Hundreds of Britons faced many hours-long queues to receive their coronavirus booster jab in a day of chaos that saw lateral flow tests run out on the government website and the NHS site struggle with the surge in booster bookings.
It comes as Boris Johnson opened the booster jab programme to all adults in a bid to offer the third dose to all over-18s by the end of December, bringing his original target forward by one month.
St Thomas’ Vaccination Centre in Westminister confirmed a wait time of six hours for a booster jab, The Independent was told, with queues snaking around the building.
The hospital trust warned the public of a “high demand” for walk-in appointments causing extended waiting times.
Operations manager Ria Burke, 25, who had been waiting in the queue for 20 minutes, said: “It’s the first day my age group is allowed to get jabbed and I live locally.
“I’d like to not endanger my family at Christmas. This is my third jab. I watched the prime minister’s announcement last night and it was a good sign post but I think like a lot of other people I was just waiting for the portal to open.”
At Essentials Pharmacy in Covent Garden, Grace Whiley, 26, had been waiting in the queue for an hour and a half. She said: “It was a last-minute decision, I work round the corner and my age group can’t book til Wednesday. I just want to get it done. I’m pregnant so I want to be as protected as possible.”
Source: The Independent, 13 December 2021
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