"Covid and flu Vaccination Appointments for couples"

Re: Covid and Flu vaccination appointments

Wile my husband and I are pleased and thankful to eventually get the full complement of Covid jabs 1 and 2, Flu jabs and Covid boosters, it has been a very rocky path to that achievement. Many of our friends have had said  how easy it was, but not for us!

We have lived at the same address for over 35 years, have the same surname, and are almost the same age (74 when the first Covid jab was due), with me being the elder by 10 months, but each time, my husband got called first and I didn't. Eventually our GP explained that I would be included in those done at the local surgery - the over-75s - but I wasn't over 75 at the time, so assumed I'd been forgotten - several weeks of worrying about this: the GP explained it was your age on 31st March 2021 that determined it - this was NEVER explained in any of the literature or advertising that came out about the jabs.

So why does the system not routinely call for married couples together? We always used to go for our flu jags together in the past.

So again, for Covid 2, husband had to go to one place, me to another.

Flu jags - again husband was sent for, but not me. I did go along with him and ask if I could be vaccinated at the same time and I was. Not the only person in this position as we gathered from others in the queue. I eventually got a "blue envelope" a fortnight later - remember I'm older than him!

But the worst was getting the Covid booster - no letters at all for either of us (and we probably could have had them at the same time as the flu jags only then they were saying it had to be 6 months after Covid 2 - later revised to 5 months!) Several lengthy phone calls to the so-called helplines who couldn't or wouldn't help at all - informed we will just have to wait for a letter - meantime friends 10-15 years younger than us, with no particular medical problems were getting theirs! Even telling the call handler of my husband's recent high risk surgery cut no ice. Eventually, 4 weeks after he could have had his booster, my husband got his letter, but still none for me. Further call to helpline, begging and pleading for an appointment, and finally got one - this was after they'd opened up boosters to those over 50! The only good bit was being able to change both of our appointments to much nearer home than the very far away silly o'clock one I'd been given.

Perhaps we would have fared better with the English system of making your own appointments. I know of plenty of friends who were sent appointments miles away from their own homes, while there was a vaccination centre almost on their doorstep: this is just crazy!

Suggestions:

Send for married couples together

Send people to centres near their homes

Let people make their own appointments

Appointments