isn't even in the EU. Our shitty government still figured it was better to join the EU deal than to negotiate one on their own. So here we are. Less than 10 % of the population vaccinated so far. What's more fucked up is that the youngest people who have put their lives on hold for almost two years get another summer ruined because they are last in line to get the vaccine. This means their parents can enjoy life again while the kids have to suffer even longer and have to live as a prisoners in their own homes since there's nothing else to do.

In my 30s and in the UK and still waiting. I'm happy to take any vaccine offered, AZ or otherwise. I work in a high risk environment (school), and in all its infinite wisdom, the UK gov hasn't prioritised people like me.

I’m mid-forties, in the Uk, and I had the first dose of the AZ vaccine 3 weeks ago, with barely any side effects except a slight sore throat for a day, and some muscle stiffness for a few days. The risk of developing a clot is 0.000095%, which is worth taking, I think. There are far riskier activities in everyday life.

I have nightmares about what would currently be happening in the US if that orange fucker had remained implanted in the White House like a cancerous cell.

[quote]In my 30s and in the UK and still waiting. I'm happy to take any vaccine offered, AZ or otherwise. I work in a high risk environment (school), and in all its infinite wisdom, the UK gov hasn't prioritised people like me.

It was the infinite wisdom of the scientists who decided not to prioritise 30somethings, regardless of their jobs.

Teachers with health conditions were prioritised but to prioritise young healthy teachers over older people would have meant more deaths in the over 50s or over 60s.

R44 - wait...an Australian news source is tweaking the Brits for being drunken slobs?

I'm terribly sorry - isn't Australia that place with the horse race every year that turns into the Staten Island Dump only with more date rape?

My 78-year old mom got her first Pfizer shot last Friday. This time, the process was smooth and quick, unlike when my dad got his first shot a few weeks ago. Belgian vaccination is finally starting to speed up a little. Luckily, my mom only had a slightly sore arm, no other symptoms. My Dutch in-laws (in their early 70s) are getting their first Pfizer shots next week. I’ll be so relieved when all four are fully vaccinated, because a major part of the endless stress of this year was about keep them safe. My father-in-law is especially vulnerable with his MS and heart condition.

Glad to hear it.

European countries really are getting their arse into gear now.

It's estimated that 10000 lives have been saved by the UK's vaccine roll out.

"Denmark becomes 1st European nation to completely shun AstraZeneca COVID vaccine"

Danes, when you are not mourning Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, are you getting your COVID vaxx?

I doubt the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will ever be used here. Not after the fiasco that was AstraZeneca. They're both vector vaccines, that means there's a higher risk of blood clots. It also means we only have Pfizer and Moderna available for use and we simply don't have enough of those. They're increasing the interval between the first and second dose to 12 weeks (up from 6 currently). That means hopefully everyone above 18 will have had their first dose by the end of July.

I had my first Az (Canada) because it was what I could get. I know it prevents serious illness, hospitalisation and death to the same extent as any other vaccine and that against mild or moderate illness it's about 75% efficacious.

Still, I can't shake the feeling I settled for the Dollar Tree vaccine because there was so little else on offer.

I am hoping we go to a mix and match strategy soon where I can have a Pfizer or Moderna as the second shot. I gather there is no medical reason against it in theory and the UK is to release early data in the next month or six weeks studying Az and Pfizer. I read it should be sufficient for the authorities to make a call.

R90 Vaccination with AZ will likely be stopped here as 5 people died of blood clots from it. They were all young too. Only 120k people were vaccinated with it, so 5 out of 100k is bad. We have few new cases and few deaths from covid. AZ is not worth the risk. We don't have enough Pfizer/Moderna either, but increasing the interval between the doses helps a lot. About 1.5 million people have had their first dose here. Mostly 70+, those in risk groups and health care workers. Those who had their first shot with AZ will get their second shot with Pfizer or Moderna.

I got my first shot yesterday in the Stade de France "vaccinodrome", run by hunky Parisian firefighters.

I really think the criticism of AZ has been disgraceful, and largely driven by politics and commercial interest.

There is a reason why the AZ vaccine has been praised so highly by the WHO and the European Medicines Agency, amongst others. It’s creation is a great achievement. It is being offered at cost, for less than £4 per dose, compared to up to £28 per dose for the other vaccines. A lot of companies have a great commercial interest in spreading doubt about its safety.

It’s also incredibly easy to store, in standard refrigerators. If Covid is to be brought under control in poorer parts of the world (which is vital to all our future safety), then the AZ vaccine could make a great contribution to that. It’s really disheartening to see political and commercial interests shout down the scientific message that it is very safe.

[Quote]Especially considering that Germany was a partner with the US in developing the Pfizer vaccine.

