The NHS is asking people not attend Merseyside's mass vaccination centre in the hope of getting a 'spare' vaccine.
People are being turned away from the centre at the Totally Wicked Rugby League Stadium in St Helens, after arriving in the hope of receiving a 'spare' vaccine at the end of the day.
In a statement on Monday, February 1, the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group for St Helens said all vaccines are allocated to people in priority groups with pre-booked appointments and anyone attending without an appointment will be asked to leave.
They said: "We're aware that some people are coming to Saints in the hope of getting a 'spare' vaccine. We don't have ’spare’ vaccines at the end of the day and stewards will have to ask you to leave.
"All vaccines are allocated to people with booked appointments - including the priority groups that are booked nationally via the weblink in the NHS letter.
"Please bear with us as we are working our way through the groups and you will be contacted when it is your turn to have the vaccine."
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It comes after reports in the national media last week suggested several vaccine centres in the UK had been warned by senior NHS figures about "queue jumping" with left-over doses.
Well-known difficulties arise in storing the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine, which needs to be kept at extremely low temperatures of around -70C.
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When a box of vaccines is opened, containing 975 doses, they must be used within a short space of time before being binned.
This, according to local health officials, has created situations where vaccines have to be doled out in a short space of time or be "chucked down the sink."
However, according to The Telegraph, health service bosses are reportedly threatening legal action against staff who do this if the people who get the jabs aren't in a priority group.
An NHS source told The Telegraph: "If people outside those groups have been invited, then we will have to investigate that."
