Speedy vaccination centres should be encouraged to keep up the pace

SIR – Here in Freshwater on the Isle of Wight the vaccine rollout was going really well, but it had to stop because it had got ahead of other parts of the country and the Government would not supply more vaccine.

To use the kind of wartime analogy favoured by the Prime Minister, this is like travelling in a convoy: you move at the speed of the slowest ship.

I thought that avoiding this sort of situation would be one of the advantages of leaving the EU.

Jamie Sheldon

Freshwater, Isle of Wight

SIR – My 88-year-old father with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has not yet had the vaccine, since his local surgery did not receive any until this week.

I am therefore delighted that some areas where the over-70s have already received their vaccinations have been ordered to pause. Let’s get the vaccine to the most vulnerable first.

Jeannie Long

Wisborough Green, West Sussex

SIR – Upon receiving my letter from the NHS inviting me to book a vaccination appointment, I went online to do so.

Once I had submitted my postcode, I was offered four venues ranging from 20 to almost 100 miles away. Taken aback, I dialled the phone number provided and was told that the closest centre was indeed 20 miles away. I was advised to keep trying.

Surely the NHS should be trying to protect the most vulnerable members of society, rather than expecting them to drive half-way across the country so that an ambitious vaccination target can be met by February.

Rosemary Dane Walton-on-Thames, Surrey

SIR – On Thursday, I drove my 92-yearold friend to Newbury Racecourse to get her first Pfizer vaccination.

It was a cold, wet morning and, having just read a letter in the Telegraph about someone who spent five hours queuing at a super-hub, I was a little concerned and went early.

I need not have worried. The volunteers directing and parking cars were cheerful and efficient. I was sent to the entrance, where I was able to drop my friend and her wheelchair off, then shown the Blue Badge parking.

No one objected to me going in with my friend, who was nervous about being alone as she is severely partially sighted. The staff were organised and friendly. Ten minutes after arriving, my friend had received her jab, and 20 minutes later we were back in the car.

The same was true of the centre I drove my husband to last week, in a hall in Pangbourne. In and out in half an hour. Who needs super-hubs and their inevitable delays?

Susan Ellis

Midgham, Berkshire

SIR – I phoned Guy’s Hospital on Wednesday to make a vaccination appointment.

I was given one at 1.15pm the following day, and was in and out in 45 minutes. Well done Guy’s and the NHS.

Jenny McCarthy

Orpington, Kent