Frequently Asked Questions about the programme

Vaccination sites

The following sites are currently live and are continuing to offer first and second doses as part of Phase 2 of the vaccine delivery programme:

Our vaccination sites are delivering vaccinations to those in the priority groups as per JCVI guidance.

The following sites have now completed their delivery of first dose vaccinations and are currently completing their second doses:

The following sites have now completed their delivery of second dose vaccinations and are not currently vaccinating: 

We have offered the vaccination to care home residents and staff in all of our local care homes. 

The national COVID-19 vaccination booking service only shows sites where appointments are currently available. This means you will not see local sites on the national booking service website where they are fully booked for the coming days.

If you cannot select a large scale vaccination site near you when you access the national booking service, you can either choose to book at an alternative location which still has appointments available, or try again later in the day to see if appointments at a site that is nearer to you have become available.

You can find the full list of large scale vaccination sites in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough below:

• City Care Centre in Peterborough
• Cherry Hinton Leisure Centre in Cambridge
• Grafton Centre in Cambridge
• Oak Tree Centre in Huntingdon
• Horsefair Shopping Centre in Wisbech
• Chesterton Indoor Bowls Club in Cambridge
• East of England Arena and Events Centre in Peterborough
• Eatons Community Centre at The Maltings, Eaton Socon

The latest government guidance is for appointments of a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to be brought forward from 12 to eight weeks for the remaining people in all cohorts who have yet to receive their second dose. This is to ensure priority groups have the strongest possible protection from the Delta variant of the virus at the earliest opportunity possible.

Functionality on the National Booking System (NBS) will change so that anyone who books their appointments through NBS will be offered their second dose appointment 56 to 84 days after their first dose appointment. People wishing to rebook their second appointment will also be able to check availability first, before cancelling and rescheduling their existing second dose appointment.

We are asking patients to come to their appointment on their own unless they are in a wheelchair, but friends or relatives are more than welcome to wait in the car park if they have driven together. We would recommend only travelling or asking for support from someone within your household or support bubble in line with current COVID-19 guidance.

If you need assistance from a carer or relative to walk to and through the vaccination centre, they are also welcome to accompany you wearing a face covering.

The vaccine programme is now entering Phase 2 which will focus on cohorts 10 -12 (for people aged 18 – 49). If you are aged 18 to 49, you will be contacted by the NHS when it is your turn, and you will be able to book to have your vaccine at a range of local vaccination services including:  

Local Vaccination Centres 

There are a number of Vaccination Centres across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Once eligible, you can book an appointment via the National Booking Service online at nhs.uk/covidvaccination or by calling 119. You will book appointments for your first and second doses. 

GP led local vaccination service 

Some of our local GP practices will be continuing to offer vaccination services for Phase 2 (ages 18-49), but not all.  The following table outlines this information.

If your local GP is not delivering the vaccine to those aged 49 and under, rest assured that you will be able to access the vaccine via alternative services at the same time.  

• Patients of GP practices that will be offering vaccination services for Phase 2 (ages 18-49)

You will be contacted by the NHS when it is your turn and will be able to book an appointment either through your GP practice or you will be able to book online via nhs.uk/covidvaccination or by calling 119 to have your vaccine at one of the local Vaccination Centres.

• Patients of GP practices that are not offering vaccination services for Phase 2 (ages 18-49)
  
  

You will be contacted by the NHS when it is your turn and you will be able to book an appointment online via nhs.uk/covidvaccination or by calling 119 to have your vaccine at one of the local Vaccination Centres.    

All GP practices will continue to offer second doses to those patients who have had their first dose through their Practice. Patients will be contacted when it is the right time to book. 

All adults in England are now eligible to have the COVID-19 vaccination. If your GP practice is offering the vaccine, they will get in touch with you to invite you when it's the right time for you to have your jab.

Alternatively, you can book your appointments online via the National Booking Service or by calling 119 if you do not use the internet. You can also choose to attend a walk-in clinic for your vaccine. You can find information about walk-in clinics that are currently planned in our area on our walk-in page here.

We would ask that you consider asking a member of your household or support bubble to drive you to the appointment if you think they may be able to help in the first instance, as our volunteer driver team will have limited capacity. Car sharing with someone outside your household or support bubble is only permitted in limited circumstances during the national lockdown. You can find out more about the rules on car sharing here.

If you do need help from the Local Authority’s voluntary travel support service, you can access this service online via http://bit.ly/Cambstransport. You can also call them between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday on 0345 045 5219 to book your transport.  Where possible, most transport providers ask for a minimum of 24 hours notice for bookings.

