55 and over – book your vaccine now

This week the national booking service has extended invitations to people aged 55 and over. This means we are now starting to vaccinate people from the eighth of the nine national priority groups. We expect the invitations will soon extend to the ninth group of people, those aged 50 - 54.

Text message invitations

The NHS is now using text messages to invite people to book vaccinations through the large vaccination centres and pharmacy-run services.

You can trust your text message is genuine if it:

• comes from ‘NHSvaccine’
• includes a link to the NHS.uk website
• gives you the option of phoning 119

Some GP services are also using text messages, these messages will be different from the national ones. But like the national services they will never ask you for any kind of payment details or prove your identity by sending copies of personal documents such as your passport, driving licence, bills or pay slips

Medway Vaccination Centre opens

Today saw the first vaccinations given at our fifth large vaccination centre for Kent and Medway. The Medway site is at the former DW Sports store, in Willmot Square in the Pentagon Centre. Appointments can be booked through the national booking service online or by calling 119.

Read more about the opening of the Medway vaccination centre here

Please remember your second dose appointment

People who were vaccinated in the first weeks of the programme are now reaching the time for their second dose. It’s important to get your second dose to maximise the protection you have against the virus. Please do remember to attend your appointments if they’re already booked, and prioritise invitations for a second dose when you are contacted.

If for any reason you cannot make a booked appointment for a second or first dose please cancel it so someone else can use the slot.

Supporting vaccine uptake in our communities

We are working with colleagues in Public Health and clinicians across Kent and Medway to support leaders and representative of Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to promote the vaccine. We are actively supporting engagement events and making materials available for community leaders to share. We have a range of local videos and links to national materials in different languages here.

Questions and answers about the vaccine programme

We have a range of questions and answers about the vaccine programme on our website. These are updated and added to regularly based on the queries we receive. Read more about second doses, prioritisation of the vaccine, what to expect when attending a vaccine appointment and more here.