HASLEMERE’S community vaccination centre at St Christopher’s Church closed just three days after launching in mid-December – with the town’s elderly residents currently forced to travel to either G Live in Guildford or Epsom Downs for their jabs.
Addressing the town council last week, the county councillor for Haslemere, Nikki Barton, said: “I’ve been deeply frustrated by the lack of information, and was only told that St Christopher’s was going to be set up for mass vaccinations two days before, and there was no highways preparation at all.
“I think the NHS team are doing amazingly, but even they didn’t know the day before the vaccine centre was supposed to open if the vaccine would actually arrive or not.
“In the event, it didn’t arrive on the day, so a lot of people had to have phone calls cancelling their appointments. It is an absolute shambles, frankly.
“I know everybody is doing their best, but they’ve known for months they were going to need a vaccination centre.
“I can’t believe they didn’t have The Edge or somewhere else lined up and ready to go.
“Given the importance and the value of the vaccine, the lack of planning is quite incomprehensible. I find it stunning, and the impact on the elderly, who are vulnerable and anxious, is huge.”
Cllr Barton did, however, applaud the CCG’s commitment to reopen the St Christopher’s vaccine centre once supplies of the easier-to-administer Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine become available.
This will allow doctors to vaccinate around 200 residents a day from the church, instead of the 300 a day required by the Pfizer jab.
And Cllr Barton said she has been working with Surrey Highways, the CCG and local health teams “to address residents’ concerns on traffic, access and safety”.
A succession of councillors echoed Cllr Barton’s comments, with former town mayor Melanie Odell also criticising the “extraordinary” decision to exclude The Edge with its “massive car park and huge hall”.
But, though unconfirmed, Cllr Simon Dear presented a theory for The Edge oversight, suggesting the leisure centre is the subject of “an enormous legal argument” between operator Places Leisure and Waverley Borough Council dating back to the first lockdown.
Lib Dem Cllr Jacqui Keen said she was “quite astonished” that St Christopher’s was chosen as a vaccine hub, and “especially in the first few days when very elderly people were having to stand in the rain for an hour before they could go in”.
She added residents are asking why Haslemere has been “left behind”, and shared an account of “one gentleman well into his 90s, whose son drove him up to G Live only to be told they had to go to Epsom, at which point he went home”.
Terry Weldon, Lib Dem councillor for Critchmere, also expressed frustration at “the difficulty in getting any information” as well as sharing concern that some elderly residents, including over-90s, had still not been invited for a jab.
But he did tell members that Haslemere Hospital League of Friends “have indeed been investigating The Edge and other venues”, but “at present St Christopher’s Church is the only viable venue”.
Closing the debate, town mayor, Cllr John Robini said: “You watch the news and see how proactive the rest of the country seems to be. But Haslemere seems to be out of step and, for some reason, isolated. I hope this changes.”
Asked why The Edge had been overlooked, Dr Phil Ridsdill-Smith, GP partner at Haslemere Health Centre, said: “Our priority is rapidly administering the Covid vaccinations available to us in a safe and efficient way. A significant number of sites were explored across the local area and there are strict safety and quality criteria that must be met and a number of logistical and technical considerations to take into account. The sites we have chosen met this criteria.”
* As the Herald was going to press on Thursday, Surrey Heartlands CCG confirmed vaccinations have now been completed for all care home staff and residents in the Guildford and Waverley area – apart from one unnamed care home in the midst of a Covid-19 outbreak.
“We are also making great progress this week providing vaccinations to our housebound population,” said a CCG spokesman, adding “good progress” was being made vaccinating priority groups at G Live, Cranleigh Village Hall and Superdrug in Guildford.