Americans love to take credit when none is due. No, it was Germany that developed the Pfizer vaccine. The USA became a partner to distribute it.

R87, I doubt vaccinations in the UK saved that many. It's the lockdown, which started just before Christmas and has only just started to be lifted. Yes, vaccinations have saved lives, but the real key has been the lockdown, during which time the vaccinations took place, with the lifting of the lockdown timed so as to coincide with when vaccinations might start having an effect. Even Boris Johnson says it's lockdown, not vaccinations.

The only other country in Europe that locked down as hard as the UK (although not for as long) was Portugal, and they saw an even more impressive fall in cases, deaths, etc. Portugal had 1 Covid death yesterday. It's similar to what happened after the great lockdown was lifted last year, once cases and deaths had plunged. Hopefully the difference now is that we are less complacent about the virus and vaccinations will prevent new surges of cases.

Poor Japan, on their 4th wave, with a 30% population that are elderly, and only 1% of the entire population vaccinated. PLUS international athletes bringing in god knows what in, and are not required to be vaccinated.

I'm a Brit resident of the EU and I will be getting my first dose of Moderna, I believe, next week.

R94, "The German company BioNTech, the developer of the vaccine, partnered with the American company Pfizer for support with clinical trials, logistics, and manufacturing." Not like the Americans did nothing.

R93 Nah. The criticism against AZ is valid. 5 young and healthy people died from blood clots after thr AZ shot here in Norway. We only vaccinated slightly more than 100k with it, so it's a significant number. These people, due to their age, likely would have survived the desease, yet died from the vaccine. Here in Norway we have few new cases and few deaths. We simply cannot allow people to die from vaccines, and certainly not young and healthy people, under these circumstances. If we had more cases and more deaths from covid, I might have thought differently.

Oh and btw, this is not about politics. Norwegians simply don't want to get the vaccine because we don't want to risk getting severe and dangerous blood clots. Especially young people. Maybe we could consider it for those aged 65+ though, like they've done in many other countries. Though I don't really see the point because those people are already vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer. Oh, and another thing that proves this isn't some big conspiracy against AZ, the vaccine from J&J has been put on hold too. Because it is a vector vaccine, and they've reported the same type of blood clots from that one.

R93 is doing that British thing of having this weird idea that we are the saviours of the world, when there are in fact other cheap, effective and safe vaccines out there and even BioNTech Pfizer will be sold at cost to lower income countries and at a medium price to medium-income countries. Not to mention, most AZ doses are not being sold at this mythical "at cost" price and after 1 July AstraZeneca can increase the price.

AstraZeneca is also failing on the most important factor in getting vaccines to people - actually making them. 3 billion doses this year, AstraZeneca promised, and it can't even make a few 100 million a third of the way into the year.

Unfortunately, it's the UK that has politicised the whole vaccines issue.

Pfizer helped a lot and the BioNTech-Pfizer partnership has been amazing, r98. That said, it's the Pfizer plant in Puurs, Belgium that is currently supplying the world, not the one in Kalamazoo. Even the US got its first BioNTech Pfizer doses from Belgium. Although, now that the US has satisfied its own domestic supply, it's good to see that it's going to allow a few million doses to go to its immediate neighbours, to help keep that virus at bay.

Getting my second dose on the 12th. Would have been this week but I wanted to get it on a day before I had to go into work so I could phone in sick.

The AZ vaccine has saved tens of thousands of lives of those who have taken it, and prevented the deaths and hospitalisations of tens of thousands of people because the vaccine has stopped transmission to others.

I've had my first AZ dose in March and my second dose is due the first week of June. I have no doubts or concerns about taking it.

Where, r103? Because lockdown in the UK has had the same effect. Yes, the AZ vaccine will save lives around the world. So will all the vaccines. No other country that has developed a vaccine has become so nationalist about it as the UK has become over the AZ vaccine. Do you see the Germans getting as jingoistic about the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine, which is truly revolutionary? Even Merkel had the AZ vaccine rather than the German vaccine.

R103, I'm having my first dose of Moderna in a few days and my second dose in early June - perhaps even before you have your second dose.

[quote]Where, [R103]? Because lockdown in the UK has had the same effect. Yes, the AZ vaccine will save lives around the world. So will all the vaccines. No other country that has developed a vaccine has become so nationalist about it as the UK has become over the AZ vaccine. Do you see the Germans getting as jingoistic about the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine, which is truly revolutionary? Even Merkel had the AZ vaccine rather than the German vaccine.

You really are a sad bitter old cunt, so obsessed with trashing the AZ vaccine whatever way you can. It must be really upsetting for you to see the vaccine programme's success of which AZ has played a huge part.

