Concerns over vaccine uptake rate in Glasgow as blue envelopes go to wrong addresses

With Glasgow remaining in Level 3 restrictions weeks after the rest of Scotland moved down into Level 2, the thought of thousands of missed jabs was heart sinking.

But the city has a young, mobile population with pockets of Glasgow where private lets are prevalent and people live relatively transient lives.

While there are no exact figures for the number of vaccination appointments missed, residents across the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area have been pointing out that blue envelopes are dropping through the wrong doors.

That situation has caused questions to be raised - could fears over missed appointments be unfounded? Are residents not turning up simply because they haven't updated their GP or address?

Jo-Anne Hamilton who lives on the South Side received not one but two blue envelopes for people who no longer live at her address.

She took to Twitter to flag up the issue, saying she had tried to cancel the appointments but was told that was not possible.

Jo-Anne said: "50% of people who received invitations at my address did not attend their appointment.

"That’s because 50% of people who received invitations at my address do not live here and NHS wouldn’t let me cancel the appointments 'because data protection'."

The Glasgow Times spoke to several rogue blue envelope recipients who similarly tried to cancel appointments and were also given that information.

Cubicles in the SEC Hydro Picture: Colin Mearns

It's not know how many of these envelopes have been sent out to people no longer at the relevant addresses but with Glasgow's large transient population it's thought the issue could be significant.

One woman the Glasgow Times spoke to said she had received a vaccine letter for a former flatmate who returned to Germany.

She said: "I’m sure it simply wouldn’t occur to someone like my ex-flatmate – an EU-based art student – to unregister with the GP on leaving.

"It was years ago that she lived here but she still gets invites for other screening tests too."

Another woman, who now lives in Canada, told the Glasgow Times a vaccination appointment had been sent to her parents address for her, even though she has lived abroad for a number of years.

The south side of the city is known for its community mindedness, which is illustrated by multiple well used and lively Facebook groups for local areas.

When blue envelopes began arriving at homes where the addressee no longer lives, that community spirit manifested in locals using social media to try to match envelopes to people.

On the Govanhill Go! Facebook page the first blue envelope post appeared on May 15.

After multiple "desperately seeking..." posts, the moderator put up an advice section asking page members to phone the Vaccine Helpline with a number and opening hours.

The post also advised anyone with a spare blue envelope to contact the NHS and let them know the appointment wasn't needed.

Locally, there's a Lost Hermes Parcel group and there was some suggestion a Lost NHS Letters group might be next.

On the Strathbungo and Shawlands Community Page, residents have been sharing pictures of their rogue envelopes and asking for connections.

One person looking for a Zdenek Hruska alerted the attention of a Czech group member who said he would expand the search to the Czech diaspora.

But the approach, while well meaning, doesn't seem to be particularly successful.

Shawlands resident Sara Shaw said: "I received a blue envelope for someone who doesn't live at my address but I've lived in this flat for seven years so they've left a good while ago.

Louisa Jordan Hospital at the SEC campus in Glasgow Picture: Colin Mearns

"I love the community spirit of people trying to reach out to one another and make sure vaccinations happen but it's a pretty piecemeal approach and, despite hoping for a big reunion post on one of the pages, the success rate seems to be slim to none."

NHSGGC said it is investigating the situation while opposition politicians have called for answers.

Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said the vaccine system is "flawed" and said a process dependent on GP registration data will be less accurate among younger people and places with fluid populations.

GP data, he suggested, should be cross-referenced with council tax and electoral registers "to ensure that every citizen is vaccinated".

In response to the issue, the health board is setting up increasing numbers of drop-in clinics, including announcing last night that centres for those aged 40 and over or those who still haven't had two doses will open from today until June 6, a similar set up to Wales and Birmingham.

And this week digital bookings opened for those aged 18-29.

A spokesman for NHSGGC thanked those who have come forward to be vaccinated so far and said more than over 98% of people over the age 50 have had their first dose. .

He added: "Across our vaccine centres vaccine uptake remains very high – currently non-attendance is at 16.5%.

"We are working with local communities to understand any barriers that people may face in taking up their appointment in a bid to address these.

"While we are aware of some instances where patients have not updated their GP practice with their current addresses leading to letters being sent out to old addresses, we do not believe this is having a significant impact on uptake.

"We would however, encourage everyone within Greater Glasgow and Clyde to ensure that their address is updated with their GP to minimise the risk of appointment letters going to the incorrect address in the future."

If you think you should have received a letter by now with details of either your first or second dose, call the national Covid-19 vaccination helpline on 0800 030 8013.