Young people queued around the block in Manchester today after everyone over 18 in as many as 20 different postcodes in the city were invited to come and get their vaccine.
In scenes mirroring those witnessed at London‘s Twickenham on Monday, when thousands waited for hours to receive their first jab, many more were seen patiently anticipating a first dose of the Pfizer product.
The walk-in clinic was being held at the Irish World Heritage Centre in Cheetham Hill between 10.30am and 6.30pm.
Jabs were made available to anyone over the age of 18 whose postcodes begin with the following: M1 7, M8, M9, M11 3, M12, M13, M14 4, M14 5, M14 6, M14 7, M15 4, M15 5, M15 6, M16 7, M18 7, M18 8, M19 2, M25, M45, M60 6.
The areas are being targeted by health chiefs as part of efforts to prevent a rise in Covid cases, amid growing concern over the prevalence of the Indian variant.
Manchester Health and Care Commissioning tweeted: ‘A walk in Pfizer clinic is taking place today (Wednesday 2 June) at the Irish Centre for first doses for over 18’s who live in specific postcodes only.’
It comes after official statistics revealed today that Covid is now behind fewer than one in 150 deaths in England and Wales, the lowest number since before the first lockdown last March.
Young people queued around the block in Manchester today after everyone over 18 in a number of postcodes were invited to come and get their vaccine
A special one-day vaccination event at Twickenham Stadium on Monday descended into chaos after ‘thousands’ of people were turned away and GPs wrongly told patients that 16-year-olds could get the jab.
Huge crowds of young people descended on the home of English rugby during the Bank Holiday in the hope of getting their sought-after first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
But the event – hailed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan as ‘amazing work’ – was blasted by locals, with crazed youngsters rushing to join the snaking queue urged to ‘get a grip’, adding it ‘is not bloody Glastonbury’.
A free-for-all was sparked when everyone aged over 18 were given the green light to get their vaccination at the special walk-in event at the 82,000-seater ground – with bosses hoping to shift 15,000 doses and push them above their vaccine targets for the Hounslow area.
But some jab-hopefuls claimed GP surgeries informed them of the walk in jab centre via a text which said all those aged over 16 were invited to get the vaccine.
Furious mother Nicola Devlin said she and her child queued for nearly two hours before being told by their GP the advice was incorrect and you had to be 18 to get the jab. Meanwhile Sara Elvin said it was a ‘shame’ GPs were sending out wrong information.
Those who got their first jab yesterday were advised by vaccine drive officials that they do not need to go back to Twickenham for their second dose, instead getting it at their local GP service.
The one off event means that those as young as 18 could have both doses of the jab by July 26. Currently, government rules say that only people over 30 are eligible to have the vaccine.
Nick Goldstone wrote: ‘Thousands turned away! Literally thousands turned away! This is chaos. This is life and death. This is not bloody Glastonbury! Get a grip!’
Brenda added: ‘They need to run again and allow 18+ to come all day and/or book this time.
‘My son queued for 2 hours this pm and they ran out as he got to the top of the queue. We need to encourage them. Not sure they will all queue like that again.’
A special one-day vaccination event at Twickenham Stadium descended into chaos yesterday (pictured) after ‘thousands’ of people were turned away and GPs wrongly told patients that 16-year-olds could get the jab
Huge crowds of young people descended on the home of English rugby on Bank Holiday Monday (pictured) in the hope of getting their sought-after first dose of the Pfizer vaccine
The event – hailed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan as ‘amazing work’ – was blasted by locals, with crazed youngsters rushing to join the snaking queue urged to ‘get a grip’, adding it ‘is not bloody Glastonbury’
Caroline Miskin added: ‘I hope there will be another one, my 24 year old very fed up to have missed out by five places when the queue closed.’
Meanwhile, Gideon Rachman said the vast crowds of people sparked fears about the Covid spread.
He wrote: ‘Big crowds of young people rushing towards Twickenham stadium on news of free Pfizer for all if you get there by 8pm.
‘Irresponsible message to put out? How to create a superspreader event.’
Some locals said their GP surgeries wrongly informed them those aged over 16 would be allowed to get a jab.
Sara Elvin said: ‘Shame local GPS sending texts that 16 years plus can go, to find out it’s not true. After queueing.’
Nicola Devlin added: ‘I got a text from our Doctor to say that if you have a child aged 16+ then they can get the Pfizer vaccine at twickenham rugby ground today – only to get there, wait in the queue for nearly two hours and be told it’s for 18+ year olds!’
The Hounslow area has recently been involved in a surge testing and vaccination project due a spike in Indian variant cases.
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