Due to what's being blamed on a system error, the jab-staff at my GP's surgery gave me a FIFTH Covid-19 vaccination today, just one week after I had my fourth.
I told the jab-nurse that I didn't fulfil all of the criteria on the "make sure that..." posters that were stuck onto walls and doors at the surgery, but she was adamant that I wouldn't have been called if I wasn't eligible. I asked her again if she was 100% certain that I was eligible for the jab, she said that she was certain, and before I could finish my next sentence the needle was in and the dose was given. Only after that did she stop being over-zealous for long enough for me to show her my vaccination record cards which clearly showed four jabs, latest one on Friday 21st January. When I showed her the entry for that fourth dose on my GP/SystmOnline patient record, the penny dropped.
The senior nurse has formally reported the incident, and an internal investigation will start on Monday next week.
It's not a system error. The problem is that they have two primary systems, each doing what it was set up to do, but they've not been told to interact with each other in a logical manner because whoever set them up didn't use his/her grey matter. The invitation system doesn't cross-check the patients' records system to determine if due jabs have already been given, it just carpet-bombs the "at higher risk" cohort with text invitations. Then, to make matters worse, when their "make sure that..." poster back-up system prompted me to declare that I was NOT eligible, that declaration was simply dismissed.
The medics and admins believe that their systems are infallible. What happened today is proof that their belief is unfounded.
It's also proof that they didn't fix the very same problem after they called me for my third jab only a few days after LRI had given it to me back in September.
