Everyone over 70 in England can book themselves!

Several of my work colleagues have booked themselves in via the NHS site. They are all under 70 but in the first priority group as care home workers. Their GP surgeries wouldn’t have that information on their systems. It’s essential that they get their vaccinations early so they can protect and stay well enough for the people in their care. There are probably thousands of people in the first priority group due to their occupation who would have to wait until summer if they didn’t have another way to access the vaccination rather than wait for a letter from their GP.

I think it's extremely misguided to say this is a queue jumping system. It seems there have been s couple of glitches that have been resolved now and it is only people already eligible for the vaccine that can book in.

When people do book in themselves they are are saving the NHS the huge administrative and logistical burden and thousands of man-hours (person-hours!) of trying to contact every single presently eligible person, and helping the process of getting this country closer to functioning again.

I can not see how the system would crash, any more than the self assessment system crashes when millions of people file online at the same time in the last days of January. It's not the 1990s, these systems are designed to cope with huge numbers using simultaneously.

The loo roll parallel is a really not accurate...nobody is stockpiling 100 vaccines for themselves, they are simply able to book for their one when they are eligible. It's more like a supermarket being desperate to get a single loo roll out to everyone who should have one before they have to chuck them away, and being relieved when people take the steps themselves to come in to collect their loo roll as they don't have enough staff or man hours available to personally contact every single one in a timely manner. They would rather the loo rolls get to those who need one, rather than sitting uselessly on the shelves out of a misguided notion that for someone to have one, when it is rightfully theirs, is somehow queue jumping.

Agree Doodle. I went all the way with it and was given 4 choices of where to go.

I do wonder if it is a scam because I've already got an appointment for next Thursday. It came via the doctor's surgery. Surely that would be in the system somewhere.

There is nothing on the above website that says you have to wait for a letter. It just asks what your NHS number is and your d.o.b. . I wouldn’t assume all those who have booked are trying to jump the gun. As I said, there is nothing on the website that says you have to have a letter. I just assumed that if your weren’t eligible they wouldn’t let you book.
It looks like the proper NHS website. It’s not a scam is it?

I can book a vaccine in Oxfordshire.
Shame I live in Essex.

Niobe your area must be doing well with the vaccinations. In this part of Oxfordshire it has been slow from the GP practices. Now a new hub has opened and we can book on line I am hoping that things will move faster.

I got a telephone call today, (Sunday), from my GP practice to ask me if I wanted the vaccine. I am booked for tomorrow afternoon. I am nearly 69 years old so they may be getting to the under 70s now.

My bloke booked his vaccination from the link on this thread, just this afternoon. He has booked a free Uber too. You put in your NHS vaccination code or number (can't be specific, I am not lucky enough to be eligible for the vac yet) and it gives you a free Uber for up to the cost of 15. AND a return journey, free too.

Is that really true GagaJo? We don't have Uber here so I'm jealous!
I have heard that Volunteers are providing Buggy rides up the hill in our town for those who can't manage the walk.I quite fancy that but I can cope without it.It could turn into quite a day out after being "locked in" for so long.

Also, if you use Uber taxis, if you enter your NHS number, you can get a free Uber taxi there.

To me it makes sense to use up the free slots instead of having staff standing around twiddling their thumbs. Surely the sooner all the over 70s are vaccinated the better, that way lives will be saved if more are protected earlier and kept out of the NHS.

If a hospital hub invites over 70s to make appointments to fill spare slots why not? would people rather vaccine was wasted? Is such a huge operation, there are bound to be logistical problems, and regional differences.

I received my letter on Friday and Booked on Friday for tomorrow.I am pointing out that lots of slots weren't booked so the system isn't working as it should be.Letters are being delayed in the Post.
My friend in the North West had her letter and rang the phone number given.She was told they had no slots available in her area.I suggested her daughter should try online and she has been able to get an appointment for Tuesday.
We are both entitled to have the Vaccination,not taking a turn meant for anyone else,just helping the system to work as it should. The NHS letter says phone or use their Website and I think using the Website is the best way to book if one is capable of doing so.

Oh well. Everyman for himself!

There are nearly 9,000,000 over 70s in Britain. If they all tried to book there appointment in a short space of time the website will crash. No website can deal with that amount of traffic.

It hasn’t crashed because, thankfully, many people are still waiting for their notification. And others aren’t. They can get access the website only because others are holding back.

Like I said, it’s the toilet rolls all over again.

Thank you for this! I emailed the link to me (elderly) bloke and he is booked in.

I Booked on Friday to have my vaccination tomorrow. I was very surprised to see how many empty time slots that were available for Saturday,today and tomorrow when I booked online.
It seems such a shame that these slots weren't used when people are still waiting and Volunteers are in place wanting to Vaccinate.

Peasblossom Most of the dates offered were hardly taken up at all. The site is quite content for the over 70's to book. If you are under 70 it will not accept you.

I’m just wondering Framilode how you would have felt if you and your husband had gone onto the website and found it had crashed because lots of people had decided not to wait until they were called.

Who would you have blamed?

Cherrytree 59 Thank you for this information. I have booked an appointment and can now go at the same time as my husband,
I don't feel guilty as I am almost 75 with underlying conditions and the vaccine hub we need to travel to is a distance away.

My dd’s MiL had that ‘do you know your NHS number’ thing and was worried that it could be a scam.

Dd (43) tried putting in her own details - to see whether it was eventually going to demand payment - and was told she wasn’t eligible.

I really hope your husband is called very soon* Oldbat *as he should be due to his illness.

We are waiting for my husband to be called. Over 70, Stage 4 cancer, currently on chemo obviously he isn’t one of the queue jumpers. How very very sad.

It’s certainly selfish to risk messing up the whole system just to get in first.

Ideally the system wouldn’t allow it but it was decided that it was too much of an administrative burden on GPs to ask them to release in tranches rather than one priority group at a time and that the tranches would then be administered centrally, by people who weren’t trying to run a Practice at the same time!

them then