On the news tonight

Exactly. The booking site will not allow to book till 6mths ++ post 2nd vax.DH has repeatedly tried .Succeeded today,appt booked Tues.Did think earlier in year that there would be hasty program to get all flu and boosters done asap but people are having problems with conflicting advice.Our GPs didn't even offer flu vaccines in Sept which is the usual norm.As I have immune issues and have been shielded most year was concerned so eventually ended up visiting local Boots pharmacy for flu vax.

Booking is now allowed after 5 months actually just done mine loads of choices of different places to get it done
My daughter who is 33 CV had hers last week and my husband goes Saturday It seems as with the previous vaccination some are being called by our GP my daughter and husband both have underlying conditions they went to the GP. I have no conditions apart from age am going to a Boots Chemist 8 or so miles away

They ve just said on the radio that they believe we ve reached the peak and going down the other side the hill !!!
So a bit confusing to say the least
I tend to think the more restrictions are a ploy to get a better take up of the booster

BlueBelle

They ve just said on the radio that they believe we ve reached the peak and going down the other side the hill !!!
So a bit confusing to say the least
I tend to think the more restrictions are a ploy to get a better take up of the booster

I do as well Bluebell unless something very drastic happens there is no way the country can afford to shut down businesses and I suspect trying to stop people meeting their families again over Christmas is not going to work they need compliance for that one. I have absolutely no intention of not seeing my family this Christmas regardless of any restrictions

I agree. I'm lucky in that after trying online my booster appointment text came through and I'm having it tomorrow. My second jab was on the 29/04 so it's pretty much the right timescale.
The flu jab was another matter. My surgery are normally exceptionally efficient. This year I was sent two links to a website that didnt work then a text to contact the surgery. At this point I gave up with the surgery and went to my local pharmacy. They were offering walk in appointments for flu jab no appointment needed. Sorted in less than 5 minutes!
Even with the booster I'm concerned. There was an article in the Daily Mirror online yesterday about how the numbers in hospital with Covid / deaths were increasing for those who double jabbed and had booster.,especially over 60s and those who are clinically vulnerable.
Sadly my best friends sister and brother in law fell into this category. Both in 80s. She has dementia and he was her carer. He initially went into hospital and was diagnosed with covid and died yesterday. She stayed with her daughter but then had a stroke and is now in hospital and has been diagnosed as Covid positive. Both had both jabs and booster.
I know they both were vulnerable due to age and complex health conditions but it is rather alarming.
I know someone else whose father has been in a care home since the summer. He only went in for respite but was deemed as needing extra care at home and hasnt been able to leave as no care package available. Now a number of residents,including him have tested positive for covid.
It's been an interesting few months since " freedom day" .
I use public transport and initially most people still wore masks. Last week only 2 of us on the bus wore them. I did notice last Friday that there was a marked increase in people wearing masks outdoors as they shopped .
Those who are wearing masks seems quite random as to what age they are.
I have been less cautious since my vaccination in some ways. I have sat in a cafe but have tried to sit outdoors. I still wear masks. I wouldnt dream of going somewhere very crowded indoors or outdoors. Cinemas/ theatres are not worth the risk.
I work for the civil service and have been in the office in a public facing role since May. Covid precautions are still in place but more staff are allowed in the office as are customers.
I think in the summer we were told by the government that precautions were not legally required but at the same time people were advised to continue with them. A lot seem to act as if covid has disappeared.
I think we have to bear in mind this government's approach to protecting the vulnerable and their actions over the past year-basically too little too late.!
Since early April last year it has felt as though its survival of the fittest-I think that still stands.

I remember listening to an expert on the radio talking about 'nudge theory' which is a psychological push to the masses to influence behaviour.
Seems to me that there are a lot of nudges going on at the moment. Get a booster to save Xmas being just one.
If it works, I'm all for it!
Will be attempting to book ours later, and never needed a nudge.

Never heard of the nudge theory, I think its more like brainwashing, keep telling people the same thing over and over again, they start believing it.

Calmlocket

Never heard of the nudge theory, I think its more like brainwashing, keep telling people the same thing over and over again, they start believing it.

No, it's not the same as brainwashing.

