If you are aged 16 and over and support an adult who is at high risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 and with whom you have close personal or face to face contact, you should now get your vaccination. Carers of children are not included in this phase, apart from Carers of children who have serious neuro-disabilities and other complications.
You don’t need to wait to be contacted if you are registered to receive a Carer’s Allowance. You can book an appointment now via the national booking service www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination.
The national booking service allows you to arrange an appointment at a vaccination centre or community pharmacy-led service. Call 119 if you don’t have the internet. You can choose a time slot and location that suits you.
If it isn’t possible for you to attend any of the vaccination centres offered through the national booking service, then wait for us to contact you, and we will offer you an appointment at our GP-led vaccination centre instead.
If you do not receive Carer’s Allowance, but you are registered with us at your GP practice as an unpaid Carer, we will contact you to arrange your vaccination at our GP-led vaccination centre.
If you consider that you are a Carer for someone who is at high risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 and with whom you have close personal or face to face contact, but you do not receive Carers Allowance and are not registered here at the practice as a Carer, please email us at this address patientservices.rhs@nhs.net so that we can talk this through with you.
The NHS is working closely with social care services colleagues and organisations that represent Carers to put in place arrangements to offer the vaccine as soon as possible to other Carers who will be eligible to receive a vaccine but don’t meet the current criteria in terms of the two categories mentioned above. . For example, if you are known to be a Carer by social services or Carers in Herts, you will be contacted directly by the NHS in the coming weeks. For other Carers who are not known by social services or other organisations, we will provide information for you and share this as widely as possible – do look out for more information.