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Fife man’s month-long battle to ensure he gets his Covid jab

Covid jab
Gordon Blain

A 71-year-old Fife man has had to go into battle for the second time to ensure he gets his Covid jab.

Gordon Blain contacted the Scottish Government 30 times over 34 days after being missed off the system that invites people for their vaccinations.

The Newburgh man was left feeling stressed and frustrated earlier this year when he failed to receive an invitation for his first Covid jab in February, as part of the over-70s cohort.

Covid jab
Gordon Blain is frustrated by the system.

He ended up walking into his local vaccination centre at the end of March to enquire and was given it there and then.

However, the same thing happened when it came to over 70s receiving their second dose and he was told there was no record of him on the government computer.

After weeks of calls and emails and at his wit’s end, Mr Blain enlisted the help of The Courier.

And it’s only now that an appointment has been forthcoming.

When I phoned the helpline I was told I wasn’t registered with the programme.”

Gordon Blain.

He is relieved and very grateful but says it should not have taken such effort.

The Scottish Government has apologised and is investigating what went wrong in this case.

A spokesman said the massive vaccination programme is generally working well.

But Mr Blain is not alone.

While just over 55% of adults in Scotland have received their first Covid jab and 31% have received their second, North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie says he has numerous cases just like Mr Blain’s, all of which are causing great stress.

Followed all the guidance

Mr Blain followed all published guidance on how to go about receiving his vaccine, including completing online forms, and was passed from pillar to post.

“My partner and I registered with a GP at the same time,” he said.

“My partner got invitations for both her Covid jabs with no problems but I did not.”

Mr Blain said: “When I phoned the helpline I was told I wasn’t registered with the programme.

“I honestly can’t believe that’s the case. It’s quite unbelievable.”

After finally receiving his appointment, he added: “The message to anyone else is don’t give up if you’re having trouble contacting someone.

“There is a way through it, it’s just difficult and tedious.”

‘Exposes people to great risk’

Mr Rennie appreciates the vaccine roll out is a massive task but says there must be a better way.

“We need to have a better system of picking up where people have been missed out for their Covid vaccination,” he said.

Willie Rennie.

“It shouldn’t take endless complaints to the top of the system for weeks on end before the issue is resolved.

“It causes great stress and also exposes people to great risk when they have no vaccine protection from the virus.”

The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader said Mr Blain had been “dogged” in his pursuit of the problem, but added: “Others will be less so, leaving themselves exposed.

“I have numerous cases just like this and it takes an age to get them fixed.”

‘Largest logistical peacetime operation’

A Scottish Government spokesman said Mr Blain’s second scheduled appointment is in the system and he will get his second vaccination around 12 weeks after his first dose.

In a programme of this scale there may be some occasions where errors occur.”

Scottish Government.

“The vaccination programme is the largest logistical peacetime operation Scotland has ever seen and is functioning well, with 3,045, 152 first doses and 1,669,469 second doses administered so far,” he said.

“However, as the First Minister has said, in a programme of this scale there may be some occasions where errors occur.

“We are sorry that Mr Blain was unable to find the details for his second vaccination appointment and that he has not had a good experience with the booking system.”

Anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation should in the first instance fill in a missing appointments form on the NHS Inform website.

The spokesman added: “The system for handling missed appointments has recently been streamlined in order to speed up the process so they should receive a more timely response.”

Covid-19 vaccine: NHS Scotland shortcut allows people to get jag date despite not being invited yet