Omicron booster: Confusion sees people queue for pre-booked jab in East Lothian

People arriving for pre-booked Covid booster jabs faced a wait of up to an hour after confusion over drop-in services at a community hospital.

Dozens of patients queued outside East Lothian Community Hospital, Haddington, yesterday, after turning up for their appointments to find the clinic overwhelmed.

It came as East Lothian Council announced Haddington’s Corn Exchange, which has been closed for three years, is to be turned into a vaccine centre to help cope with demand.

Those arriving at the Community Hospital on Monday faced a wait of more than 30 minutes outside before joining a second queue inside where the wait was up to another 30 minutes to be vaccinated.

Once inside, people found there was still a queue.

It is understood the chaos was caused after information online over the weekend told people the hospital was offering drop-in boosters.

The community hospital suspended its drop-in vaccination programme in September as it prepared to focus on flue vaccines and the Covid booster roll-out.

Staff at the vaccine clinic attempted to slot those who turned up in to the already packed bookings system sparking delays.

Several elderly and vulnerable residents who arrived for their appointments were brought inside by clinic staff to sit down as the queue outside grew.

People were left in queue despite having pre-booked jab appointments.

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One person who had booked their appointment said: “I thought it would be straightforward, but when I arrived and saw the queue my heart sank.

“Adding to the confusion was that the sign outside told people that the waiting time was for the ‘drop-in’ clinic when there was no such thing, so people with appointments kept trying to bypass the queue.

“The clinic staff had to keep coming out every few minutes to tell people the queue was for pre-booked appointments and apologise for the situation.”

Two friends who came to the clinic for a drop-in booster said they had seen information on the hospital’s website that they were available.

One said: “The website clearly said drop-in boosters were being offered at the hospital over the weekend which is why we came.

“I feel sorry for the staff who are doing their best under so much pressure. We’re grateful they helped us get our booster despite the mix-up.”

Health bosses said that in the last week, from December 7, they had seen 5,383 people at the vaccine centre with a further 2,061 jabs issued at its Musselburgh Primary Care Covid vaccination centre.

READ MORE: Hearts await Omicron update before confirming AGM arrangements

This week East Lothian Council said it was leasing Haddington’s Corn Exchange to NHS Lothian for a year to allow it to open as a vaccine centre.

The Corn Exchange has been closed for nearly three years as it underwent an £800,000 refurbishment and no public access to see the work undertaken has been given to date.

The council said work was underway to open it for vaccines as soon as possible.

Krista Clubb, East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership vaccination manager urged people to arrive five minutes before their booked slot, and said: “Our local vaccination team is working incredibly hard to vaccinate as many people as fast as we can.

“The huge number of people attending our clinics has sometimes led to queues and longer wait times, particularly for those attending without an appointment.”

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