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A GROWING problem with people missing vaccination appointments because they are not receiving their invitation letters in time was described as a “glitch” by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman yesterday.
Newspaper reports and social media have featured complaints from hundreds of people aged 60 to 64 who say they have not received an appointment letter, but who have then called the national vaccine helpline to be told they had an appointment scheduled – some people had even missed their appointment.
Asked by The National about the scale of the problem, Freeman said: “In any big operation like this, there will from time to time be glitches in the delivery of letters, sometimes in the issuing of letters. What really matters is that people are being called for their vaccination appointment and there may be instances where if I call the vaccination helpline today they could tell me that my appointment has been booked in – they can see a week ahead or so.
“At this point we’ve not identified any system problems, but we will continue to look and make sure that the vaccine management tool and the booking system are working well together.
“We are constantly discussing with Royal Mail to make sure that the delivery schedules at their end are working well with us and they have been really helpful partners in prioritising those blue envelopes.”
“Personally I would wait, maybe into the early part of next week, and if you haven’t had your blue envelope then phone the helpline and see if they can help you in terms of knowing whether or not you’ve got a booking.”
Judging by social media, the problem seems to be affecting Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Borders worst of all.
Edinburgh South Labour MP Ian Murray told The National: “My inbox is beeping every few minutes with 60 to 64-year-olds. No letters received and some have very short timescales. Yet again the Scottish Government denies there is a problem, when the reality on the ground is much different.
“Many people have only learned of their appointments by calling the helpline and that is simply not good enough.
“It could go some way to explaining why Edinburgh is behind every other area in Scotland.”
