Over the past couple of days, I have heard hundreds of stories from constituents about how the Scottish Government is failing to keep up the pace in distributing covid booster and flu vaccines.
The two main stories people tell me when they’re trying to get their vaccine is about the distance that they are being asked to travel and not being able to book one.
For the old and venerable being asked to travel far away from their homes on a Sunday to get a vaccine clinic is simply unacceptable. For example, several elderly people from Barrhead have called to say that they were being asked to go to Port Glasgow for their booster vaccine. This is a journey that would take someone over an hour on public transport at the best of times.
However, this is made all the more difficult due to the ongoing industrial action that is taking place on our railways meaning that my constituent now has to take three buses and travel for up to two hours each way. And when he tried to rebook his appointment on the phone he was given a clinic even further away to his home.
Why there are not able to being given the option stay in their local authority to get a vaccine shows a complete failure from the government to make vaccines accessible to those who need them most.
And that brings me onto the next failure in this booster programme.
Over 50s are on the priority list to receive the booster jab in Scotland. The Scottish Government originally said that this grouping would be able to book their booster from October, now they are being told its from the middle of November and they won’t receive their vaccine until December. These delays will end up costing Scotland dearly if we are to try and recover from this pandemic quickly.
We now know that the positive benefits of being double vaccinated begin to fade after 5 to 6 months. It is with this in mind that it is truly shocking to hear the stories that I have already mentioned.
The Scottish Government has been too slow and we must do more if we are to return to normal life.