Positive news. Slightly tangential but slightly related - what is your current thinking/intel w/r/t (i) the vaccine plan once we finish first dosing group 9 (which seems like it could be the end of next week?) and (ii) timeline to first dose of all adults (things seem to be running far faster than the gov promise)?

On the hospitalisation data for England, on 23rd Feb there were 13,511 beds in use for COVID patients. Yesterday it was 7,847. Mechanical ventilation has gone from 1,956 to 1,236 in the same time period. It is also reported today that the Nightingale hospitals will be closed at the end of the month. Some of them never saw a single patient.

End of next week? I would love that - but surely not that quick? The target date is mid-April right? If we could get there end of March, that would be a huge achievement.

The vaccine plan after Group 9 is already announced, so it's by age bands, and the wrinklies in their 40s have first dibs. We've already started that lower age group, though it would typically where we have invited a couple and the older person is just over 50 and the younger spouse is just under.. "All adults", yes I agree it's going to be sooner than the advertised end of July, though the vaccination production issue remains shrouded in secrecy. So on one level end of June sounds sensible, but bear in mind we've always been striving for the lowest hanging fruit - the people you ring or text and who immediately take the first or second appointment on the schedule. As we move down the list, the more we will see the FOMOs the "need a bit of time to think about this", those coerced by their families into showing up. While some may say "back of the queue for you", in reality it remains the sooner the better for them.

Thanks for the info, really useful. I have seen plans on one of the media channels I think that people in their 30s are slated for early May - I think I remember seeing this, I'm not sure, but, is there a way you think that people in their mid-30's could get the vaccine in early/mid April at all?

I understand you can't give a solid answer, but it's more of a question around what you think may be possible at the current rate.

I would guess that those in 30s in good health would start in April, but it would depend on where you live. In terms of vaccine supply, I can see they try to blend allowing some places to go faster if they can with not allowing these places to get too far ahead of the national pitcture. I would guess if you are London based, where there is more vaccine hesitancy than in Middle England, then you may get seen sooner.

I guess cases are by default included in point 3 and we can see now they are not causing increases in hospital admissions and we should reach the 200 deaths daily average today, so the same as a bad flu epidemic which we don't lockdown for.

If we were losing an average of 200 people a day to flu I think we'd do something about it.

Thanks. I'll await my text/letter than!

We do. We encourage people to get vaccinated at the start of each winter, particularly the vulnerable. The government even pay for it.

Lucky me - I received the COVID vaccine party invite earlier today. At 55 I was expecting to wait a few more weeks. I did not notice the SMS for 45 minutes and by the time I did all the tests in my home town were gone and they were disappearing in the next town as I searched for a time. I will drive off the my neighbouring town next Tuesday. The lesson there is to change the SMS notification sound to something that sounds more important and be quick. My second jab is local on June 1st. That must be nearly 11 weeks separation.

My sister who lives about 10 miles away has been invited for a first jab, she is 39!

No conditions we can think of that would move her up the queue. Her partner who lives at the same address and is with the same GP has heard nothing.

It is worth checking the phone number is correctly registered. But easier still, the booking is online, so just try to make the booking. It would say no if not eligible.

I'll take a stab at this...

It's been widely talked about that supply will ramp up significantly from 15th march, possibly to 4-5m a week. Lets say 4m a week to be safe. Thats all of group 9 (32-33m) done before the end of March, lets just say the end of march. Next is 8m 40-49 year olds, that takes us to mid April, or probably the 3rd week when you consider 2nd doses needed. So final week of April for 30+, and mid May for rest,

I've yet to meet anyone who hasn't suffered from Oxford sides. Mine weren't great , and my gf (healthy 33) was sent to A+E yesterday after a day from hell. When they told her it was a 3hr wait she ignored the advice and came home, but she isn't great today either, albeit better. Not really sure how to handle the second dose (for her) now. I can't really blame her for not wanting to go through this again, and she's never been concerned about catching covid. Is there any other option, or would a vaccine passport be a non starter without the second dose? I think it was CWS that said the second dose of Oxford isn't as bad, so maybe she will change her mind.

Just keep checking the website and the age shown, I booked my husband in on Saturday after I heard the age bands were reduced and still not heard anything from the GP.