People struggled to book their third vaccine dose on Sunday night just as Boris Johnson repeatedly urged the nation to “get boosted now” during a televised address. The NHS website has been hit by technical problems amid a rush to book booster jabs as the rollout expands to all over-18s.
In a pre-recorded video message, the prime minister announced all adults in the UK would offered a booster before the end of the month in a bid to fend of a “tidal wave” of the omicron variant. Over-18s in England will be able to book their booster online from Wednesday through the NHS website as the government accelerates the rollout.
The PM’s message appeared to trigger a rush to book jabs on Sunday night, with more than 17,000 people in the online queue to secure a slot shortly after his message was broadcast.
But some people trying to book a slot to receive their third jab were met with an error message, while others were unable to get past entering their details on the NHS website. The problems began earlier in the day before Mr Johnson’s speech.
A statement on the website said: “The NHS website is currently experiencing technical difficulties. We are working to resolve these issues. Thank you for your patience.”
The booster rollout will officially extend to people in their 30s from Monday, although many have found they are already able to book a slot for for their third dose this weekend.
Colorado Nurse Alicia Nickel-Tangeman Sentenced To Federal Prison For Taking Pain Meds From Patients
A former registered nurse for a Colorado Springs hospital who lied to patients and federal investigators about taking pain medications from patients’ delivery pumps for a “study” was sentenced last week to 12 months in federal prison.
Alicia Nickel-Tangeman, 44, will also serve one year of supervised release at the end of her incarceration.
U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello issued the sentence Nov. 30.
Nickel-Tangeman, formerly of Woodland Park, had pleaded guilty in August to four counts of obtaining controlled substances using fraud and deception while she was on the job. She faced up to four years imprisonment for each count.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, Nickel-Tangeman removed pain medications — legally classified as controlled substances — from on-demand delivery pumps at patients’ bedsides. Specifically, she was found to have removed medication from syringes placed inside the pumps from three patients on four separate occasions.
She told the patients she was conducting research on the pumps.
“When confronted by law enforcement regarding her actions,” the USACO stated in a press release, “the defendant lied about the diversions and persisted in her false story that she was engaged in a study with a well-known university.”
Nickel-Tangeman also created a fake email from a self-created account in an attempt to prove her claim, prosecutors alleged.
“The results of this investigation and corresponding sentence of Ms. Nickel-Tangeman reveal once more the seriousness of the overdose epidemic and opioid crisis facing our nation when even a nurse is susceptible to the temptation these drugs provide,” said David Olesky, a special agent for the Denver office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Nickel-Tangeman was sanctioned by the state medical board in June of 2019. The federal case against her was filed this past June.
