Glasgow Covid vaccine appointment no-shows mainly 40-49 year olds, Scottish Government says

The high number of patients not turning up to Covid-19 vaccine appointments at the SSE Hydro during the weekend of May 22 and 23 was centred on the 40 to 49-year-old age group, the Scottish Government has said.

An investigation was launched after up to half of patients booked into an appointment at the Hydro that weekend failed to attend it.

The centre can give around 4,000 vaccinations a day.

During the same weekend up to 25 per cent of patients failed to attend vaccination appointments at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh.

Picture credit: Luke Dyson

The Scottish Government said that following the investigation, the no-shows had been linked to the 40 to 49-year-old age group, which has had lower uptake overall during the vaccination programme.

NHS Greater Glasgow on Clyde said it could not identify a particular cause of the no-shows, known as “Did Not Attends” or “DNAs”.

The health board reported a decrease in no-shows during the following weekend, as a drop-in service was set up.

A spokesperson said: “While there is no one driving factor behind the DNAs on the weekend of 22 May, we are pleased to see initiatives including the drop-in service, the mobile vaccination bus which complement the scheduled appointment system have helped reduce the chance of DNAs across sites and ensure everyone over 40 waiting to receive their first jag, and anyone else who has been waiting more than ten weeks to get their second AZ jag, can do so at their earliest convenience.”

The rate of no-shows during the weekend of May 29 and 30 was 12 per cent.

The spokesperson added: "We’d like to thank everyone who came out and rolled up their sleeve this past weekend. Between Saturday and Sunday we saw 4,965 vaccines administered at the Hydro through a combination of appointments and drop-ins – the latter service operating on the Sunday.”

A separate spokesperson said the Scottish Government was working to allow people to get vaccination appointments in the most convenient ways.

“The DNA (‘did not attend’) rate in Glasgow [the] weekend of 22 and 23 May was largely centred around the 40-49-year-old age range, which has had lower uptake overall,” they said.

“To keep suppressing the virus and keep everyone safe we need anyone who didn’t attend to make a new appointment and come back, or attend a drop-in clinic.

“We’re working to make it even easier for people to get appointments at the most convenient times and places.”

The Scottish Government issued an apology last week after a delay in sending out vaccination invitations due to an error with the appointment system.

Across Scotland, some 84 per cent of those in the 40 to 49-year-old age group have been given a first dose of vaccine, while 26 per cent have been given a second.

Health secretary Humza Yousaf said on Monday that the Scottish Government was putting “a lot of effort” into avoiding no-shows in younger age groups.

He told BBC Good Morning Scotland that vaccination numbers over the weekend of May 29 and 30 were “positive”, and added that he had been “pleased” to see the number of patients not attending their appointments had decreased.

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