Spring Booster 2023
People aged 75 and over, residents in care homes for older adults and people aged 5 and over with weakened immune systems are being offered an additional COVID vaccination this spring.
Protection from the vaccines decreases over time, particularly in older people or those with weakened immune systems. The extra vaccination is to help make sure those at greatest risk continue to have high levels of protection against the virus and help prevent them from becoming seriously ill or needing hospital care.
If you are eligible for an extra vaccination, we will contact you when it is your turn with details of how to make an appointment. Everyone who is eligible will be offered an appointment between 17 April and 30 June. You may also receive a letter or text from the NHS National Booking Service inviting you to book an appointment so you can choose to do this if you prefer or wait for us to contact you.
If you still need a first or second COVID vaccination, you can book an appointment up until 30 June at www.nhs.uk/covidvaccination or by calling 119.
For further information on spring vaccinations and COVID-19 vaccinations please visit www.westyorkshire.icb.nhs.uk/covidvaccination
Finding your NHS number
You can still book an appointment if you don’t have your NHS number, provided you are registered with a GP practice. However, it will be quicker if you have your number: this will be on any letter or document you have received from the NHS, including prescriptions, or you can find it online at
Registering with a GP
You can find a GP practice on the NHS.uk website. You will need to fill in a form to register – for some practices you can do this on their website so check there first. Alternatively, you can download a GMS1 registration form on GOV.UK or arrange a time to pick up a registration form from the GP surgery. If you have problems registering with a GP practice, call the NHS England Customer Contact Centre on 0300 311 22 33.
If you have received a letter from the national booking system about a vaccination appointment and have any questions about this, please contact them on the number given. The practice does not have any information on the centres and is not able to book appointments for patients at these venues.
If you would prefer to have your appointment at our local service, you do not need to do anything – we will contact you as soon as an appointment is available.
Vaccination Invitation Letters from the National Booking System
Please note that you do not have to book an appointment at one of these centres if it is not convenient for you to get there. You can:
- choose to wait for an invitation from your GP practice OR
- choose to wait until one of the West Yorkshire centres open and are added to the national booking system, which will happen over the next few weeks. Please do not contact your local practice about an appointment until you receive an invitation from them. They will not be able to advise you on when you will get an appointment or which centres are available. All this information is available on the national booking system website. The centres in West Yorkshire that are currently on the national booking system are:
We know lots of people will be eager to get protected but please could we kindly ask you not to contact the practice for information about the vaccine or to ask for an appointment, as you will not be able to get one until you receive an invitation.
If you are invited for a vaccine, please act on your invite straight away and make sure you attend your appointments when you arrange them.
Please note that vaccinations are free of charge and only available through the NHS. 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 the Police online or by calling 112. The NHS will never ask you to press a button on your keypad or send a text asking you to confirm you want the vaccine.
In the meantime, please continue to abide by all the social distancing and hand hygiene guidance, which will still save lives
The NHS is currently vaccinating those people who experts have agreed will benefit from it the most. A vaccination programme of this size and scale will still take some time to complete. Please be assured that everyone who needs the vaccine will be offered it. The NHS will be in touch with you when it is your turn to be vaccinated. Please don’t call us before you are invited. In the meantime, you can get information about the COVID-19 Vaccination online at www.nhs.uk/covidvaccination.
Our staff are working extremely hard to provide services and care and we would like to thank our patients for your continued support.
