Everyone over 70 in England can now book themselves!

[notevenat20]

www.nhs.uk/book-a-coronavirus-vaccination/do-you-have-an-nhs-number

I had no idea. Apologies if this is common knowledge.

I hope this isnt another cock up. The entire staff at schools in Sittingbourne were able to be vaccinated ahead of the over 75s, CEV etc because of a mistake. apparently vaccination has now been paused because of shortage of vaccines,. disgraceful

@thereisonlyoneofme it isn't. I wasn't eligible until I was, so I tried to book and it said no
Tried against a few days ago and booked

@55larry

I booked yesterday and got an appointment for Wednesday. All days and times were free. Having been on Gransnet I am worried if am cheating as I am only 69 but I am diabetic. Should I cancel my appointment?

Absolutely do not cancel your appointment. In some areas they are doing 69 year olds now and your diabetes is a serious condition.

And - you would not be able to book unless the system recognised you as eligible!

The cheating view comes from a good place I am sure. I don't know how to deal with it other than to say that when people call 119 or their GP and ask they are clear that booking yourself a vaccination is exactly what you are meant to do. The govt wants everything eligible to be vaccinated as quickly as possible. We are playing our part in saving the nation by booking ourselves in.

@gisbons

Diabetes carries a serious risk with respect to covid. Please go for your vaccination.

Thanks OP, my 71 year old parents have both booked in now.

@Rainbowqueeen

Just wondering if there is some way to post a link to this thread on gransnet?? Might help a lot more people

Went down very badly on there, Iargely due to people fearing they would somehow deprive others / crash the website/ jump the queue. Shame really, there are two parallel systems going on here. The GP led one and the centrally organised one. GPs will mop up those who wait but from what I saw there were huge numbers of empty slot. I suspect postal delays have limited the numbers using the national system.

My area today they were asking anyone over 70 to head to the big vaccination centre as it was empty and they have loads vaccines

Thanks for the advice. Dh who is 74 has his vaccine tomorrow but he had a letter. I will go to mine on Wednesday. I have to drive for 25 minutes to a large centre but I am looking forward to going more than 10 minutes from home. I did wonder if a lot of people don’t want to travel but as I drive I am quite happy to leave the Gp centre appointments for those who don’t drive.

I booked my mum who is over 70 after seeing Thursday's deleted thread. I spent the night worrying that perhaps that I'd done something immoral, but her letter arrived the very next morning.

She's had her first jab today at a large centre. It worked well for her, although she had a longish wait she was seated in a very socially distanced waiting area. I think that it might have been better organised that her own surgery that we drove past on the way there and back. They had long queues if elderly people stood outside in the freezing cold. I'm not sure she would have coped with that, so I was very glad I could get her to the bigger centre

@RhubarbBikini

I booked my mum who is over 70 after seeing Thursday's deleted thread. I spent the night worrying that perhaps that I'd done something immoral, but her letter arrived the very next morning.

She's had her first jab today at a large centre. It worked well for her, although she had a longish wait she was seated in a very socially distanced waiting area. I think that it might have been better organised that her own surgery that we drove past on the way there and back. They had long queues if elderly people stood outside in the freezing cold. I'm not sure she would have coped with that, so I was very glad I could get her to the bigger centre

I think I remember your post. So glad it went well!

@notevenat20

The cheating view comes from a good place I am sure. I don't know how to deal with it other than to say that when people call 119 or their GP and ask they are clear that booking yourself a vaccination is exactly what you are meant to do. The govt wants everything eligible to be vaccinated as quickly as possible. We are playing our part in saving the nation by booking ourselves in.

I agree but if this is the case why is the wording on the website very specific regarding waiting for a letter. Why is there no public information campaign to tell over 70s to go online and book? Post may be little slow in some areas but certainly not where I live. There is something not right here.

I booked mine yesterday after this thread, and I've already had my jab this morning at a large vaccination centre.
It was a bit like going through airport security, but socially distanced with lots of people asking for my NHS number and date of birth instead of my passport. I was in and out within 10 minutes! (I had to wait in the car with my husband for 15 mins before driving home).

Thanks so much for this thread!

86 year old MIL in Wales still not heard anything. She has rung GP and has been told they will contact her when it is her turn🤷‍♀️

Just booked my CEV DH in for Saturday. Thank you so much! He's self employed and having to work so it's a relief that we've got him in a few weeks/months before our GP could.

I can't get past the first step - when I enter my name, it says error and "enter text only" - I've tried upper case and lower case, to no avail - has anyone else had this problem and if so, what did you do?

@GCmiddle

I can't get past the first step - when I enter my name, it says error and "enter text only" - I've tried upper case and lower case, to no avail - has anyone else had this problem and if so, what did you do?

Could you try using a different browser? That sometimes helps.

Thanks. That did help and I got a few steps further, but now it won't accept the post code! I'm doing it on behalf of my mother, so I think she is going to have to search for her NHS number and we'll try that way...

@GCmiddle - you can find your, or her, NHS number here

@SilverGlitterBaubles - the issue is that the mass vaccs centres and pharmacies don’t cover the whole country, so the government doesn’t want to tell everyone they can book - the invites are only going to people within a 45 min travel time. Which is obviously still millions of people. The letter also confirms that you are eligible, but obviously your date of birth does the same job, or most people who are CEV are very well aware of that as they’ll have been getting letters through the pandemic about shielding etc.

But it really is still absolutely fine for anyone over 70 or CEV to book - you’ve probably seen in the news the government is trying to get through as many in those groups as possible by mid Feb, so they really do want you to get jabbed in the next couple of weeks.

Thank you! Over 70 and have booked my first appointment for later this week. Thrilled! Thank you again

My neighbour won't book because of the Wait for your letter banner. I've tried to explain but she somehow feels it's cheating. Oh well you can lead a horse etc

For those who have had it, or know people who have, did you go on your own? My mum is due to go on Friday and it's about a 30min drive to her appointment. She's very fit and healthy and independent and, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't dream of offering to accompany her to medical appointments but I'm wondering whether I should this time? Is there any chance she might have a funny turn afterwards, or any issues with driving?

the invites are only going to people within a 45 min travel time
That seems a bit restrictive. Some people are going to have to wait weeks longer simply because the system has worked out they live 50-60 minutes away. I would happily drive 1hr30, and certainly 60 mins.

This seems to disadvantage certain areas where there is only one mass hub, e.g. the South-west where there is only on in Bristol for the whole region.

Why not remove the distance/time restriction and allow people who are eligible for a vaccine to make up their own mind?