RogerBW's Blog: I thought they wanted us to get vaccinated.

(Guest post from Gus.)

As of this week, I fall into a cohort eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine, one of the few things that makes me feel batter about being fifty-mumble. I like vaccines.

My aged parent has now had both doses and is thrilled; and I am thrilled for her. The rate at which the immunisation programme is being implemented is, aside from the development of the vaccines themselves, the only success story in this whole sorry mess, although I fear that the reopening of schools – where mask-wearing is not enforced and testing not compulsory and compliance a lot patchier than MSM would have you believe – will rapidly erode the early benefits that the vaccines have delivered. I want to be vaccinated, both as a stout smoker who feels that I might not fare too well in a square go with the spiky little fecker and to protect others: I can feel quite benevolent about 'others' in the abstract, although in their more concrete manifestations it's a bit of a toss-up. Pfizer, AstraZeneca, whatever: don't care. Jab me now.

And I am unlikely to be able to get it, because I am not registered with a GP.

Although the booking webpage says you need to be registered with a GP to book, the first actual question it asks you is whether you know your NHS number. Since by a miracle I do, I had a bash anyway. It couldn't find me, which didn't come as a massive surprise. So I rang 119 and, after the usual fun with seemingly infinite loops of menu options, got through to 'Zoe'. Zoe was lovely and couldn't have been more helpful. I explained that computer had said 'No' and that I do not want to register with a GP. Didn't go into the reasons with her, but in case anyone is interested: I have no faith in the practice that treated my late husband, the clue there being in the 'late'; I live on the wrong side of the Big Road for the other local practice to want me; also, I prefer not to be pressured about certain screening programmes that I believe are bad medicine ('My ____ is not government property!' is something I must embroider onto a sampler some time); and I used to use private walk-in GPs close to the office, so could access primary healthcare without too much difficulty in my monied, working days. But I digress, because I did not bore the hoop off Zoe with that rigmarole.

Zoe said that she thought, since lists of eligible vaccine candidates are generated off GPs' records, that it would not be possible for me to book a slot, NHS number or no. Feeling that while I might be awkward I am almost certainly not unique, I asked whether there might not be another way. 'I'll go and ask about that', she said cheerfully, 'if you don't mind me putting you on hold.' I held. For quite a while as it turned out, but at least the music was neither Vivaldi nor offensive. They got bonus points for that. She seemed quite surprised to find me still on the line when she came back, and thanked me for being so 'reasonable'; apparently – we were on quite chatty terms by then – not everybody is. I had my best Client Service hat on, though, and was projecting sweet reason and patience, qualities which those who know me well will testify are not the first that spring to mind when Gus is mentioned.

No, it was as Zoe had first thought. Slots can only be booked off GP-generated lists. Now, I had vaguely registered something on the news a few months back saying that people whose rights of residency were questionable could get the jab, no probs – presumably, therefore, by booking with GPs. I wonder how many of them felt brave enough to do so. In the last day or so, Group 6 prioritisation of homeless people has also been announced: the emergency accommodation that has been whistled up for the duration 'provides a unique opportunity to in-reach vaccination to a population that is otherwise often unable to access basic healthcare', according to a BBC article. Obviously this is a Good Thing, presuming no coercion is involved, but I am curious about the mechanisms by which vaccinations will be delivered and recorded for this cohort. Temporary GP registrations, perhaps,or something more ad hoc? Please do not mistake my curiosity for envy.

The only thing to do, according to Zoe, is to write to the complaints people who are the only department which might have the power to 'escalate my booking'("But I'm not complaining as such!" "That's OK, just tell them that in your letter".) And it has to be a proper, dead-tree, snail-mail missive: Zoe couldn't give me an email address and half an hour with various search engines left me none the wiser. One writes to:

(first line) NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Booking Service Complaints Patient Experience Team
(second line) South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

… I think we're going to need a bigger envelope. And I'm almost certain that the letterbox in question will not have a plate reading 'Beware of the leopard' nailed over it. Almost. They're in Otterbourne, by the way. A friend who knows the place assures me 'Nothing happens in Otterbourne!'. I wouldn't know.

Chances are I will remain in ignorance of Otterbourne-based activity levels, because there is one other course of action open to me: to register with a GP. I just feel that, if vaccinating as many of the populace as are willing as swiftly as possible is the goal, I shouldn't have to. And not that GP. I draw the line at that.

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