A man claims he was told he would have to travel 12 miles or wait four weeks for his covid vaccine.
After receiving an invitation for the jab when the national rollout lowered the age of eligibility to all those 56 and over, the man from Wirral said he saw it as his “civic duty” to make an appointment.
The man, who did not wish to be named, said he was disappointed to learn that because there are no national vaccine hubs in Wirral, he would have to go to Aintree or further afield for his vaccine.
He said: “I don’t have a car and, although I haven’t been shielding, I have been avoiding public transport. And I won’t be the only one.
“There will be lots of other people who are in the same position, who are not classed as clinically vulnerable, but do have their own health issues and don’t have a car to travel to a national vaccine centre.”
Following efforts to get a vaccine close to his home via the government website and 119, he called his GP who told him it would be up to four weeks before he could get his jab as GPs in Wirral were prioritising over-70s and the clinically vulnerable.
He added: “Of course there is the option to wait to be called at a later date via our own GP led lists, but that builds in an unnecessary delay.
“My point is that as in other areas, there should be both local and national vaccination options within Wirral, as there seems to be everywhere else on Merseyside but here.
“I believe to not offer this is discriminatory against Wirral residents who don’t have access to a car, or have difficulty travelling but are not specifically classed as clinically vulnerable, bearing in mind government advice is specifically not to car share or use public transport if at all possible, due to infection risk.
“There seems a certain irony of being asked to place yourself at risk of infection en route to receiving a covid jab.”
A spokesperson for NHS England said this is the correct process but would not be drawn on why there was no national vaccine centre in Wirral.
They said: “The procedure hasn’t changed on this front. If you are invited to book an appointment via the national booking service at a large vaccination centre or pharmacy but are unable to, you should wait to be contacted by your GP.
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“While we appreciate the concerns mentioned, 98% of people live within 10 miles of the more than 1,600 sites around England.”
The NHS vaccine programme has been heralded as a huge success in the fight against Covid-19 with over 22 million people having already received their first dose.
According to NHS Wirral CCG, a total of 128,633 cumulative doses have been given out across the borough up to February 28.
Statistics show that in the NHS Wirral CCG area, a total of 52,511 people in the 16-64 age group have been given a first dose of a Covid vaccine, which equates to 27.2% of that age group's population.
Another 2,281 people have been given a second dose, which is 1.2%. of that age group's population.