The current government is heavily reliant on nudge theory. There are loads of explanations and examples online and I'm not going to repeat them here.

It's about ensuring that specific behaviours are chosen by altering an environment/context or choosing to present an environment in a certain way.

MissAdventure, the 3rd vaccine and booster vaccine are two different things. There was a problem with delays in booking a booster but now it's getting easier.

Still, we're not out of the woods yet, are we? Cold weather means more people meeting indoors, so more chance of transmission and infections.

My son's friend has lost his sister to Covid. She was 41, healthy, vaccinated, a mother of three and pregnant - with no underlying health conditions. We still need to be very careful.

some of us have to go and work in businesses! I have NO IDEA what precautions my work colleagues are taking. There are no masks, no hand sanitising stations, no social distancing at times

Well it made me jump on the website and book. I was really surprised of get a choice of times three weeks hence to fit around my Christmas shopping and planned activities. The 25 minute journey is fine for me, no problem.
In the older category are there maybe just a large number of people sitting waiting/hoping for the procedure to come up closer to home, like at their GPs?

Nudge theory = positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions according to Google. A way of manipulating an individual or group of people to take specific actions, identified by an American.

Well, it sounds like subtle brainwashing to me or more kindly put as social engineering. The government seems intent on the carrot and stick…If you don’t get your vaccine booster we will make Christmas and going on holiday difficult for everyone.

I’ve been waiting for my invite and finally received it last week. Tried to book online without success. Eventually phoned 119 and spoke to a real person after 5 minutes of messages. End result is booster this Thursday. I don’t understand why it is now so difficult to to just pick up the phone and speak to a person instead of these endless messages and pushing buttons. Of course, it’s more efficient and less expensive but it doesn’t serve the end user. No wonder people are put off with leaping through all these hoops. Maybe the take up would be easier if the process was easier and more user friendly.

Hetty58, that's awful that poor lady and her family

No consistency ayse I got a text from GP last week, within that text you can choose a date and time, verification text then sent back, took a minute.

We moved into the town centre in March and have been able to easily book our flu jabs (last month) and booster (end of this month) for our local Boots which is a short walk from home. Both booked online. They've taken over a corner of the shop for a clinic.
We've heard nothing from our GP.

JaneJudge, her husband and family are devastated - yet other friends are happily planning Christmas and holidays - it's like the world's gone mad here.

A neighbour was moaning about the venue and time of her booster being 'inconvenient' and got short shrift from me (oh dear).

It must be postcode lottery with these jabs as my husband and myself who are still working and early 60’s both got ours three weeks ago. I’ve asthmas and he’s diabetic?

@ Growstuff, its still a form of brainwashing as your being coerced into doing something you dont want to do.

Nudge theory- used to be called nagging. My mum said the cure for nagging is to do what you were asked the first time. Do it-and the nagging stops.

When you say, "If you don’t get your vaccine booster we will make Christmas and going on holiday difficult for everyone." have you looked a little further than Christmas and on to New Year? Or mid January? When those who have taken no precautions against passing on the virus to their assembled extended families, or picking it up themselves from Aunt Edna and her "slight cold".

Perhaps to make it clearer, they should be saying, ^"If enough people don’t get their vaccine booster well before Christmas, another wave of Covid will make Christmas, New Year and going on holiday difficult for everyone." though that of course would be dismissed as scaremongering.

Calmlocket

@ Growstuff, its still a form of brainwashing as your being coerced into doing something you dont want to do.

No, you're quite free to make a decision about what you want to do. Nobody's coercing you into doing something you don't want to do and your fundamental values aren't being changed.

The whole concept of "will" is a fascinating one, which is why it sets my teeth on edge when people go on about the "will of the people".

Calmlocket Of course no-one wants to travel miles at an inconvenient time to sit on a hard chair waiting their turn to have a needle stuck in their arm.
Eighty years ago, no-one wanted to have their shopping restricted to minimal quantities of boring items, have all the streetlights switched off and and cover their windows with strips of sticky paper and blackout curtains, and have the signposts removed from all the crossroads. But they did it. Ask your granny.

@ Elegran, my granny is dead!

So you'll have to rely on reading about it.

PS. As will nearly all the other people who come out with stuff like "we managed during the war".