Form a Queue

J had her second COVID jab mid April, so was expecting a notification about her third jab. But nothing. She contacted her doctor’s practice, they’re not involved. She rang 119 - nothing they can do. She talked to the nurses at her hospital and they said they would investigate. And then she got a text inviting her to a walk in centre on the south side of town.

When we got there this morning there must have been 100 people in front of us, a long queue which snaked around the car park and beyond. And it was moving very slowly, this was going to take hours. Thank goodness it wasn’t raining or freezing. But J was very uncomfortable.

Fortunately after 45 minutes of making very little progress a volunteer invited those who wanted to to go to a nearby church hall where the queue was shorter. So that’s what we did.

I got a text earlier in the week inviting me to book an appointment for a booster jab, but when I tried I was told I was ineligible. Looks like I’ll have to wait till next month.

The NHS and medical practices are clearly struggling. With the UK now falling behind on vaccinations and having the highest infection rates of any European country, the government’s insistence that things are almost back to normal looks increasingly ludicrous.