The MHRA have said these vaccines are highly effective, but to get full protection people need to come back for the second dose – this is really important.  

To ensure as many people are vaccinated as quickly as possible, the Department for Health and Social Care now advise that the second dose the COVID-19 vaccines should be scheduled 8 weeks apart.

If you use the national booking service to arrange your vaccine, you will be prompted when you book to schedule in both your first and your second dose. 

If you received your first vaccine at a local vaccination service (run by GP practices) or a hospital hub, you will be contacted by the NHS in due course to arrange your second vaccination appointment. 

You can also choose to attend a walk-in clinic for your second dose after at least 8 weeks have passed since you had your first dose. You can find information about walk-in clinics that are currently planned in our area on our walk-in page here.

If you received your first vaccination dose in a hospital hub or through a local GP-led vaccination service, you will be contacted to arrange your second appointment in due course. Systems are in place to ensure that the NHS contacts you again when the time is right for you to have your second vaccine dose.

However, if it is now at least 11 weeks (77 days) since you had your first dose and you have not yet received an invitation to have your second vaccine, please do contact the GP you are registered with as they will be able to help you access your second dose.

You can also choose to attend a walk-in clinic for your second dose after at least 8 weeks have passed since you had your first dose. You can find information about walk-in clinics that are currently planned in our area on our walk-in page here.

If you are offered your second vaccination appointment but are not able to attend within the recommended 8 week time frame, for example due to illness, you should book your second dose appointment as soon as possible once you are able to attend. You do not have to restart your vaccination course even if over 84 days have passed since you had your first dose. Please make sure you do receive your second dose as two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will give you the best possible protection.

From 17 May 2021, people in England who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can demonstrate their vaccination status for international travel. A full course is currently two doses of any approved vaccine. Vaccine status will be available from: 

• the NHS App which you can download from app stores 

• the NHS website (from 17 May 2021)

It may take more than a week for your identity to be checked and verified so you can use these services.

If you cannot access these online services, and you have had 2 vaccines, you can request a paper letter from the NHS by calling 119. Only call 119 if you had your second dose more than 5 working days ago. It may take 7 working days for the letter to arrive.

When you're planning your travel, check the latest information on demonstrating your COVID-19 status when travelling abroad on the gov.uk website. Make sure there is time to get  proof of your vaccination status before you leave.

Please note: Your GP practice is not able to provide you with a letter that show s you your COVID-19 vaccination status. If you require such a letter, please do not contact your GP practice and use the routes above instead.

Getting vaccinated means protecting yourself from the virus so you can be there for your family, friends and patients or residents. If you are invited to have your vaccine, please accept the invitation to help protect yourself against COVID-19.

You can get the COVID-19 vaccine if you're a health worker who has direct contact with people at higher risk from coronavirus.

For example:

• you work in a clinical role (such as a doctor or nurse)
• you have contact in a non-clinical role (such as a receptionist or porter)
• you work in a hospital laboratory, mortuary or a funeral home

If you have not already been vaccinated through your employer, you can book your appointments at a larger vaccination centre or pharmacy now by using the National Booking Service online or by calling 119.

The COVID-19 vaccination is now available to all frontline health and social care staff, including staff who work at independent providers. If you represent an independent health or social care provider, it is important that you support your staff to get vaccinated. Please contact us as soon as possible via capccg.massvacsworkforce@nhs.net if you need support to arrange COVID-19 vaccination appointments for your frontline staff. When contacting us it is helpful if you include your profession and employment details in order to speed up the response time. 

Getting vaccinated means protecting yourself from the virus so you can be there for your family, friends and patients, so if you are invited to get vaccinated please accept your invitation. 

Please do not send our Team any Patient Identifiable Data when you contact them to submit your interest. If we require Patient Identifiable Data from you, we will ask for this after you have made contact with us. 

Nationally there will be tens of thousands of people required to vaccinate people at the pace and scale that we need to, which is why as well as the existing NHS workforce recruitment is ongoing.   

In our area, you can find out more about how to apply for various health care professional and support roles on our COVID-19 vaccination teams across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough via Cambridgeshire Community Services (CCS) NHS Trust’s website.

If you’re interested in opportunities available across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, CCS would love to hear from you.  You can find out more by:

• visiting their website - where you can also apply online, or
• contacting the CCS HR Team via ccs.hrteam@nhs.net