Bringing forward a vaccination appointment

basill

In my area the council website has listed a number of popup vaccination sites each with set times for appointments and walk ins.  My partner is over 50 and originally booked online for both jabs, the second due in June. Following the advice to reduce wait time to 8 weeks she called the local number and is booked for this coming Monday at a local clinic, this can be done independently of the online appointment, which you should of course cancel if you get a better local offer.

epm-84

silvercar said:

The plan in some mass vaccination centres is to bring forward Astra Zeneca second doses by 1-3 weeks, then switch the centres over to do Pfizer for first appointments for the under 40s. If you’ve been sent the message to move your date forward I would do so.

Yes under 40s are being sent links to book which only allow them to book on days when Pzifer is being administered, reserving all the remaining AZ slots for over 40s.

JGB1955

I spoke to a friend of mine today - she and her husband had an invitation to 'bring forward' their second vaccinations.... but they chose not to as the vaccination centre is over 15 miles away, and there was no guarantee that they could BOTH change their vaccinations to the same date.

silvercar

JGB1955 said:a

I spoke to a friend of mine today - she and her husband had an invitation to 'bring forward' their second vaccinations.... but they chose not to as the vaccination centre is over 15 miles away, and there was no guarantee that they could BOTH change their vaccinations to the same date.

Every chance they would be able to by booking. If that wasn’t possible then a request if they both turned up on the same day would usually be accommodated.
I guess travelling 15 miles depends on local conditions, but in a lot of areas wouldn’t be unreasonable.

jimi_man

silvercar said:

jimi_man said:

I got a text from GP hubs to rebook mine at an earlier date. I followed the link they sent and there was no requirement to cancel the later appointment and I'm not going to until I've had it either, just in case it doesn't work out.  

If your original was also booked through your GP booking system, you may well find it has automatically been cancelled. If the original was through the national booking system it will sit there until either you cancel or the system is notified you’ve had your second elsewhere.

Hi
It was through the National booking system. I'm presuming it hasn't been cancelled since I've just had a text reminding me of the original appointment. 

Cancelling it however is not easy.....

silvercar

jimi_man said:

silvercar said:

jimi_man said:

I got a text from GP hubs to rebook mine at an earlier date. I followed the link they sent and there was no requirement to cancel the later appointment and I'm not going to until I've had it either, just in case it doesn't work out.  

If your original was also booked through your GP booking system, you may well find it has automatically been cancelled. If the original was through the national booking system it will sit there until either you cancel or the system is notified you’ve had your second elsewhere.

Hi
It was through the National booking system. I'm presuming it hasn't been cancelled since I've just had a text reminding me of the original appointment. 

Cancelling it however is not easy.....

If you have your booking reference number it should be easy. If you are struggling you could phone 119 and they can sort it.

jimi_man

silvercar said:

jimi_man said:

silvercar said:

jimi_man said:

I got a text from GP hubs to rebook mine at an earlier date. I followed the link they sent and there was no requirement to cancel the later appointment and I'm not going to until I've had it either, just in case it doesn't work out.  

If your original was also booked through your GP booking system, you may well find it has automatically been cancelled. If the original was through the national booking system it will sit there until either you cancel or the system is notified you’ve had your second elsewhere.

Hi
It was through the National booking system. I'm presuming it hasn't been cancelled since I've just had a text reminding me of the original appointment. 

Cancelling it however is not easy.....

If you have your booking reference number it should be easy. If you are struggling you could phone 119 and they can sort it.

Unfortunately it isn't that easy. Logging into the NHS site to cancel, takes you to a page which says 'You do not need to make an appointment' or similar. Tried that a few times and going in through different ways or links and it ended up the same. I then called 119, hung on for 15 minutes then it said 'we cannot connect your call' and it disconnected me. Did that twice, then gave up. 

I'm guessing they don't make it easy as they don't want you cancelling, which is fair enough. I tried anyway.

leopoldo_2

I am in a similar situation, my original jab was booked via the NHS site after receiving a text (all the way back in March), with the second jab not booked until 19th June (just under 13 weeks later, which seems a very long time). I'd try to rebook but I am worried that it would mean a further delay rather than bringing it forward...are there any safeguards in place to prevent that? I would cancel and rebook but I don't want to make it any worse.

HogMan

I bit the bullet and cancelled my 2nd appointment (originally June 5th) on Saturday morning and was offered new appointments times from 8 am the next day. 

theonlywayisup

My OH had the text even though the second was booked for 1 June (via the NHS site at same time as first).  We cancelled it online and the second was immediately rebooked for yesterday (with 2 days notice). 

I didn't have the text but am in the group that would be about to be told the second vaccine is being conducted earlier.  The first was via the GP on the telephone with no second booked.  I logged into the NHS line and chose an appointment at the same time as my OH was receiving theirs. 

We both went yesterday and were done without issue.   Only difference was that my vaccination card was different and the nurse had to check how to complete mine.