‘Try local booking for jabs’ officials

THE vaccination rollout is extending so patients aged 38 can now book their Covid jab.

Anyone aged 38 and over and those who will turn 38 before July 1, are now eligible for their coronavirus vaccination.

The latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is that those who are 39 and under should have the Pfizer - BioNTech vaccine and local clinics are being set up to allow for this.

Patients up and down the country will have received text messages in the past 24 hours from the national NHS booking system, but health bosses locally are encouraging people to first try to book via the local system.

Appointments via the national system are snapped up fast, meaning potentially longer waits, so health bosses here advise using the local Swiftqueue site instead.

Alternatively, patients can wait for their GP to contact them.

People have been asked not to contact their surgery.

Dr Sulaxni Nainani, a local GP, added: “Please be reassured the vaccine is safe to take and it is the best protection we have against coronavirus.

“Appointments are regularly being made available across LLR over the coming weeks and bookings can be made online for any vaccination site that has availability locally to you.

“If you experience any delays or difficulties in booking an appointment to be vaccinated, please call 119 as they are available to support you with the process.

“With Covid restrictions being eased next week, it’s so important that we do everything we can to help prevent the spread of the virus and protect ourselves and our communities by getting vaccinated when given the opportunity.

“To date we have administered more than 820,000 doses of vaccine in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland but it’s important we don’t let our guard down now and that everyone eligible has the vaccine when they can.”