Covid vaccine appointments rescheduled after 'small delivery disruption'
Coronavirus vaccine appointments have been rearranged after a "small delivery disruption" to a shipment of around 300 doses in the Black Country.
People who were booked in to have their second Pfizer vaccine at Wednesfield's Alfred Squire Health Centre will now receive their jab next week.
But health chiefs in the Black Country have reassured people there is "enough" doses to go around and the delivery disruption was a "rare occurrence".
Sally Roberts, chief nursing officer for Black Country and West Birmingham CCG, and senior responsible officer for the vaccination programme, said: "Due to the short shelf life of the Pfizer vaccine, our vaccination sites are not able to keep much surplus in stock. On rare occasions when there is a change in a delivery date, a site may need to reschedule appointments. This is a last resort and will only happen if other options, such as moving doses from another site, aren’t viable.
"Earlier this week we rescheduled around 300 vaccines from our Alfred Squires site to next week, due to a small delivery disruption.
"This is a rare occurrence and represents only a fraction of the tens of thousands of doses we have delivered across the Black Country and West Birmingham so far during this unprecedented-scale vaccination programme. Each person affected was contacted individually."
Diane Vukmirovic, aged 70, had been due to receive her second vaccine at the health centre, on Alfred Squire Road, but was alerted an hour before she was scheduled to leave that it would be rearranged.
She said: "I understand that these things happen. However, when I had the first jab, I had that appointment made for exactly 12 weeks, so going another week makes me a little nervous, plus it was done at such short notice.
"I only got a message about an hour before my son and I were due to go to Alfred Squire for my appointment. I'm a little concerned as I know I will get it in the end and I know that I am protected, but I keep hearing from professor Van Tam about how you need to have the second dose.
"It's also disappointing as I think they could have informed me and rearranged it sooner, because all I got was a text message and I don't look at my phone all the time, so I could have missed it, so it's lucky I checked that before we headed out.
"Despite my frustration, I fully support the vaccination programme and I agree that it's important that we get two jabs and applaud the health service for all the good work they're doing."
Meanwhile, more and more people have received their second jabs of the Covid-19 vaccine as the roll-out continues – with more than 95 per cent of people receiving the life-saving jab.
Dr Paddy Hannigan, clinical lead for the programme, said: “It’s important that people get those second doses to give maximum protection from getting Covid and becoming seriously unwell. Recent evidence shows that some people are mistakenly thinking that they are vaccinated with just one dose, but a second jab is vital.
"In Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent we are seeing over 95 per cent of people get their second dose within the target 12 week period. In most cases where people don’t receive their second dose within 84 days, it is for a reason we know about, which typically maybe because they are unwell and in hospital."
