Labour MP beats the vaccine queue

When a Tory MP recently suggested on the party’s WhatsApp group that MPs ought to be one of the priority groups to receive the vaccine early on, they were met with derision from their colleagues – with several suggesting it would be a bad look. However, that message does not appear to hold much sway with Labour.

With limited does of the Pfizer vaccine in the country, they are currently eligible to those at the top of the priority list – care home residents, care workers, health workers and the over-80s. However, the Birmingham Mail reports that local MP Khalid Mahmood has managed to get the Coronavirus vaccine ahead of schedule.

The 59-year-old underwent a kidney transplant in 2014 and therefore has underlying health conditions that would – according to Government guidance – place him in priority group 4 which some predict would be in the Spring. Happily, Mahmood did not need to wait that long. He told residents that he managed to fast track the process by joining the queue for ‘leftover’ doses at

Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The paper reports that he told locals:

‘It’s not very well known, but at the end of the day any vaccine unused because people have not turned up for their appointments is made available at the QE vaccination hub – we can’t afford to waste any vaccine doses.’

While Mr S agrees that vaccine doses ought not go to waste, Steerpike wonders whether Mahmood’s method is really the right one. After all, the hospital has now urged that the public do not show up without an appointment as they will not be seen…