Here’s the original piece for context:

www.aestumanda.com/opinion/2025...

@rachelblakemp.bsky.social

#NHS
#flu #covid #vaccinations

Everyone I contacted acknowledged the problem, but no one felt able to take responsibility for fixing it.

I’m relieved to have some protection now, and to be able to see visitors over Christmas with a little more confidence. But others are still waiting, and the system clearly isn’t working.

I thought Health Sec Wes Streeting wanted to keep people out of hospital and blocking corridors. This experience reinforces what I wrote earlier in the week: NHS reforms, layers of bureaucracy, involvement of the private sector, and unclear responsibilities are getting in the way of patient care.

What continues to puzzle me is why the people at greatest clinical risk are so often left at the back of the queue. I know plenty of fit, healthy friends who are really struggling with winter bugs already — so the idea that housebound and severely ill people can wait so long makes no sense.

The nurse who visited (from a private company) told me that a NHS leader had seen my experience, and that prompted urgent action. I’m grateful it unblocked things, but it speaks volumes. This is basic primary care. Housebound patients shouldn’t need to publish an article to get a winter vaccines.

After a day of use, I keep catching myself saying “Okay Meta” — and nothing happens.

It’s amazing how tough it is to unlearn a habit built over two years.

I hope Meta makes wake-word recognition more flexible again — “Okay Meta” is stuck in my head.

On my Gen 2 Wayfarer, the LED lights up and the activation sound plays… then cuts off.

Say “Hey Meta”, the official wake word, and it works as normal.

On my Gen 1 Headliner (v19.1), “Okay Meta” still works — suggesting Meta’s newer firmware is stricter about wake-word mapping.