Britain is slowly coming out of lockdown BECAUSE THE VACCINE PROGRAMME HAS WORKED.

Healthcare staff are no longer dying doing their job BECAUSE THE VACCINE PROGRAMME HAS WORKED.

Elderly people coming into hospital for non Covid issues are no longer getting Covid and dying BECAUSE THE VACCINE PROGRAMME HAS WORKED.

Essential workers who have been vaccinated are no longer getting Covid and transmitting the virus BECAUSE THE VACCINE PROGRAMME HAS WORKED.

The economic recovery is starting BECAUSE THE VACCINE PROGRAMME HAS WORKED.

R106, Boris Johnson himself said the reason for the fall in cases and deaths was lockdown, not vaccinations. Vaccinations will start to protect once all the restrictions are lifted. What really brought the figures down has been lockdown. The UK has been at various levels of lockdown for the past five months, for over 3 of those months in very hard lockdown.

If you looked, which I bet you didn't, at the figures of the fall in case rates, hospitalisations, etc. in the UK a few weeks ago the falls in numbers for those vaccinated were only a little greater than the falls for those not vaccinated. The fall for the vast majority has been due to lockdown. That's why the government locked down so hard and why we still have a lot of restrictions. Non-essential shops have only just opened. We're not even allowed to visit a friend in their home!

There was a big overlap with the period of hard lockdown and the much more recent period of when vaccines might start working. We also still have a long way to go before there is an economic recovery.

But, speaking in 10 Downing Street, Mr Johnson suggested the millions of vaccines given over the past few months were not key to the reduction in COVID levels.

He said: "The numbers are down - of infections and hospitalisations and deaths.

"But it is very, very important for everybody to understand that the reduction in these numbers - in hospitalisations and in deaths and infections - has not been achieved by the vaccination programme.

"People don't, I think, appreciate that it's the lockdown that has been overwhelmingly important in delivering this improvement in the pandemic and in the figures that we're seeing.

"And so, yes of course the vaccination programme has helped, but the bulk of the work in reducing the disease has been done by the lockdown."

This seems like a massively pointless argument. Lockdown was obviously the way to stop spread in the short term. But given the minute you say people can go outside again it shoots right back up (That's not specific to Britain. Look at Florida in spring break, or the crowds on the banks of the Seine in February) an effective vaccination program is the only sensible way to reduce Covid in the long term. If lockdown coupled with a mass vaccination program accidently proved to be the best way to do things who gives a shit?

[quote]No other country that has developed a vaccine has become so nationalist about it as the UK has become over the AZ vaccine.

Have you not noticed the crowing about how Americans are saving the world now that they're shipping vaccine here and there. Heavy on theme, modest on fact. Canada is apparently saved by vaccine doses loaned, not given, of a vaccine the States won't use because it still isn't approved. There's more, if you look, and it's typical of a kind of reflex in some on the board and many in society.

"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else." Winston Churchill

Cue the thin skins... Americans can criticise everybody else but don't you dare say anything unflattering about them.

A month ago "experts" were claiming that the vaccine roll out had saved the lives of over 10,000 people in the UK.

But according to the AZ troll, they've achieved nothing yet!

What a sad little life Jane.

My sibling in London said you need 2 AZ shots. She got one last month and the 2nd is scheduled in 12 weeks.

We ditched both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca due to risks of dangerous blood clots. We don't have enough covid cases or deaths from covid to justify using them and killing off young people who probably would have survived covid itself. If we had more cases and deaths the situation would have been different and we probably would have continued to use the two vaccines.

Anyways, the problem is we simply don't have enough doses from Moderna and Pfizer to vaccinate the Norwegian population. Our vaccination program relied on using ALL the vaccines, including AZ and J&J. Without those we are looking at a delay of several months. That is despite the government increasing the time from 1st to 2nd dose from 6 weeks to 12 weeks, so more people will get their 1st shot, which is 80 % effective.

I'm a Millennial with Boomer parents (they were old when they had me). Thankfully they've both got their two shots. I however have to wait. I'm in the 25-34 group (turning 34 this year). The very last prioritzed group. I'm literally last in line. My guess is I will not be vaccinated until fall. The government is saying everyone will be vaccinated before end of July, but I doubt it.

I’m in the UK, aged 44, and had my second AZ jab last week. I had a few, very minor side-effects after the first dose, but none at all after the second.

It’s a great relief to feel that progress in being made.

I've got my second AZ dose at the start of June.

The science led decision to delay the second dose has been a masterstroke by the UK government, one thing they got right. 34% of the UK population is now FULLY vaccinated.

Scotland remains behind the rest of the UK due to overtly political decisions.

