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Original poster

How long would you queue for your vaccine (yes you were given an appointment)

142 replies

Crunchymum · 15/05/2021 15:45

Interested to hear.

Dedicated vaccination hub (GP surgery but currently at weekends only* does covid vaccines)

  • appointment system (booked online)

  • no information provided about waiting times on arrival by staff

  • longish queue on arrival (40 mins just to get into the inside waiting area)

How long would you wait in this situation?

OP posts:
Angel2702 · 15/05/2021 16:48

First dose in and out no heir. Second dose waited 40 mins. Bit annoying that all the people in front had appointments much later than mine but would have waited however long it took.

Franklydear · 15/05/2021 16:52

I had my first one in February, in an out of vaccination hub in 20 min, second one this week a lot busier, in and out of the same vaccination centre in about 50 minutes, luckily my work understands and nobody was counting my 120 allowed minutes, I was probably out of work for like 1.5 hours, straight back to my lunch break too

YellowScallion · 15/05/2021 16:57

We've been in and out in less than 10 minutes for all our jabs (2 first doses, 1 second dose).

misskatamari · 15/05/2021 16:58

Wow, I can't believe people are being made to wait for so long when they have appointments! I was in and out in 14 minutes at one of the massive centres, it was amazingly well run. I'm shocked at the hours waiting times, really not okay if you've got a time slot given to you

LilyPond2 · 15/05/2021 16:59

I had both jabs at my GP surgery. First jab: waited about 5 minutes. Wouldn't describe it as a queue, as there was only one other person in the waiting room. Second jab: arrived for appointment about 5 minutes early and had already been jabbed by the time of my official appointment. They had a very organised and efficient system going. Some of the queuing times described here are ridiculous. I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to queue for more than half an hour at the absolute maximum, assuming they've been given an appointment for a specific time.

Bonkerz · 15/05/2021 17:03

I made the decision when mine was due that I would travel (only 8 miles) to get my jab so booked online.
My doctors offer the jab but noticed the surgery were overloaded which helped my decision.
My jab was done in next town at a chemist. I walked in 20 mins before my appointment and didn't queue at all and was out before appointment time. 2nd jab due in a weeks time.
Maybe tell friend to go online and book elsewhere if she can.

IrreversibleIdiocy · 15/05/2021 17:04

Didn't have to wait for mine a few weeks ago, but the same centre now apparently has long queues outside. I wonder if they have been told to ramp up the scale of the vaccinations again after a very worrying significant slowing down.

I was so absolutely desperate for mine I would have queued until I could physically stand no longer and then I would have crawled in.

kowari · 15/05/2021 17:08

A friend is unable to book as she says she can't get a slot outside of work time and doesn't get paid for time off. I'll have to warn her not to take a morning appointment if she does decide to just take the financial hit or she could lose a few hours pay.

quicklybeingdrivenmad · 15/05/2021 17:26

Must have been lucky 1st dose in and out after 25 mins (15 spent sitting down as was driving) 2nd dose went straight in and straight out, was that quick DH thought I had got the wrong date and been sent away, think it depends on the testing site, DH on his first was so quick (he hates needles) I made him show me his card when he came out to prove he had, had it before I would drive him home

Lettitbee · 15/05/2021 17:27

We had lots of fairly short queues, overall it took an hour. It was at a vaccine hub, reminded me of going to the airport - loads of hanging around, walking, people checking forms, typing into computers, asking questions, and repeat. I'm glad to have it done and accept that getting thousands of people safely dealt with is likely to be bureaucratic and time consuming.

I was surprised though - all my older friends had said how quick and efficient it was when they had their jabs. I think most of them were able to get appointments at smaller local vaccination centres.

traumatisednoodle · 15/05/2021 17:28

I am a Kent hospital Dr. I queued for 2 and a half hours on Xmas Eve for my first vaccine. Was so glad to have the opportunity.

BlackLambAndGreyFalcon · 15/05/2021 17:32

I had mine this morning - had jab within 5 minutes of arriving. I then had to sit and wait for 15 minutes afterwards.

QueenPaw · 15/05/2021 17:34

Happened to my boss the other week but that was because someone had fainted
I went to the same centre and was in and out in 6 minutes

MadeOfStarStuff · 15/05/2021 19:12

As long as it took.

