PATIENTS who attempted to make a private flu jab appointment in the wake of NHS delays have had their vaccinations cancelled by pharmacies.

Elderly people across Glasgow turned to chemists after it emerged NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) had opted to use the controversial Scottish Immunisation and Recall System (SIRS) which put them at the back of the queue for the lifeline jab.

Private firms were inundated with requests for the vaccine and were forced to put a halt to bookings as demand grew.

Read more: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde apologises

However, patients claim they’d be “better off” waiting for their health board appointment as pharmacies have had to cancel their upcoming appointment due to supply shortages.

The pensioner, who chose not to be named, said: “I booked my appointment for the end of October as I was due to get an operation, which didn’t go ahead, so I thought my NHS appointment might come in too late.

“When my surgery was cancelled, I called to see if I could bring my jab forward and the lady was very polite and explained they were cancelling appointments as they didn’t have enough of the jab. It’s not the chemist’s fault, it’s scandalous that they are the ones picking up the slack. The health board should have had this under control.

The woman’s appointment was booked at Well Pharmacy, however, in a statement on the firm’s website, it says it is no longer issuing the vaccine due to stock shortages.

It added: “Although we had anticipated that demand for flu vaccines would be high in light of Covid-19, we have not been able to secure as much stock as we had expected.”

Meanwhile, Boots and Lloyds Pharmacy have also had to pull the plug on vaccinations. Boots said it hasn’t been able to meet the “unprecedented demand” while Lloyds encouraged patients to register their interest, but admitted it was unsure when the service would resume.

Read more: Fury as over 65s in Glasgow face major delay for flu jab

As previously reported, the Glasgow Times launched the Give Our OAPs a Shot campaign last month in a bid to speed up the vaccination rollout.

NHSGGC has since apologised to patients and promised to inoculate its around 400,000 elderly and vulnerable who are entitled to the jab by the end of November.

Chief executive Jane Grant said: “There have been a number of challenges with the delivery of the flu vaccination programme and we have taken action to ensure this situation never happens again.”