Patients in East Lancashire slam 'shambolic' long queues outside mass vaccination centre

Chatburn residents Raymond and Beverley Hurrell were among hundreds of senior citizens who joined the long wait outside the Cathedral over the weekend only to be vaccinated almost three hours later.

Beverley (72) spoke of the couple's "horrendous" experience. She explained: "The situation yesterday at the mass vaccination hub was beyond disgraceful and we were kept waiting for hours. We queued outside in the freezing cold for over 30 minutes, but we thought it won’t be long now as the door to the Cathedral is in sight. When we got inside we were stunned and shocked at the size of the snaking lines of people literally hundreds I would guess 350 to 400 approximately and most not social distancing. I can honestly say we have seen shorter queues in theme parks in Florida on a bad queue day!

"We are both relatively fit for our age 74 and 72, but lots of people in that queue were struggling as it took us almost another two hours to get to the stairs to go down into The Crypt where the vaccinations were being delivered. There were chairs in the Cathedral, which were holding up the tapes to show the lines and these chairs were being used by people that were struggling to stand for such a long time. No sanitation was in place before the next person sat on the same chair. We tried to keep the two metres apart from people in front and behind us, but it was impossible to maintain this sideways as the lanes were not wide enough. It was shambolic! The only place social distancing was being policed correctly was in The Crypt where only 14 people at a time were admitted - far too little too late.

Beverley added her husband is diabetic and cannot go for long periods without a snack, however, they had no food with them and were unable to buy anything as most of the cafes are closed. "We were all fed up and I didn't take any biscuits or other snack with me as I thought we would be in and out in less than an hour."

Beverley acknowledged the difficult logistics of rolling out the vaccine and spoke of her admiration for the doctors and nurses who were vaccinating thousands of people over the weekend.

"I cannot fault any of the staff or volunteers there yesterday - they were all trying to do their best. The problem obviously is with the appointments system and far two many appointments being made for the site to cope with. Ironically, we were never asked at any stage what time our appointment was for. We started to queue outside the Cathedral at 11-40am and exited at 2-30pm, which is just not acceptable. We are also very concerned that this has put us at great risk of being in contact with a Covid positive person. All those people in one place is surely not in line with protection guidelines against Covid infection!"

It was a similar experience for Burnley councillor Sue Graham. The 70-year-old had to wait more than three hours outside in the freezing cold before receiving her vaccination. She commented: "The queues were terrible on Friday and I have never seen anything like it. I joined the queue at 12.45pm outside the Cathedral and I was vaccinated at 3-50pm! I am fit and healthy, so although I was fed up, I could manage to stand and brave the temperatures, however, it was extremely difficult for patients with mobility and medical problems and those in wheelchairs. We were told it was a computer glitch and more patients were booked in than there should have been. I hope after hearing about the hours-long wait, patients are not put off from having their jabs."

In response, health officials have apologised for the delays, but have warned people to only arrive at the time of their appointment and not early.

A spokesperson from the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System said: “We apologise that patients have experienced delays at the vaccination centre at Blackburn Cathedral. This vaccination service has been set up at pace and is increasing the number of vaccinations provided each day and staff are working very hard to vaccinate people as swiftly as possible. We are putting processes in place to address any issues around patient flow.

"If you, your friends, or relatives are attending an appointment for your Covid vaccine it is important that, where possible, you arrive at the time of your appointment and not early. This will help to support safe social distancing and reduce the likelihood of yourself and others having to queue. We would like to encourage people to continue to attend their appointment for a vaccination at our large vaccination centres in Lancashire and South Cumbria.”

The large-scale centre first opened its doors on Monday, January 18th and the Dean of the cathedral, the Very Reverend Peter Howell-Jones said it offered "a sign of hope" and the cathedral community was "delighted" to be able to host the vaccination centre.