I can understand that some people have disabilities that mean they wouldn’t be able to wait, but I would hope staff would be able to prioritise those people.

Equally I know some people wouldn’t be able to wait due to childcare issues or work they can’t be late for.

But the vast majority of able bodied adults should be able to queue for a reasonable amount of time for something as important as a vaccine in a pandemic

Spied · 15/05/2021 19:19

I walked in building and had the jab immediately ( I had it at work and they were stood waiting for me).
2nd jab I waited 10minutes.

I would have waited all day for my first jab.
The 2nd I was feeling wary (AZ) so tbh I'd probably have talked myself out of it and went home had I had to wait much longer than the 10mins.

DecorChange · 15/05/2021 19:22

I would've waited about half hour but purely because of the kids. If I had no reason to not wait prop about an hour before I cba

aiwblam · 15/05/2021 19:26

I’d wait as long as necessary but would be cross.

purplebagladylovesgin · 15/05/2021 19:31

My first one was 7 minutes from getting out of the car to getting back into the car. Amazingly fast system.

My second was a huge queue but even with the queue snaking around the roads, it went down very quickly and was in and back out in 30 mins.

Yes, I'd queue all day if needed, it's too important to miss unless you really have no choice.

Everydayiwakeupanditsmonday · 15/05/2021 19:35

My appointment was 8.30. I turned up on time. The whole thing was run like a well oiled military operation- done and back in my car by 8.45, home by 9. Very very impressive service!!

123banana · 15/05/2021 19:36

I went to a GP hub in London. Didn’t have to queue at all and was in and out in 25 minutes (including 15 minutes observation time).

Partypoooooper · 15/05/2021 19:41

If I had no other priorities as long as it took. If I had to pick up children or go back to work I would wait as long as I could before I had to leave.

randomsabreuse · 15/05/2021 19:45

Childcare would be my limit, but as late notice (Scottish system) I'm going to have to take my 2 year old in a buggy so probably until he loses patience or does a massive shit. Have checked that local centre are tolerating necessary children...

lljkk · 15/05/2021 21:01

I went to a walk in centre.
I resolved ahead of time I would not queue if more than 30 ppl already in Q (my guess was that would mean up to 1hour wait outside).

I don't want the vaccine at all, btw, only got it to make other ppl happy.

Reality: No Q whatsoever. I was in & out in about 8 minutes. I have observed vaccine Qs (booked appts) of about 30 ppl locally.

CosmicComfort · 15/05/2021 21:28

Back in late Jan or early Feb when it was over 70’s I took an eight something very frail mental health inpatient for her jab and we were expected to queue in the rain. She was wheelchair bound and very frail. Thankfully I had a colleague with me so he queued while we waited in the car.

Things improved a lot since then, other patients we have taken have been in and out. I had to queue for the first appointment in early Jan but not the second.

RagzReturnsRebooted · 15/05/2021 21:42

@Jessbow

shouldn't need to queue.

If there is a queue its suggestive of their being something gone wrong.
I volunteer at a vaccine centre- I do the booking in.

We have 8 people every 10 min slot, 2 or 3 vaccinators depending on the co-hort

We dont have queues UNLESS something has gone wrong.

It helps enormously if everyone turns up at their allotted time.

We have 4-6 people per 4 minute slot at ours! Usually 6 vaccinators but depends if we are fully staffed or not. We can have periods of no queue at all and periods of 20-40 minute queues. People never arrive in a steady flow, we seem to get rushes of loads arriving early at various points. We have a scheduled 20 minute break of no appointments, but rarely get to actually take a break unless we've cleared the queue and can shut the doors for 10 minutes.

We've definitely got faster and smoother since January, when we had the 80+ cohort queueing in the freezing cold and we were really worried about them and trying our best to get them through. It was stressful for all of us! We've got better systems now, but it only takes a few complications such as queries over allergies or anxious people or someone with a complicated medical history that raises questions that need us to confer with a colleague to take a few vaccinators out of action for 15+ minutes while we sort it out.

When it runs smoothly, it's great. When we get a big queue we all feel bad but with all the advice we have to give and questions we have to ask, you can't actually speed it up. Usually I'm standing waiting for people to put their many layers back on so I can call the next person in!

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