Vaccine: ‘Strong possibility’ of 24-hour jabs says expert

Do you think coronavirus vaccine no-shows should be fined? Vote in our poll below and let us know more about what you think by scrolling down and leaving a comment.

Our poll comes after a council leader in Nottinghamshire expressed outrage at people skipping appointments for their jab and risking the shot being wasted.

Councillor John Clarke, leader of Gedling Borough Council, told ITV News: “It’s scandalous, it’s absolutely scandalous.

“You wouldn’t pour £40 down the drain, you wouldn’t do that, so why do this? Because that’s what happens to that.

“They’ve taken it out of the fridge – it’s wasted.”

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Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said the vaccine rollout had proved “problematic” with people not turning up to their appointments.

A number of police officers were given the jab to save it from being thrown away after no-shows.

He said: “There are two issues around the Pfizer vaccine – you can get more out of a vial than is allowed – so you can get an extra dose out and that should not be wasted.

“Getting people through the door has also proved problematic. Some people don’t turn up to appointments.

“A number of police officers for Nottinghamshire have been to the Queen’s Medical Centre and had an injection.

“It is about five or 10. People are keen to use it if it is available. Nobody in Nottinghamshire is putting police officers to the front of the queue for the vaccine.

“But if it is available we don’t want to destroy it and it is best we use it in a positive and constructive way. Police are delighted to have been asked.”

Meanwhile, a nurse at a West London hospital, who did not want to be named, told MailOnline they were being forced to bin wasted vaccines due to people not turning up.

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The nurse said: “It’s happening all over London, and probably right across Britain.

“Loads of people are not keeping the appointments their GPs have made for them.

“The trouble is the vaccine has to be given or it has to be thrown away.

“On Thursday night we had something like 45 people who were booked for jabs but didn’t turn up, and didn’t let us or their GP know in advance.

“Had we known they weren’t coming, someone else could have been slotted in their place.

“We were left hanging around, and then when they didn’t show up, we were faced with the choice of throwing the vaccine away or trying to get it into someone’s arm.

“I rang some friends and said ‘How quickly can you drop everything and get here?’ Other staff were doing the same.

“Some people we rang were able to come in at short notice and they had the vaccine, but a lot of it had to be thrown away because we can’t keep it beyond a certain time.

“I think it’s deplorable and a scandal that people are offered a slot and then just don’t turn up, and never get in touch.”

Some 2.4 million people in the UK have been vaccinated with their first dose, according to the Government’s latest figures.

There have been calls for 24/7 vaccination centres, with jabs the key to easing lockdowns.

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