Booking a flu jab in Wigan is now as easy as booking a cab following NHS app overhaul

The ambitious strategy outlines how getting vaccinated will be made easier than ever before, including through the expansion of the NHS App, one stop shops and community outreach.

The improvements build on the schemes such as Cheshire and Merseyside’s Living Well Bus, which sees NHS teams taking vaccinations out into the heart of local communities alongside wider health checks, pop-up family vaccination clinics at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the roving Fylde Coast vaccination bus that takes flu and Covid vaccines into communities across Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Dr Linda Charles-Ozuzu, regional director for commissioning and senior responsible officer for the vaccination programme for NHS England North West, said: “Having access to vaccinations is the best way to protect yourself against a variety of infections, from meningitis to Covid.

“The national vaccination strategy builds on decades of experience and lessons learned more recently through the Covic-19 vaccination programme, which saw extraordinary efforts by NHS teams and local partners to deliver vaccinations into the heart of communities where we traditionally see lower vaccine uptake rates.

“I’m really proud that some of the innovative approaches we have already seen in the North West to improve access to vaccinations are now part of the national strategy for increasing uptake and helping to ensure more people can get their potentially life-saving protection from vaccines.”

Last week marked the anniversary of what was the first ever Covid-19 vaccination and the new strategy builds on that programme, allowing adults to book their own vaccine appointments in a range of non-NHS settings. Health and care professionals will focus efforts on going into the heart of communities to protect those that are unvaccinated and less well served by traditional health services. By doing so, taking taking vaccines closer to people’s homes and offering in-person support to improve vaccine confidence.

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the NHS in England said: “Just over three years ago Maggie Keenan was the first person in the world to receive an approved Covid-19 jab and since that momentous day, the NHS covid-19 vaccination programme has delivered over 156 million covid jabs and saved tens of thousands of lives – our vision for the future of vaccinations sets out how we plan to build on this huge success and save even more lives.

“Through the NHS app, we’ll make sure booking a jab can be as easy as booking a cab so millions more people can get vaccinated – users will be able to access their full vaccine status in a matter of seconds and book jabs with a simple swipe and tap.”

Over 33 million people are already signed up to the NHS App. Currently, most NHS app users can view their COVID-19 and flu vaccination status via the NHS App, but the NHS will be increasing the visibility of routine vaccine-preventable diseases, making it easier for people to identify any missed vaccinations in their history.

This has been supported by a joint online and telephone booking service and by combined invitations, both for the first time, as part of the current winter vaccines campaign, which remains open for bookings until the end of Thursday, 14 December. After that date, people may still be able to get Covid vaccines at walk-in clinics and outreach services across the North West up to the end of January 2024.