Vaccine no-shows means jabs for 18-29 year-olds
The secondary reserve list opened for 18-29 year-olds on Thursday, but by Friday some were already being invited to the Newtown Vaccination Centre to ensure that vaccines were not going to waste by people not turning up.
One of those, a 24-year-old from Welshpool, told us: “It was brilliantly organised in Newtown, but it seems there are a lot of people not showing up. The person who gave me the jab told me to tell all my friends to get on the list as there are loads of spaces available.”
The exceptionally low number of fatal blood clots post-vaccine have impacted the programme, with a one-in-a-million chance that someone in their 40s would sadly die.
Dr Richard Roberts, Head of the Vaccine Preventable Diseases Programme at Public Health Wales explaind: “The risk of these extremely rare blood clots is extremely low and the risk benefit in comparison to contracting Covid-19 disease is still very much in favour of vaccination.
“For example, the risk of people in their 40s dying if they catch Covid-19 is 1,000 per million, so if 1 million in their 40s caught Covid-19 then 1,000 would die, 10,000 would be hospitalised and 160,000 would get ‘long Covid’.
“If all 1 million were vaccinated with two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine it would prevent over 900 deaths, 9,000 hospitalisations and 145,000 cases of long Covid, with the possibility there would be four cases of rare blood clot events and one additional death.
“No medicine or vaccine we receive is without risk and we accept these very low risks because of the benefits we receive. For example, the risk of blood clots in women who take the Oral Contraceptive Pill is higher than those not taking the pill, and this is accepted because of the benefits.”
Both jabs have common side effects, including sickness, with health officials also concerned that it may put people off coming for their second job.
That operation us due to commence in Welshpool this week with the medical practice issuing the following statement:
“Is it very important that you attend your second dose on the date and time you were given. You will find your second appointment date and time on your Covid vaccination card. The Practice are being allocated a number of doses by Powys Local Health Board which matches the number of patients due their second dose. Therefore, every dose is allocated to a named patient and there are no spare doses.”
By the weekend, 80,500 first doses had been administered and 26,300 second doses.
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