Brits, are vaccines available in multiple common spaces now like pharmacies in grocery stores, etc? Here in Colorado Walmart announces on their PA system that one can come to the pharmacy for an immediate shot.

Vaccines are available at other grocery stores like Safeway, Krogers, etc.

Even the Fire Department is taking walk-ins. And we live in a rural area.

Do you have this kind of availability?

"The science led decision to delay the second dose has been a masterstroke by the UK government" - at least, r115, you admit that it was a decision taken by the government and not based on the science.

But, if the decision to delay the second dose was a masterstroke, then why did the government recently change this policy and bring second doses forward (from a 12-week interval between doses to an 8-week interval)?

[quote]Brits, are vaccines available in multiple common spaces now like pharmacies in grocery stores, etc?

Most of them tend to be in community hubs. The two nearest me are a sports centre or a disused Toys R Us store which have been turned into mass vaccination centres. For me it's a choice of travelling 3 miles or 6 miles.

For people who have mobility problems they will be vaccinated at their local GP surgery or be visited at home.

Hey Vaccine Truther at R117, have you been jabbed yet?

I should say until about 3 weeks ago it was difficult to book an appointment to be vaccinated in our area. Now walk-in service seems to be available all over the place.

Thankfully, even though I'm a British citizen I'm based in the EU, I've had my first Moderna jab and will get my second exactly 28 days after the first. In the UK, because I'm over 40, I would have been forced to have the AstraZeneca vaccine and to wait 12 weeks - or is it now 8? - for my second dose.

Not sure why you're implying I don't believe in vaccines. I do - effective vaccines, administered at the right time.

^ Above comment at r121 addressed to r119.

It should be noted that under-40s in the UK will now only be administered mRNA vaccines - even though it's not clear that we have enough of them - due to the risk of rare blood clot side effects from the AstraZeneca. At least 56 people in the UK have died from these clots caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine.

OMG I literally just got my appointment through for my second AZ jab!!!

Bank Holiday Monday in the afternoon!

In Australia, AstraZeneca is only being given to the age group 50 and above due to the blood clotting dangers. There has been one death from blood clotting so far and several people which have been affected but have recovered. Vaccine hesitancy has risen and a lot of people over the age of 50 have said they will not take the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Health Minister has now said that people over 50 can wait to have the Pfizer vaccine later in the year but will not get priority.

The Pfizer vaccine will be given to everyone under the age of 50. Unfortunately the first batch of 10 million doses of Pfizer won't arrive until October at least (probably later given all the hold ups). That's why Australians want to keep the international borders closed. 73% want the federal government to keep the borders closed so the government have their hands tied.

So the vaccine roll-out is not going very well in Australia.

R121, it's established a twelve week wait maximises the efficacy of AstraZeneca.

"The study found vaccine efficacy reached 82.4% after a second dose in those with a dosing interval of 12 weeks or more (95% confidence interval 62.7% to 91.7%). If the two doses were given less than six weeks apart the efficacy was only 54.9% (CI 32.7% to 69.7%)." The British Medical Journal.

Having people go around partially vaccinated for 3 months and exposed to the virus and any new variants that come along in the middle of the pandemic is a huge, huge risk. This is exactly what's happened in the UK now, with people who've had one vaccine jab being infected with the Indian variant and some even hospitalised. This is why the government retreated on its previous policy and has brought second doses forward to 8 weeks.

It's also ridiculous of the UK government to stretch the interval between Pfizer and Moderna doses to 12 weeks (now 8) when the interval should really be 3 or 4 weeks respectively.

R116, vaccines are available at specialist vaccination centres set up in community centres, leisure centres, village halls and conference centres, and also at some GP practices. I think there are cases where people are offered spare vaccines available at the end of the day (I know someone who got vaccinated early because she was related to a cancer sufferer), but generally you are contacted when it is your turn (based on medical need and age). Virtually every citizen and resident of the UK is registered with the NHS through a General Practitioner, so those records have made the vaccine roll-out incredibly efficient.

My nephew (a healthy 30-year-old) has just been contacted to make his appointment, which indicates that most people above that group have already been offered at least their first dose.

R56 - couldn't be further from the truth. Eastern European women who work in medicine or pharmacies are sort of the upper crust WASP of the region. They tend to all have nerdy glasses, be total school mice and nerdy and quiet. You can see them among other people here...always a book tucked in a organically dyed cotton purse, Clark shoes, the type of clothes you would find at Whole Foods and always eating raw, organic (they say "bio"), with tons of supplements and healthy shit. So when I needed some lube for a hookup, I had to ask one of them for it as it is not OTC...there I was listening to the possible side effects, natural alternatives from this nerdy bookworm while all I wanted was to get to the hotel and fuck.

Just got my first shot. I'm 34 and Norwegian.