Doctors have reported that the NHS is ordering them to throw away any excess Covid vaccine.

Despite the task to vaccinate 15 million elderly and vulnerable people by the end of February leftover doses are being destroyed. The reason for the excess vaccine is due to missed appointments and a difficulty in predicting how many people will turn up.

Dr Robert Morley of the Birmingham Local Medical Committee branded the waste ‘ridiculous’ and ‘bordering on the criminal’. He commented that the logical thing to do would be to use it as a second dose for healthcare workers already in the building working. He feared that letters sent by NHS England demanding no second jabs are given was being taken far too literally by local NHS managers.

Dr Julia Patterson, founder of Every Doctor, a campaign to protect the NHS and its workers claimed she knew of at least six different workplaces where doctors have been forced to bin leftover jabs.

How can precious Covid vaccines be thrown in the bin when millions of people are waiting for a jab?

Surely these vaccination sites should be managing their appointment lists and maybe have a back-up list of patients and staff who could turn up and receive the vaccine at short notice.

This life saving vaccine is so precious and needs to go in people’s arms not in the bin.

Mrs L M Jackson