90-year-old offered jab in Birmingham

THE daughter of 90-year-old woman says she is outraged after her mother was told she should travel to Birmingham, Manchester or Stevenage for her Covid-19 jab.

The woman, who is from Markfield and wished not to be named, said she received a letter last week from the NHS telling her she was eligible for a vaccine.

Her daughter, Judith Mead, from Glenfield, called 119 to arrange for her mum to receive the jab, but was told her mother would have to travel outside the county to receive it.

The 65-year-old said: “When Mum got this letter, I double checked that it wasn’t a scam, but I figured out eventually that it must be an official letter.

“My mum doesn’t have internet, so I called 119 to book an appointment and gave the operator the information he wanted from the letter.

“He then said he could book an appointment for my mum, and asked if she could travel to Birmingham to get the vaccine.

“I asked him if he was joking, and he said if that didn’t work, she could go to Manchester or Stevenage. I told them I would not be taking her that far.

“I think it is outrageous.” Government advice allows for people to travel to other parts of the UK for medical reasons, but Judith said she does not believe it is in the spirit of the restrictions, which suggest everyone should stay as close to home as possible.

Judith said: “It is ridiculous, especially in the situation we are in.

“I was worried that she might be pushed to the bottom of the list, because I refused, but fortunately not.

“I felt absolutely furious, to be honest, and I had to double check it wasn’t a scam, because it seemed so ridiculous.”

Following a conversation with the patients’ association, Judith managed to secure a vaccine for her mum at the local GP surgery for next weekend.

Judith said: “I expect there will be lots of elderly people who have received these letters and tried to book an appointment, only to be shattered when they are told they have to travel.

“Not all of these elderly people are going to have someone sitting with them who can sort it all out.”

A spokesman for the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland clinical commissioning groups said: “Invitations have been issued to attend one of seven large vaccination centres that have opened across the country.

“The invitations are being issued to people aged 80 or over who are not listed as having been vaccinated at a hospital or GP service.

“If they have received a jab since the letter was sent out or would

prefer to wait to be invited to attend a more local GP or hospital vaccination service, they can simply ignore it.

“The seven centres are an additional option for people to get vaccinated if it is convenient for them.

“Five new GP vaccination services will be opening in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland this week, which means all local GP practices will be offering vaccinations. A large vaccination centre will be opening in Leicester in the next few weeks.”

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: “We want to ensure those who are the most clinically vulnerable receive a vaccination and we’ve set up the mass vaccination centres to allow us to increase the amount of vaccines we give to people on a daily basis.

“The mass vaccination centres offer an immediate alternative to GPs and hospital services and letters have been sent out to more than 600,000 people aged 80 and above who live within a 45-minute drive of one of those centres.”

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has said the aim of the mass vaccination centre programme was to ensure no-one was “more than a 10-mile radius” away from one of the centres.

The seven new centres in England are at Ashton Gate in Bristol, Epsom racecourse in Surrey, the Excel Centre in London, Newcastle’s Centre for Life, the Manchester Tennis and Football Centre, Robertson House in Stevenage and Birmingham’s Millennium Point.

Downing Street said Mr Zahawi had said people should not take up one of those appointments if it was too far for them to travel and could “wait for a local appointment if they prefer”.

The spokesman said: “We will ramp up and open more vaccination centres as the weeks progress, as has always been our plan.

“It’s obviously a matter of individual choice. If people want to wait and have a vaccine more locally, they can do.”

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