A COUNTY Durham man has warned against "wasted" appointments, claiming he was unable to cancel his second jab after being offered an earlier slot by his GP.

John Lonsdale, 63, of Newton Aycliffe criticised the national booking system as he said he tried to make the NHS aware he had already received his second jab, but to no avail.

His concerns came as last night more frustrations over the booking system emerged as some were unable to book their first dose, due to second dose slots being unavailable.

The NHS has since said it was not aware of any technical faults during Mr Lonsdale's booking, while offered assurances that teams are working hard to make more appointments available. 

Mr Lonsdale had been given both of his appointment slots when booking his vaccine through the NHS Covid vaccine website earlier this year.

Receiving his first dose at the mass vaccination site at Darlington Arena on March 3, he was expected to return to the site on May 19 for his second.

But after his second jab was brought forward, and instead given at his GP surgery, he said he was left unable to cancel his second booking.

The Northern Echo:

He told The Northern Echo: "My GP had arranged for me to go to the surgery two-weeks prior to have the second dose there.

"I went onto the 'manage your appointment' section of the NHS website and it just kept on going round to the same page.

"I'd put my details in and it just said 'you don't have to do anything at this time' – there was no way to change the appointment time."

Mr Lonsdale, who warned that either technical glitches or a lack of ability to cancel second appointments would lead to "wasted jabs," said he was unable to get through to the 119 number either.

So deciding to take matters into his own hands, he said he visited Darlington Arena only to be told he couldn't enter the building if he did not have an appointment for that day.

He said: "I just thought this must be leading to wasted appointments – I even went to the Darlington Arena and security said 'you can't come in unless you have an appointment for that day'.

"There had been a story that about 150 people hadn't turned up to their second appointment and I didn't want to be classed in that number – I just couldn't cancel the appointment in any way, shape or form."

The Northern Echo: The vaccination site at the Nightingale Hospital North East near Washington The vaccination site at the Nightingale Hospital North East near Washington

The concerns came as a Sunderland-man, who last week became eligible, said he had been unable to secure a first dose appointment at the Nightingale Hospital North East as there weren't any second dose appointments available.

The 34-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was unable to complete his booking at the mass vaccination site despite several attempts, and was instead offered an appointment in Penrith.

Explaining his frustration, he said: "You just can't get any further along when you say you want to have your second dose at the Nightingale Hospital – it just says please try again later.

"It's frustrating that you can't even get your first one booked at the Nightingale – I'm not going to travel to Penrith."

In the case of Mr Lonsdale, a spokesperson for the NHS said they were unable to comment specifically, but said it was not aware of any technical faults.

A spokesperson said people should be able to manage their booking, including second dose appointments, using the website or via the 119 number.

In the case of unavailable second dose appointments, a spokesperson for the NHS North East and Yorkshire said teams were working hard to make appointments available.

It said: "Local NHS teams are working hard to make as many appointments available as possible, with more coming online every day, and second dose appointments available at the Nightingale vaccination site in the North East.

"People who are due their second dose can book through the national booking service with slots offered at locations convenient to them.”

The Northern Echo asked the Department of Health if issues with supplies had led to second dose appointments being unavailable.

In response, the department said the vaccination programme remains on target to have offered a first dose of the vaccine to all adults by the end of July.

A spokesperson said: “Our vaccination programme continues to make phenomenal progress – with over 60m vaccines administered so far, including 22.6m second doses.

“We are on course to meet our target of offering a jab to all adults by the end of July and have recently brought forward the waiting period for a second dose from twelve to eight weeks for the most vulnerable to help protect against variants.”