The SMS from my doctor’s office, Portland Road Practice, in London, arrived on February 2 at 11:20 am: “You are invited to make an appointment for the Covid vaccine by contacting reception. I am all the more surprised as I theoretically belong to group 5, the 65 to 70 year olds. Only half of the patients in group 4 (70 to 80 years old) have so far been vaccinated, but, given the success of the inoculation campaign, the National Health Service (NHS) has already passed. to the next category.
Phone call to the office. After a series of questions about my current state of health, an appointment was made the next day at 11.7 a.m. at St Charles Hospital, a twenty-minute walk from my home, for the first dose and on April 14 for the second at the same time. The deadline has been extended beyond twenty-one days, contrary to the recommendations of the manufacturers of the two vaccines now authorized, the laboratories AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech.
“Essential worker”
Despite more than three decades spent in the UK, I haven’t lost my good old habits of scheming. From the launch of the vaccination campaign on December 8, I tried to bypass the system. A call to the general practitioner to tell him that as a journalist in the field I have been classified as an “essential worker”. End of non-receipt. An emergency website given by my osteopath? Nothing works. A private doctor is sorry: “Everything goes through the national health service. Even if you are a billionaire, there is nothing I can do to help you. »Diagnosed with prediabetes two years ago? Best regards. We’ll have to wait my turn.
At North Kensington Hospital, an old building built in 1879, masks, distancing, temperature measurement and hand washing are mandatory. No need for your ID, Social Security or NHS number. No tail. Someone wearing jeans and sneakers checks to see if your name is on the list.
The route is regulated like music paper. A host of assistants brought me to cubicle n ° 6 out of the 22 installed in the large room of the dispensary. Inside, a nurse asks you the same five questions as the doctor’s office, while preparing for the injection.
Free vaccination
“You are entitled to Pfizer,” she said to me, talkative. It depends on the deliveries, explains the nurse. Even doctors are not aware of the type of vaccine in advance. “The vial bears the laboratory’s address,” BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH. Mainz, Germany ”. I mention the reservations expressed by the French High Authority of Health not to recommend that of AstraZeneca to the elderly. She smiles and ventures a brief comment, “It’s jealousy. Nonsense… ”, injecting me with the off-white liquid. His assistant gives me a card proving that I have been vaccinated.
With all due respect to the sorrows across the Channel, the Oxford-AstraZeneca would have suited me just as well despite my 69 years. I have complete faith in Oxford University and the NHS! Vaccination delivered by the universal health service is free.
A sesame named “Covid-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b”
To date, nearly 10 million people (out of a population equal to that of France) have received the first dose and 500,000 the second. The country with the heaviest death toll (108,000 to date) in Europe, which fears new variants of the Covid and has still been in strict containment since January, is also the one in the forefront for vaccination. The government hopes that everyone over 18 will have been vaccinated by September.
After a compulsory fifteen minute break in a chair, I leave the hospital with sesame, a document entitled “Covid-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b”. Three weeks are necessary for the potion to take its first effects, but, as a precaution, it is necessary to wait a week after the second dose. Simple as pie, in short. I’m so happy…
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
