COVID-19 Vaccination Programme

The NHS is continuing to roll out the COVID-19 vaccination programme across the country.

People are being encouraged to continue to follow the guidance and restrictions and even those have received a vaccine need to continue to follow social distancing guidance.

In the efforts to get the vaccine rolled out to the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time, the public are being asked to do the following:

  • please don’t contact the NHS to seek a vaccine, they will contact you;
  • when they do contact you, please attend your booked appointments;
  • and please continue to follow all the guidance to control the virus and save lives.

The Government has published a list of priority groups which will determine the order in which people will receive the vaccine. The NHS will contact people when it is their turn.  People will need an appointment to get their vaccine; most people will be invited by letter from their GP practice or the national programme.

Please note that the vaccine is not available privately. Anyone who claims to be able to provide you with a vaccine for a fee is likely to be committing a crime and should be reported to Essex Police by calling 101 or online and/or Local Trading Standards.

Across Essex, various hubs and practices have been set up to support the rolling out of the vaccination programme. This website offers residents across Suffolk and North East Essex a comprehensive source of information about COVID-19 and roll out of the vaccination. This website covers information for the county of Essex as a whole. Groundswell have provided helpful guidance about the vaccine for people who are homeless.

Everyone invited to have a Covid-19 vaccination is asked to bring a copy of their NHS number with them to their appointment. For those who do not know what their number is, they are encouraged to use the free NHS online service to receive a reminder of their NHS number. You can use the service either for yourself or someone else.

The NHS number is a unique 10-digit number e.g. 485 777 3456 and helps health care staff identify you correctly and match your details to your health records. You should usually be able to find the number on any letter or document received from the NHS, including prescriptions, test results and hospital letter or appointment letters.