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20 Dec, 2021 13:14

Anti-vaxxers said to book Covid jab appointments & not show up

Anti-vaxxers said to book Covid jab appointments & not show up

Anti-vaxxers have been booking up Covid-19 vaccine appointments and then not turning up to get jabbed, according to the Telegraph, as Britain rushes to vaccinate millions against Omicron.

Appointments at mass vaccination centers, including Wembley Stadium which is being used to roll out thousands of shots before Christmas, are being block-booked by people who have no intention of getting inoculated, according to the Telegraph on Sunday. 

The paper claimed that Wembley Stadium, where the anti-vaxxers had reportedly been employing their tactic, was quiet on Sunday morning. Staff told the Telegraph that patients had not arrived for their bookings and the center was “really quiet” by mid-morning.

However, a spokesman for North West London Integrated Care System said that the center would still make a big contribution to the UK’s inoculation effort. “Any suspected disruption has been offset by the number of walk-ins, including thousands of local residents, many of whom have made a big step in coming forwards to start their vaccination journey, as well as very high numbers of boosters,” the spokesperson stated.

The site was hoping to inoculate 10,000 people on Sunday, but only 2,500 had been administered by mid-afternoon, according to the Telegraph. It is understood that anti-vaxxers have employed similar tactics at other vaccination sites around the country.

The UK has administered more than 28 million boosters to fight back against the spread of the Omicron variant during the festive season. More than 900,000 shots were administered on Saturday alone. 

Health Minister Sajid Javid has said that nine of out 10 patients needing the most care against Covid-19 were unvaccinated. “And I just cannot emphasise enough the impact that they are having on the rest of society,” he stated.

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