55-59’s

[DinosaurDiana]

This morning I have been able to book my DH his two appointments on the NHS site.
It wouldn’t let me yesterday.
To all those waiting, try every day.

56+ can. Ow book on national site and the front page is identifying them as eligible, it’s updated the front page faster than usual.

Thanks so much for this. I was able to book for DH(57).

I booked. Mid March.

Quite frustrating as the first time the site crashed when I was almost at the end. On the second attempt the slots I booked the first time had gone so chose new ones, got to the end of the form only to be told those slots were no longer available either.

Etulobsa, is that the sound of you feeling pleased though and glad that there’s a system allowing this age group to book so quickly? Haha...only joking.

Website updated this am - over 56 can book

I came on to say the same thing - that the website now updated to allow online bookings for 56+ - great progress being made!

Really unhelpful and selfish to have those who are not eligible overloading the system by logging in multiple times a day!!! My DH is 60 in May and will wait to be contacted like any other considerate person. He has just made sure that his contact details are up to date at the GP. Don't be daft.

The government have adverts telling you to do this; Matt Hancock has said to do this; DH, 59, got a letter this morning inviting him to do so.

The system is not crashing; if you aren't eligible you can't book. Who is eleigibel varies by area, so they ask for your postcode. You can't jump a local queue. It links you to the mass vacc centres leaving GP surgeries free for the more vulnerable, those with additional complications.

I'm 54, I expect I will be able to book sometime before the end of March. Way sooner than the August initially mooted for my age group!

My DH is 60 in May and will wait to be contacted like any other considerate person.

But he doesn't need to wait to be contacted, he can book online, as can now anyone 56 and over. In fact it is more inconsiderate to add burden to his surgery by not being proactive and booking online so that they have to contact him.

The other advantage of checking several times is that slots come up at different times durian the day.

When I first tried to book mine, the nearest place offered was 20 miles away. I decided to wait for something closer. Later that day something came available that was 13 miles away and later still the same day I was offered one 7 miles away. I booked that.

Etulobsa, is that the sound of you feeling pleased though

Ha ha! I wasn't pleased! Admittedly, I wasn't in the best frame of mind as I had just been fruitlessly trying to work out how to set up a meeting with multiple breakout groups in MS Teams. I had to be restrained from punching the screen with that one.

I gave up in the end as it wasn't doing my MH any favours. WFH my arse.

For those of you regularly checking, is it at all likely that they will be slipping in 55 year olds to the list of people eligible? Or are they likely to wait another week and do another batch (such as 53-55)?

I am only asking because the nearest mass centre is a bit of a drive so it would be better to go together. DH is 56 (and just booked his 1st appointment in a fortnight's time) and I am 55 (so can't book yet).

They are making such good progress!

Mad cats, the thing is, you might not be able to book 2 slots close to each other in time, or might get offered different locations for the 2nd.

The system isn’t sophisticated enough to link bookings up.

You’d do better just to book for whoever is eligible first and expect to go twice. In the wider scheme of Covid, doing the journey twice isn’t so bad is it. Also, it helps speed through for everyone if as many people as possible book as soon as poss.

Sorry mad cats, just realised you have booked.
You can look when the 55s get released, but by then, it will probably be offering later slots than have already booked if you see what I mean. You probably will need to do 2 journeys and a lot of people have said they have had to, often only a day or so apart...but hey ho, it’s a minor issue really is t it, although some people use this kind of thing to describe the whole vaccination programme as a disaster!

@Madcats

For those of you regularly checking, is it at all likely that they will be slipping in 55 year olds to the list of people eligible? Or are they likely to wait another week and do another batch (such as 53-55)?

I am only asking because the nearest mass centre is a bit of a drive so it would be better to go together. DH is 56 (and just booked his 1st appointment in a fortnight's time) and I am 55 (so can't book yet).

They are making such good progress!

I don't know - but although most people I know have been going to one of two local mass centres, when I booked for mine the only option I was given was a local pharmacy. So when you register online, look through all the options, you may get something closer

I booked mine yesterday - 57! Told a couple of friends who booked theirs too.

I know it's not for a couple of weeks but I do feel better going back into school to teach as an asthmatic on Monday that it's on the way.

There was nothing local to me. Not even in the nearest towns which surprised me. The only options were in cities.

@Madcats - the move from 60+ to 56+ was one week, so I imagine 55 will be up quite soon. You might be able to adjust your DH's booking once yours is able to be booked.

@Veuvestar

Thank you for the link Sorry that I haven’t seen the 60 other threads that it was on. Sorry that I asked someone to copy and paste something that they might have had open rather than trawling through Sorry if it’s all a bit confusing with talk about different links for gps and vaccination centres

I think it was likely the manner in which you requested the link that annoyed people. It is very simple to Google 'NHS Covid vaccine' however if you want someone else to do that for you then a one word demand with a a question mark is unlikely to promote a great response from people. You could have said 'Does anyone have a link please?' Which I am sure would have resulted in much kinder responses.

You can look when the 55s get released, but by then, it will probably be offering later slots than have already booked if you see what I mean.

This happened to my friends - he was evening one day and she was morning the next day. They could have cancelled and rebooked but as slots are going all the time they would probably have had to wait another couple of weeks so decided just to keep to the original appointments.

She did actually go with him to keep him company on the drive (40 mile round trip), and asked when they got there if they had any spare (it was near the end of the session) but they said not.

Thanks for the advice everybody. DH booked a week later than the first available slot (our logic being that all his cohort will have gone for the first week, rather than the second).

I suspect he'd rather just get jabbed, rather than rearrange his booking, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that we make 2 journeys instead of 4.

Thank you so much for this. 56 in a couple of weeks and just got booked for the week of my birthday and 1st June. I'm 1:1 in a class of 30 kids from Monday and have been getting increasingly anxious about it.

I thinks it’s just England? Can’t book in NI or Wales just yet, not sure about Scotland.

I'm 46 and checked yesterday, dug out my NHS number to make sure I know how it works. Obviously nothing yet but I'll be checking every day in a couple of weeks.

And for those of you waiting for the GP to phone, my surgery are WAY behind due to most people round here being 106 and vaccine availability. They told me I would most likely get it weeks earlier if I book it myself. Plus I don't have to take a day off work as I chose slots to suit me.

I received an NHS letter this morning inviting me to book because of my age (59). Thanks to this thread I had already booked. The letter was dated 1st March.