Those of us who arrived for appointments for vaccine at CHC at, in my case, 1.20 p.m. yesterday (7 Jan) had a one and a half hour wait before we actually got inside. Luckily it was a sunny day. But for the frail it must have been a challenge. The atmosphere was good humoured and resigned, and thoughtful; people who clearly had physical or dementia problems were encouraged to move forward through the queue so that they could get into shelter sooner. But enthusiasm for social distancing was patchy. The staff were kindly and helpful, were unable to give information to those further away from the ramps, but once on the ramps they did an effective job in making sure that all those with a specific time slot had their jab at much the same time, albeit much later than the time of their appointments. I gather, as I was only asked to come that morning, that the centre had received additional quantities of the vaccine- Pfeizer - which I imagine could not have been stored for much longer. In my view the staff did an excellent job with insufficient numbers. But there is a significant danger of elderly people having additional health problems because of the wait, if that were to be repeated on wet days, and cross-infection, if any of those attending had undiagnosed covid-19. One suggestion would be to put spacing markers down the ramps and down the street to encourage social distancing, and to recruit out of work airline check-in queue managers to help further away from the ramps. Loud-hailers, although easy to resent, might help with informing those in the further reaches of the queue to understand the situation; and of course special arrangements for those with problems.But full marks to the staff and to those in the queue, who fully demonstrated the qualities of our generation.
Jonathan Bond ● 2119d