Am I eligible for the vaccine now or not ?

[en0la]

My Gp says not yet but I thought I was given this message. Who is right ?I have asthma.

Maybe the gp is still working through group 6 and it's not quite your turn yet and you will be called very soon.

which group are you?

I think GP’s are getting down the list of people with health problems and the hen calling or inviting them by text. It’s more difficult pinpointing people with conditions that make the vulnerable compared to inviting people by age which is really simple.

To add. It seems to depend on the doctors. My practise are doing people with asthma quite quickly already yet another surgery and a different practise are telling asthma patients to wait or not have it at all. It’ll be your turn soon enough op. I get how frustrating the waiting is.

oh I see maybe group 6. When I was flagged as group 6 I could book online.

I would ring 119.

Asthma in itself doesn't put you into group 6. The severity does.

I'm not sure how anyone here is going to know if you are eligible

If only there was a telephone helpline

How severe is your asthma? Only severe asthma is group 6, otherwise your just in your age category.

I have severe asthma - I am on 3 medications daily and been admitted to hospital many times.

I have had my vaccine but I don't think it is for every asthmatics

It may be worth emailing your practice and sending a screen shot of that. Ask for clarification.

@Dementedswan

It may be worth emailing your practice and sending a screen shot of that. Ask for clarification.

I did and they just said 'not yet' and the nhs phone line said my go should book it now. Neither were much help.

have you had 3 course of steroids in 3 months or ever been hospitalised with your asthma?

I'm sorry to hear that, could you reply asking for confirmation into which group you are in? Just explain you are confused with the mixed messages you are getting.

There’s two booking processes - the national booking line (via 119, letters with a weblink, and they’ve just started sending texts) are working down the age cohorts. The GPs are working through cohort 6 (anyone from 18-64 with a range of health conditions) but they’re getting though the cohort at different rates depending on the supply of vaccine locally.

Asthmatics are only in cohort 6 if they have a certain level of severity, ie they’ve been hospitalised within the past year. However the GP systems have various codes to indicate this and the codes aren’t always perfect, so some people have been wrongly ruled in or out of cohort 6 due to outdated or wrong information coded in their medical record.

It looks to me as though the national booking service think you’re in cohort 6, but your GP practice don’t agree. I’d be inclined to think your GP practice would know better.

The good news is there’s a huge increase in vaccine supply from tomorrow, so hopefully it won’t matter too much and you’ll be see v soon. Good luck.

Your GP has to decide you are group 6, then if/when they update your NHS electronic record to say you are CV then you can book online or via 119.

I'm asthmatic and wasn't showing on the system as able to book so I had a telephone appt with my GP who agreed that I should definitely be in group 6, they updated the records and the GP practice sent the link to book an appt and I had the vaccine the following day - it was v efficient. So I suggest you make a telephone appt with your GP.

@kimlo

have you had 3 course of steroids in 3 months or ever been hospitalised with your asthma?

No and yes in that order.

I have a heart condition, enlarged due to high blood pressure which falls under group 6 however I wasn't coded as such as the echo cardio gram scan and various other tests where done via hospital and results related to gp via scanned letters. Treatment is life long bp meds and monitoring. My gp had to manually put me on his list for vaccination due to my risk .

I had a text yesterday to say I could book but I have no idea what my underlying health condition is?
I clicked the link and booked 1st and second dose so it must be legit???

I have quarterly bloods taken, reviews etc. Plus, I also have mental health issues for anxiety, 98% deaf, rely on lip reading so not been able to function in society since masks were introduced. Previous history of agoraphobia and cbt nurses coming to house to take me outside.

@OhDearWhyAmIFatterly it could be linked to your BMI recorded at the GP or some other random reason they have correctly or incorrectly allocated you to group 6 but don't worry about it just have it done.

Yes I think it's a mistake as my BMI is fine, and I can't think of any other reason.... I'm going to do it anyway

I would hazard a guess it's down to interpretation of severity around "hospitalized ever."

It seems pretty clear, but a load of GPs seem to be taking it on themselves to redefine that as "in the last year" as a pp said. Not sure how they are allowed to do that when guidance seems crystal clear to me, and I know Asthma UK has been going on about this.

Having said that, I can sort of see why they are. I fit Group 6 under "hospitalization ever due to asthma" but not for 24 years and am generally fine and dandy, no ongoing medication and just a blue inhaler for emergencies, which I've used maybe half a dozen times over 12 years. So it would make sense that I'm lower down than my friend who has never been hospitalized but is on regular, fairly strong doses and flares up several times a year requiring steroids etc.

Asthmatics are only eligible is they have had oral steroids (not inhaled) or an asthmatic hospital admission in the last year. This is part of my job.

Are you under 18 years of age as my 17 year old had same message and GP says no group allocated yet.

@Walk20

Are you under 18 years of age as my 17 year old had same message and GP says no group allocated yet.

The OP screenshot is the message a 16 or 17 year old gets when they are eligible for the vaccine but can only have Pfizer so GP must organise it.