AROUND half of people booked to get their Covid jag in Glasgow's main mass vaccination centre failed to turn up over the weekend, according to reports.

BBC Scotland is reporting that a "considerable number" of people did not show up for appointments at the SSE Hydro on Saturday and Sunday.

It is understood that this averaged out to around half of all appointments being missed over the two days, with "fewer than half" of those with appointments on Saturday arriving to be vaccinated.

READ MORE: 18 to 29-year-olds invited to register for Covid vaccinations

A little over half of those with appointments are said to have been vaccinated on Sunday.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said there had been an "unusual number of cancellations and non-attendances", but did not provide specific figures. 

It said it is investigating possible reasons. 

The Hydro, which replaced the Louisa Jordan as the city's main vaccination hub in April, has a minimum capacity to vaccinate 4000 people per day but this can be ramped up to 10,000 per day.

There are no published figures on rates of 'no-shows' across Scotland or by local authority area.

Since Friday, a further 528 positive Covid cases have been detected in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region. 

It is unclear why attendance should have fallen but there have been recent reports of people cancelling appointments because they did not want to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been linked to rare blood clots. 

Guidance now recommends that people under-40 be given the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines instead because the risk of developing a blood clot - though extremely small - outweighed their probability of becoming seriously ill as a result of coronavirus infection. 

READ MORE: Glasgow Covid restrictions could be eased 'if ICU numbers do not rise'

Glasgow is currently the only area of Scotland still subject to Level Three Covid restrictions, which ban the serving of alcohol indoors or gatherings inside people's homes, due to fears over the fast-spreading 'Indian' variant believed to be driving a surge in cases in the south of the city.

Glasgow's overall seven-day case rate is the highest in Scotland, at 136.8 per 100,000, up from 112.3 a week ago. Test positivity is currently 4.1 per cent.

Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Secretary and Glasgow MSP Annie Wells said: “We know that vaccinations are our best route back to normality so it is extremely concerning that so many people failed to turn up for their appointments.

“It is particularly worrying when the rollout has been ramped up in Glasgow due to the recent outbreak of cases in the city.

“The vaccination scheme has been an incredible success story across Scotland and the United Kingdom. However, SNP Ministers must be as transparent as possible when serious issues like this occur.

“There could be a number of reasons as to why people didn’t turn up for appointments, but unless SNP Ministers are upfront then we won’t know why slots were ultimately not taken up on the day.

“If there are any issues with people receiving their appointment letters on time, then SNP Ministers must give health boards the resources to ensure that people’s details are fully up-to-date.

“That is even more important now as we encourage younger people to take up the vaccine and ensure we can safely ease restrictions in the coming weeks.”

Research from Public Health England released on Saturday reveals that both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are only 33% effective at preventing symptomatic infections caused by the Indian variant three weeks after the first dose.

This compared with 50% effectiveness against the Kent variant.

Protection rose to 88% with the Pfizer vaccine two weeks after the second dose in relation to the Indian variant, and 60% two weeks after a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

This was slightly lower compared to the protection against the Kent variant - at 93% and 66% respectively with the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines. 

It is thought that the numbers could be lower for the AstraZeneca vaccine as, in England, it was primarily given to vulnerable elderly people in care homes whereas younger priority groups, such as healthcare workers, were more likely to have been given the Pfizer vaccine. 

Both vaccines are still expected to offer high protection against severe Covid disease, however, although data is still being gathered on this. 

In Scotland as a whole, around 41% of adults have had both vaccine doses so far, but this ranges from a high of 62.7% in the Western Isles to a low of 31.1% in Glasgow City.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said on Sunday that the Scottish Government will be closely monitoring any increases in intensive care admissions in the Glasgow area this week in order to decide whether restrictions could be lifted. 

As of today, there are 49 people in hospital in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde region with recently diagnosed Covid, up from 21 on Sunday May 16th and 41 on Friday. 

However, there are only six Covid patients in intensive care across Scotland as a whole, up from four on Friday. 

Recent admissions have largely involved patients aged 25 to 64, and those under-50 are much less likely to become seriously ill compared to elderly patients who are more likely to be fully vaccinated.

In a statement, NHSGGC said: "We want to thank everyone who has come forward for a vaccine so far. We’ve had incredible success to date and this is a testament to the hard work of all those staff from across NHSGGC who have been involved in the roll-out of the programme. We have now vaccinated over 98% of people over the age 50 with their first dose.

"We recognise that there were an unusual amount of cancellations and non-attendances for vaccinations at The Hydro over the weekend. We are looking into the details further to understand the reasons behind this.

"We strongly encourage everyone to take up the opportunity to be vaccinated once they are invited."

 

 

 

 

 

This may mean that an increase in hospital admissions does not translate into increased pressure on ICU.