Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Highlands OAP who doesn’t drive offered Covid vaccine appointment over 100 miles from home

MSP Kate Forbes said she was aware of a "small number" of appointments being offered in unsuitable locations.

Spring Covid booster
A number of Highland residents have been offered Covid booster appointments miles away from their homes. Image: Shutterstock.

A woman in her seventies is just one of a number of Highlands residents being offered Covid vaccine boosters hundreds of miles from home.

The OAP, who doesn’t drive, was offered an appointment in Caithness – more than 150 miles from her home in Spean Bridge, Lochaber.

The journey there and back would take almost eight hours by car.

She told The Herald: “As a pensioner who doesn’t drive, it’s very stressful and will mean having to try and reschedule to a much nearer venue.

“I’m sure there are appointment slots much closer to home.”

SNP MSP Kate Forbes
MSP Kate Forbes is encouraging concerned Highlanders to check in with the vaccination helpline. Image: PA.

MSP Kate Forbes confirmed she has been made aware of her constituents in the Dingwall area having to travel to Fort William for an available vaccine slot.

The almost 150-mile round journey would take more than four hours on road and almost 13 hours one-way on a train.

The SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch said some of the appointment options she had seen were “completely unsuitable”.

Ms Forbes said: “I am aware of a small number of instances where Highlanders have been offered vaccination appointments in completely unsuitable locations.

“I have had people near Dingwall being offered slots in Fort William, and obviously someone in Spean Bridge should not have to go to Caithness for an appointment, so something has clearly gone wrong somewhere.

“Whilst NHS Highland covers a huge geographical area, nobody should have to travel four hours each way for a Covid vaccination.

“I would urge those being asked to travel significant distances to check with the vaccination helpline first.

“I would also be happy to raise any individual queries of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituents with NHS Highland.”

Covid boosters brought forward

Those aged 65 or older are being offered Covid vaccines this winter, as well as those younger who are at an increased risk.

The rollout of the boosters was brought forward in Scotland, and the rest of the UK, after a new variant, BA.2.86, was detected last month.

A spokesperson for NHS Highland said: “We try to offer people vaccination appointments as close to home as possible, and have over 100 clinic locations across the Highlands and Argyll and Bute, including in Fort William.

“You can reschedule your appointment or change the location by logging on to the NHS Scotland online booking portal, calling 0800 0320 339 or emailing nhsh.vaccinationenquiries@nhs.scot.”

Conversation