Vaccination - does this seem correct?

[SillyUnMurphy]

My dad is 91 and received a letter yesterday to book his vaccine. He phoned me for help as he is not online and couldn’t keep up with the automated options on the phone (he has some hearing problems).
I went online to book a vaccine for him and the nearest centres were miles away. We’re in Essex and he has been offered a centre at the Excel in Docklands, somewhere out near Heathrow and Birmingham! I do drive and am happy to take him but there is no way he would want to travel that far and I’m also WFH and homeschooling two primary aged children - so can’t really spend a whole day attending a vaccine centre.
There is a note on the letter saying if the centres are inconvenient then wait a few days.
Am I being incredibly naive in thinking that vaccine centres would be offered that were a couple of miles away from where you live? Are there really so few centres operating at the moment that they are tens of miles from where you actually live? Has anyone else experienced this?
Many thanks for taking the time to read.

These are the mass vaccine centres. Could you maybe email his doctor and ask if there's a more local one?

It says if it’s not convenient wait a few days so do that.

Many more vaccination centres are due to open in the next 2 weeks. Around me they're going to be operating drive through appointments in Morrisons car parks on top of the vaccination hubs that have been set up at the GPs surgery, but can't offer appts at these sites until they know when the infrastructure will definitely be in place to receive the vaccine. Check in a couple of days and I'm sure he'll be able to go closer to home

@Bluntness100

It says if it’s not convenient wait a few days so do that.

The letter was dated 4 January and he received it yesterday. I tried to book today. I’d say that would qualify as waiting a few days.

Ring Broomfield in Chelmsford. They are vaccinating and you can book in if over 80

@ABitOdd

On sure I’ve read that Boris has said that mo will will have to travel more than 10 miles for a vaccination so if excel is within 10 miles than that would seem correct. However if he is housebound then a district nurse should be able to give it.

Thank you. The excel is further than 10 miles for him. He isn’t housebound but he is the carer for my vulnerable mum. We have no objection to travelling a reasonable distance but the Excel Centre isn’t reasonable and would also require travelling into London on public transport

@Marilla1966

Ring Broomfield in Chelmsford. They are vaccinating and you can book in if over 80

Thank you. I will try that.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-55605149 looks like the issue was reported in the news too

Says:

You can wait and be contacted by your local GP service and have it locally if you'd prefer.

"If you sit tight, you will be contacted and I'm hopeful that if you're 80 or over, by the end of this month you will have had your vaccination whether that is locally or whether you have chosen to travel," she said.

Work will be done with the NHS locally and nationally to make that message clearer, she added.

As above, this letter is for the mass vaccination centres should you wish to travel. He will also be contacted by GP to offer local centre when it is up and running. They are coming on line in the next few weeks hopefully.

OP - this vaccine could save your dad’s life so is surely worth the ‘inconvenience’.

If we properly used mass centres like in Israel we could vaccine the whole population much much quicker, than waiting for it to be delivered in drips and drabs to GPs. Insisting on it delivered at a ‘convenient’ location will cost lives.

It is infuriating that we have all these resrtrictions but people will reject a life-saving vaccine because it is convenient or they don’t want to travel far.

@dementedpixie

Says:

You can wait and be contacted by your local GP service and have it locally if you'd prefer.

"If you sit tight, you will be contacted and I'm hopeful that if you're 80 or over, by the end of this month you will have had your vaccination whether that is locally or whether you have chosen to travel," she said.

Work will be done with the NHS locally and nationally to make that message clearer, she added.

Thank you. This makes it a lot clearer. It would certainly be risky (and frankly impossible) for him to travel to the Excel Centre.

I'm pretty sure Essex has one opening on 18th Jan, so appointments might just not be appearing for that yet.

eput.nhs.uk/news-events/coronavirus/coronavirus-vaccine/

I hope Excel is going to allow parking on site (they do have the spacer it is managed sensibly) because there is no other parking nearby and although it is served by the Docklands light railway it can be awkward to access and the walk into the centre from DLR is quite a way if you are not very mobile.

@Eyewhisker

OP - this vaccine could save your dad’s life so is surely worth the ‘inconvenience’.

If we properly used mass centres like in Israel we could vaccine the whole population much much quicker, than waiting for it to be delivered in drips and drabs to GPs. Insisting on it delivered at a ‘convenient’ location will cost lives.

It is infuriating that we have all these resrtrictions but people will reject a life-saving vaccine because it is convenient or they don’t want to travel far.

Getting my dad on a filthy tube into London to go to the Excel Centre would be a far more risky move and hardly ‘life saving.’ And as stated in the BBC article; asking the over 80s to travel miles and miles for a vaccine is hardly in the spirit of a lockdown is it?

I currently have covid. Frankly I would drive through the night for a vaccine because that is infinitely better than the actual disease.
Your dad should take the first available appointment.

To be honest I’d just take him to get this one. Surely Essex to Excel isn’t that far? I’d drop everything if it were my elderly relatives.

Her dad should sit tight and wait until a closer vaccine is available so he is not venturing out to travel a long distance.

Excel is not a good option for most people living in London - you can drive there from outer London (parking though?) - but for most coming from within London it would be a hefty public transport journey. I can drive there easily enough but it would take a good 45 mins even though I'm probably only 10 miles away.

@Mousehole10

To be honest I’d just take him to get this one. Surely Essex to Excel isn’t that far? I’d drop everything if it were my elderly relatives.

Can you read? I’d have to take him on public transport! London public transport. He is 91! This is obviously incredibly risky. He doesn’t leave his house unless absolutely necessary (dr appointment etc!) why on earth would I risk taking him 15 miles on public transport. Thank you to everyone with sensible and helpful suggestions.

We are driving to take our elderly parents. It is just something that has to be done. We wouldn't dream of not taking them.

My 88 year old dad is in Kent and had to go to London for his jab. Luckily he’s fit enough to get the train.

I was going to say call Broomfield- I’m in Essex too.

@SillyUnMurphy why can't you drive him? You say you can drive in your OP