Queue-Jumpers “Pretending to be Carers to Get Vaccine”

QUEUE-JUMPERS are pretending to be carers to get coronavirus vaccine after it was revealed there will be shortages in the UK next month.

A vaccination clinic in Brixton, North London, has revealed they have had to turn away at least 15 people a day who do not meet the correct requirements to get the early vaccine.

Bhaveen Patel, who runs the clinic, told The Sunday Times: “We’re getting a lot more people claiming to be unpaid carers now. We’ve had to call the police a few times because of it. We’ve had people shouting, screaming, swearing.”

At the moment, people can book an appointment online and tick a box that says they are a health care worker, they then provide proof when they arrive at the clinic for their appointment.

Officials are concerned that more people will try to exploit the online system in the coming weeks after it was recently revealed that there would be a reduced number of vaccines available in the UK. Home Secretary Priti Patel added: “The checking of ID should be done at the website stage.”

Local health leaders in England were told to “ensure no further appointments are uploaded” to booking systems for next month due to a “bumpy” supply of vaccines.

NHS officials said this slowdown means that people under the age of 50 should only get the jab if they are in a priority group. It comes as people in their 40’s were told they may have to wait until May due to the issues surrounding the vaccine.

The prime minister has promised the easing of England’s lockdown will not change despite the fears surrounding vaccine supplies. He said that around 1.7 million coronavirus vaccine doses need to be retested to check their stability.

There is also due to be a four-week delay in a delivery from the Serum Institute of India, which is partnered with Astrazeneca to assist in delivering doses, which could be partly to blame.

Boris Johnson said: “We have always said that in a vaccination programme of this pace and this scale, some interruptions in supply are inevitable. And it is true that in the short term we’re receiving fewer vaccines than we had planned for a week ago.”

He added: “The supply we do have will still enable us to hit the targets we have set.”

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