Questions are being asked about vaccination on social, print and broadcast media. When will people get vaccinated? How safe is it? Which is the better vaccine? Do we have a choice on which vaccination? Must we have two doses?
Three Shropshire medical experts have agreed to answer your questions. Rachel Robinson, Director of Public Health for Shropshire, Dr Caron Morton from Station Drive Surgery and Dr Catherine Beanland from Portcullis. Please send Tracey Huffer and I your questions and we’ll ask the expert medical panel for a response. You can post your questions as comments below or send them to us as explained in this article. We will publish answers during the week and no one asking questions will be named.
Today, the first vaccinations of residents and staff in care homes will begin in Ludlow will begin at Hagley Place. This is the first stage (cohort) of a rollout that begins in our care homes (Churchill next week). Over eighties will follow, then over 75s and then cascading to other cohorts as the medical teams here in Shropshire work from protecting the most vulnerable first towards the broader population.
But many of us have questions. About how long we must wait. About the time between the first and second dose. How essential the second dose is. What is the difference between the vaccines? And many more.
Tracey Huffer and I have invited three medical experts to answer your questions. They are:
- Dr Catherine Beanland, Portcullis Surgery.
- Dr Caron Morton, Station Drive Surgery.
- Rachel Robinson, Director of Public Health for Shropshire.
Please send us your questions by Monday 4 January. There are a lot of ways of doing this.
- Comment below
- Email me at andy@andybodders.co.uk or Tracey at huffer@shropshire.gov.uk.
- Message us on Facebook.
- If you are on Facebook, respond to our posts asking for your questions.
- You can tweet me at andybodders.
- Ring me on 01584 874029, text or voice mail on 07927 716163.
Tracey and I will summarise the questions on Monday and send them to our panel for a response. All questions will be anonymous.
How long responses will take will depend on the urgent priorities facing GPs and health professionals next week. That is never predictable in normal times, impossible to predict now. We have a hard working team in Shropshire and hope to publish the answers mid-week.
Some questions may not yet have an answer especially about the where and when of vaccination rollout. But just ask your questions and we will tell you if we don’t know the answer. Some things are certain. Some uncertain. We’ll tell you what we know without political spin.
I have heard that we might be given the first dose with one vaccine and the second with a different brand. Us this true and if so how might this alter it’s effectiveness?
I am concerned about the decision to lengthen the time between jabs. !2 weeks seems a long time and Pfizer have stated they do not have the data to uphold this. Surely the government is going against the advice of the scientists who developed these vaccines. How can we be sure of the effectiveness with such a big gap.