Jab ‘chaos’
REPORTS SAY NORTH-WEST LONDON HAS BEEN LAGGING BEHIND IN GETTING VACCINES TO THE OVER-80S
INFLUENTIAL health campaigners say the roll-out of Covid vaccines has been “chaotic” in parts of North and West London.
Hammersmith and Fulham Save our NHS (HAFSON) say they have heard reports of people successfully booking vaccine appointments by phoning their GP surgery, contrary to official advice.
The Campaign’s sister organisations in Brent and Ealing have heard similar stories, which they say risks causing “confusion” and “anxiety” among elderly people who have yet to be offered vaccination appointments.
Fulham resident Merril Hammer, a leading member of HAFSON, said: “The advice [from the NHS] has consistently been ‘do not ring, we will ring you.’
“It will cause chaos if people make their own decisions.
“What’s worrying about that is it will cause anxiety and confusion because some people will worry they’re missing out.”
The 74-year-old added: “It’s quite clear that some GP practices have been ignoring what they have been told to do.
“There’s an information vacuum that could play into the hands of the anti-vaxxers.”
An NHS spokesperson said: “We are working to the national guidelines for rolling out the vaccination programme and are on track to vaccinate the first four priority groups by February 14.
“While we know it can be frustrating for people who are waiting for their vaccination, we will get to you as soon as we can, so please wait to be contacted about your vaccination.”
HAFSON spoke of their concerns as the (North West) NW London division of the NHS was reported to be lagging behind getting jabs out to residents aged over 80.
Using NHS England data, a league table of 43 areas placed NW London third from the bottom.
But this was because NW London has a relatively high population elderly residents compared to the rest of London and other parts of the country.
Over 91,000 doses have been administered across the eight boroughs in NW London by January 17. This accounted for 45.7 per cent of over-80s. A second dose had been given to 10.5 per cent.
Top of the table was Gloucestershire, where a first dose has been administered to 85.3 per cent of over-80s, while 3.6 per cent had received a second dose. Although this amounted to a total of 65,000 doses.
Pippa Nightingale MBE, the vaccination programme lead for NW London, addressed the pace of the rollout during a meeting with councillors on January 14.
She said London’s “transient” population of people who have moved to second homes elsewhere in the country had distorted the data.
Ms Nightingale added that NW London has the largest population of any NHS region in England, at nearly three million people.
NHS England has said it expects to vaccinate two million people a week from mid-February.