Pensioners are being told to travel from Greater Manchester to sites as far away as Birmingham to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
Some of the most vulnerable people who are eligible to receive the jab have been referred to vaccination centres in Telford, Macclesfield, Halifax and Newcastle-on-Tyne.
As the mass rollout begins in earnest, the NHS is working to immunise the highest priority groups by February half term.
But numerous people have told the Manchester Evening News that they have been invited to travel across the country in order to receive it.
In some cases patients have received two invitations - one from their local healthcare provider and one from teams rolling out the jab at one of seven national vaccination centres.
NHS bosses have confirmed that people do not need to accept invitations to be vaccinated at the larger centres and “can instead be jabbed at one of their local vaccination centres in the coming weeks”.
And invitation letters have now been reworded to make things clear.
But the health service has not explained why appointments are being offered at such far flung parts of the country.
A Manchester public health expert has today warned that the duplicate invites are likely to cause confusion for ‘the next couple of weeks’ while the booking system is tweaked.
While one council leader has branded the issue ‘unacceptable’ and says the Government needs to “get a grip and fast”.
Those trying to access the vaccine as soon as possible aren’t impressed either.
Anne Shorrock, 82, was given a few options of areas she could travel to in order to get the vaccine. They included Telford, Halifax and Newcastle on Tyne.
She found the booking process ‘very easy’ and was initially told to go to the centre at the Etihad, eight miles away.
“I’m 82 and I have macular degeneration so I don’t like driving to places off my radar,” she says.
“The other places suggested were Macclesfield, Telford, Newcastle on Tyne. They ask you for your postcode, so what’s going on?
“I tried to book again today and the Etihad had been taken off the list so it must have been fully booked. This time it said go to Halifax.
“My daughter would have been quite happy to take me, or I’m quite capable of driving, but not that far.”
Mrs Shorrock has since managed to book an appointment locally, but says she believes many other older people will struggle with the booking process.
“I’m very active but I have my limitations,” she says. “I have a computer and I’m quite savvy in that area but you want something local. And I think a lot of people would not be able to cope with that online.
“I feel you have to jump through hoops and when you do, you hit a brick wall.
“They say on the letter ‘get a taxi’ and ‘it’s near a bus stop’, but you don’t want to be getting on public transport at the moment.”
Pat Walker also struggled when trying to book an appointment for her 96-year-old mum, who lives in Worsley, Salford.
The pensioner, who uses a wheelchair, was told to go to Telford or Birmingham for the jab.
When Pat tried to book for her again today, she was offered an appointment in Halifax - 33 miles away.
“I know for a fact they have been doing them at the Clarendon centre in Eccles so why are we sent to Yorkshire?,” she says.
“My sister has now managed to make an appointment for her in Salford. But there are a lot of people who don’t have people to support them so how would they manage?
“People are panicking because they want the vaccine. It’s very stressful for them. It’s been stressful enough for me and my sister.
“It’s bonkers. If you ring the 119 number you can be hanging on for hours and hours - it’s soul destroying really.
“I know it’s a mammoth task they’ve got on their hands, but I think they could have done it in a better way.”
Meanwhile, a Wigan resident says his 89-year-old mum was given availability for sites in Macclesfield, Telford and Birmingham - miles away from where she lives in Tyldesley.
The delivery driver - who asked not to be named - branded the online system ‘crap’.
“Why can't she go to Leigh Sports Village that's three miles away? I thought we weren't supposed to leave our local areas,” he says.
“It seems a massive hurdle to get vaccinated. Why is she being sent so far away?
“When you book in, you book to have both doses. So they are telling folk to go miles away to get it and they will have to do it again to get the second dose in a few weeks at the same place.
“It looks exactly like the problems with the testing system in September last year. I had the virus then and when I booked in for my test there were people being sent to far flung parts of the country.
“I can see there being a panic because people want to get this vaccine as the new strain is out there.”
It is being used to vaccinate those aged 80 or over in the first instance, if they haven’t already had the jab at their local GP or hospital hub, as well as health and care workers.
The other six national centres are in Birmingham, Newcastle, London, Stevenage, Bristol and Epsom in Surrey.
The NHS has been contacting people inviting them to Manchester’s appointment-only centre, in Eastlands, Manchester.
But patients are not obliged to take up the invite and can instead wait for an appointment through their local GP or health centre.
The confusion around where to have the jab comes just months after confusion around Covid-19 testing.
Back in September, some Greater Manchester residents were offered appointments at testing centres miles away, including Aberdeen and Yorkshire.
Trafford Council leader Andrew Western has called on the Government to “get a grip” of the vaccine rollout.
He says he knows of Trafford residents who have also been told to attend vaccination appointments in Birmingham and Telford - and vice versa.
“The government needs to get a grip and fast,” he says.
“Sending people over the age of 80 to Birmingham is totally unacceptable. This is a highly vulnerable cohort who need to be vaccinated as close to home as possible.
“You can't tell people to stay at home where possible, whilst offering a vaccine 70 miles away.
“It's working both ways too - I know Telford residents who are being told to come to Greater Manchester for their vaccine.
“It's just not good enough and is the latest national issue to arise - let's not forget it's only a few months ago that local residents were being offered Covid tests in Aberdeen.
“We all want and need the vaccine process to work as smoothly as possible, but this isn't the way to do it.”
During a Manchester Council health scrutiny committee today (Tuesday), councillors heard that residents receiving two invitations has led to ‘confusion’.
Dr Manisha Kumar, medical director of Manchester Health and Care Commissioning, said: “There is some confusion nationally as we have duplicate call and recall services with the national booking system and this isn’t ideal.
“What we’re trying to find out is a way in which we can make those two systems read to each other.”
Dr Kumar said patients may get two letters, or a text - one from their local practice to go to a local site and a letter from the national teams.
“They can choose whichever one of those two offers suits them best in order to have their vaccination,” she explained.
Dr Kumar later added that there will likely be some confusion for ‘the next couple of weeks’ while the booking system is tweaked.
She said: “The national booking system came live on Saturday and again that’s out of our control. That’s for the mass vaccination site and your pharmacy offer.
“There will be a letter that comes inviting you to book in with that if you’re within a 45 minute radius of the centre.
“There’s a real confusion because patients might not always realise that your primary care offer and your national offer is exactly the same thing so we’re lobbying nationally for there to be a read across.
“But I think there will be a little bit of confusion for the next couple of weeks til we get that single vision of how we book in.”
When asked why patients in Wigan have been being invited to the Etihad in Manchester or other centres further away, Wigan Council said residents should ‘ignore’ the letter if they already have a local appointment.
A spokesperson said: “In order to vaccinate people as quickly as possible, additional regional vaccination centres have been opened across the country, on top of the local vaccination sites. The local one to us in Manchester, which is still quite far away from most Wigan Borough residents.
“Some residents within Wigan Borough will get invited to get vaccinated at these regional sites by NHS England. The vaccination programme in the Borough continues and all eligible patients will be invited as soon as possible, so patients who can’t or don’t want to go to Manchester shouldn’t worry.
“If patients already have an appointment at a local centre, they should ignore the letter and attend their booked appointment in the Borough.”