The local GP vaccination service in Barnsley has added the appointments for its clinics to the national NHS booking system which are now available online or by calling 119.

Local GP vaccination centres, like the ones run from Priory Campus in Lundwood, have had their own booking systems in place but from this week (8/6/21) people will see the Barnsley GP vaccination centre appear when they go to book, or manage, their appointment online, or call 119.

Andrea Parkin, head nurse for the vaccination programme, welcomes the opportunity to open up a new way of booking: “We’ve had a fantastic response to the vaccination programme in Barnsley so far. GP practices have been running clinics at surgeries, we’ve had the larger sites like Priory Campus running pretty much continuously since December. People have really worked with us over these recent months. We now want to make sure that everyone can get that convenience of booking online or calling 119.”

The move to online booking is also expected to reduce the large numbers of calls GP practices have been receiving from people calling to check when their age group is due, or to ask when they’ll be invited. The national and local guidance has always been ‘Please wait to be invited, do not contact your GP’.

As the vaccination programme opened up to people aged 25 and over this week, the Barnsley NHS GP vaccination service also added clinic appointments online for the first time.

Andrea said: “We’re one of the first local GP vaccination services in South Yorkshire to open up bookings on the national NHS booking system. We ran a really successful drop-in session last weekend where we got more people coming forward. We know convenience is really important and this new way of booking is another way to help with that, wherever people attend.”

To book and manage your vaccine appointments visit www.nhs.uk/covidvaccine  or call 119.

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Background information: 

• The Barnsley NHS GP Vaccination Service is run by Barnsley Healthcare Federation as part of the Barnsley Primary Care Network

• Latest vaccination figures are available. Currently 94% of Barnsley adults aged 50 and over have had their first dose. 

• Between Fri 4^th June - Sun 6^th June 10,000 2^nd doses and 1,400 1^st doses were given to Barnsley people. These were administered across a range of venues (not just the drop-in clinics)

• Booking online (any site not just Barnsley): If you're under 40, you'll only be shown appointments for the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. If you're 40 or over, you'll be asked if you're pregnant to make sure you're only shown appointments for these vaccines.

• Vaccination appointments are offered at a range of places across our region.  These include large scale regional venues such as Sheffield Arena and selected pharmacies such as Superdrug in Barnsley town centre. Both of these venues have been available to book online, allowing the local vaccination service to invite everyone else. This included inviting and vaccinating people in the higher risk groups including people in care homes and those who were housebound.

• It is important to get both doses of the vaccine. You will get your second dose 8-12 weeks after your 1^st