OAPs expected to travel to Port Glasgow for jabs

Over-70s given covid booster appointments miles away

Hundreds of OAPs have been handed Covid-19 booster appointments asking them to make up to 50-mile round trips to get their jabs.

People in their late seventies living in East Renfrewshire, and Renfrewshire have all received appointments to go to Port Glasgow for their third vaccinations.

And many who can no longer drive are facing journeys of more than four hours to get there.

Some have been given Sunday appointments, when public transport is limited or not available at all.

Kevin McDade, a retired nursing lecturer from Barrhead is one of many who got an appointment.

The 76-year-old can no longer drive because of his failing eyesight and to get to the Inverclyde vaccination centre would require him to catch a bus to Paisley before making his way to Gilmour Street Train Station, followed by a train to Port Glasgow and a walk to the vaccination hub.

His appointment was for Sunday, October 31, when there is disruption to train services because of a strike.

Kevin said: “My eyesight is very poor but I got an appointment for Port Glasgow.

“But there are no trains on Sundays and the bus service is poor.

“When I called the 0800 number to change my appointment they gave me one in Dumbarton instead. “I told them that was even worse. “I believe the call centre is in Middlesex so they have no idea about local geography.”

Eventually another call managed to secure a home visit appointment.

But Kevin said: “I have discovered other old folk round here who are being sent to Port Glasgow.

“The local health centre in Barrhead is still doing vaccinations so I can’t understand why we can’t just go there.

“Barrhead is a fairly large hub in itself.

“I am pleased I have managed to get my appointment sorted out but what about everybody else?”

Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “We have people phoning up saying ‘this is ridiculous’ and they are right.

“This is nothing less than a dangerous fiasco of the SNP. Government’s own making.

“That people from across the west of Scotland appear to be being made to travel to Port Glasgow is a joke.

“For a great many of these people, particularly the vulnerable and the elderly, travelling such a distance is either a real challenge or an impossibility.

“It’s time the Government took its head from the sand and acted to deliver vaccinations at a local level.”

The Scottish Government said: “We are aware that some people may receive a Covid-19 booster vaccination appointment outwith their immediate local area, and we apologise to those who have been inconvenienced by this.

“On some occasions, due to appointment availability, appointments can be scheduled for clinics which are slightly further away than the local area.

“Vaccination appointments can be rescheduled through the NHS Inform website, or through the national Covid-19 Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013.”