Having trouble getting a vaccination locally?

[Kumagoro]

Ever since the vaccinations have been open for under 50's I have been trying to book one in my local area and haven't been able to. Currently the nearest available is 30 miles away and has been for the last week or so at least. There are a couple of places where I live which have never appeared and they are big ones. Some have appeared about 10-15 miles away but again I haven't seen those appear again for some time.

I was wondering if it is just an anomaly or this is a general thing going on across the country. I find it odd that they are just blanket opening it to 40+ now when there are plenty of people who are 49 who cant get one remotely local.

I have noticed for the first time this morning that the website is putting people in a queue that is a first.

So how is it for you?

[Jonj1611]

When you book the first appointment you also book the second one, the local places could be already full with people waiting for their second jab.

[DanceswithUnix]

Seems very regional. Perhaps where you are has a higher than usual percentage of over 50's to get through?

[kalniel]

I had the opposite experience this week - huge choice of centres within short distance, three or four of them within 6 miles. I'm sure they've tried to distribute them according to population density but that doesn't account for demographic distribution so you might have just hit a local peak for your age group.

[Kumagoro]

Indeed it could be second jabs but kind of hard to really know. I tried to find some figures for age spread compared to other near by places and where I live seems to have fewer old people over 65, compared to most other places in the county by quite a margin. So perhaps there is a younger population however the graph I found is about old people in care I think, it is likely to correlate though. Unfortunately I cant find a nice breakdown.

The other big towns/cities around seem to be the same based on what is available. We are talking towards London to get one which is 50+ miles away.

They are talking about about dropping to late 30's next week so I have a feeling this is going to be going on for some time.

[Jonj1611]

For me I got one down the road and booked the second appointment at the same place 12 weeks later or whatever it is

[ik9000]

not even had an invite yet - we're not old enough I guess. Either that or some scrote has nicked our letters and taken our slots

[OwP]

If you are old enough go online and book, you dont need to wait for a letter.

As to availability, when they opened up to 45+ I checked and could only get 25+ miles away, checked back a couple of times through the day and got one local.

[DanceswithUnix]

not even had an invite yet - we're not old enough I guess. Either that or some scrote has nicked our letters and taken our slots

I had a text message. Do your local surgery have your mobile number? Or perhaps some scrote nicked your phones and took your slots

[mathias6]

In Germany it still goes after the old and since the government have brought out a law that people with vaccination are allowed to do everything again, everyone is going completely crazy. So on a vaccination I may probably still wait a long time.

[TeePee]

I just got my first shot. I've been eligible since February, but I've been waiting until there was a surplus as I didn't want to take a vaccine away from someone at risk. We've reached that point, in my area, and apparently we're well past it. I didn't make an appointment, just wandered in. The staff were delighted to see me to give them something to do, and we chatted while I sat for my 15 minutes, occupying 1 of the 30 chairs in their 'recovery' area. Of course, the crisis must continue.

[cybermarketingservices]

My local vaccination center has reported several set backs and such are delaying vaccinations for my age group, I think similar situations are happening across the nation, but with lockdown opening up, maybe we will see an improvement.

[Saracen999]

There are at least four available locations within about 5-10 mins drive of my house, and two of those would be walking. Had my seond jab a couple of weeks ago, and the Mrs is coming up for #2 shortly. She's in her 50's, but I'm a little older and a higher priority group.

So, no problem here. Oh, and neighbours both sides are double-jabbed.

[Millennium]

Easy enough for me, a 20 min walk from my house to a surgery for both jabs, no ill effects to report.

[Kumagoro]

Have mine booked for next week now.

My colleague decided after hearing about my situation and then experiencing it himself, to call his GP surgery. They said we have places available and he got it done a week later. So I decided to call mine (different surgery) and they said the same and I have mine next week.

So if you find your area hard to book try calling your GP even though they say not to on the NHS website.

[Saracen999]

Yeah, GPs surgeries are really busy enough without extra thousands of people ringing in asking for jabs. I get why people might want to speed it up, but I can't help but think that ringing them for that is irresponsible. It's hard enough to get my GP surgery on the phone as it is, and can involve a long wait, without loads of people ringing up for jab.

I got mine from my GP surgery, but let them ring me. And I am in a high-urgency category. Please, people, don't pester the GP unless you are a high priority case, and have slipped through the net, should have been dealt with already and haven't heard. That's why there is a national, direct system for jabs in the first place. GP surgeries are under huge pressure without dealing with that, too.