UK: Walk-in first Covid jab if not with a GP?
December 19, 2021 12:06 AM Subscribe
Is it possible to go to a walk-in centre in the UK, queue and get your first Covid vaccine shot that day if you haven't been registered with a GP for decades but are provably legally resident in the country? What requirements might there be and what should be expected? Context is someone who is generally avoidant and legitimately anxious of medical settings as well as "having to justify [them]self" but equally has continually masked and Hands Face Spaced since the pandemic started. Someone who genuinely wants to get their jab and would be over the moon if e.g. Nurse Christmas knocked on their door to deliver it today, but might be discouraged if they felt "turned away"
Yes. I have been asked my NHS number but many places do the jabs no questions asked. It's better to get it in people!
posted by socky_puppy at 12:47 AM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by socky_puppy at 12:47 AM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
From the horse’s mouth:
“You do not need to be registered with a GP to use a walk-in site.”
and:
The COVID-19 vaccine is free to everyone in the UK. This includes all migrants. […] You do not need to have a GP or an NHS number to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:49 AM on December 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
“You do not need to be registered with a GP to use a walk-in site.”
and:
The COVID-19 vaccine is free to everyone in the UK. This includes all migrants. […] You do not need to have a GP or an NHS number to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:49 AM on December 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
I’ve also seen a suggestion that you can call 119 and book a vaccine without being registered with a GP. That is on a local NHS website, so it’s fairly official, but I can’t find any mention of it elsewhere, so…
I am not registered with a GP practice – how can I book my vaccine?
If you are eligible for the vaccine (currently priority groups 1-11) you can call 119 – a manual record will be completed so that you can access the vaccine (calls to 119 are free of charge, call anytime between 7am and 11pm seven days a week).
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 1:14 AM on December 19, 2021
I am not registered with a GP practice – how can I book my vaccine?
If you are eligible for the vaccine (currently priority groups 1-11) you can call 119 – a manual record will be completed so that you can access the vaccine (calls to 119 are free of charge, call anytime between 7am and 11pm seven days a week).
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 1:14 AM on December 19, 2021
If booking an appointment is an extra barrier, you can just turn up at a Walk-In Clinic. The one I went to even seemed to be more focused on getting walk-ins through the door than catering to those who had booked appointments (appointments had to stand in the queue like everyone else, "we want to get through as many walk-ins as possible")!
You can turn up 15-20 minutes early ahead of the opening of the clinic to avoid queuing and the anxiety that can bring.
posted by Balthamos at 2:26 AM on December 19, 2021
You can turn up 15-20 minutes early ahead of the opening of the clinic to avoid queuing and the anxiety that can bring.
posted by Balthamos at 2:26 AM on December 19, 2021
Is it possible to go to a walk-in centre in the UK, queue and get your first Covid vaccine shot that day if you haven't been registered with a GP for decades but are provably legally resident in the country?
Yes. My SO and I are not registered with GPs in England (we've just moved from Scotland, whose NHS database isn't linked with England and Wales) and went to a walk-in centre yesterday for our boosters, for exactly that reason.
My SO has never interacted with the English NHS, (in the country legally, but is not a UK citizen and has never lived in England until just now), and had absolutely no problems.
We were asked whether we had an appointment (no) and whether we were registered with a GP in England (also no). They seemed content with that.
We were asked for: our names, addresses, dates of birth, and our NHS number "if you know it".
I didn't know my old English NHS number, but they found it from my name and birthdate. My SO has never had one, so there was no record to find, and they were also fine with that. I assume they created a new record for her, because they said that when she registers with a GP (we told them we were in the process) this new dose should turn up on her new record.
Because these were booster doses, we were also asked for the dates, rough locations (city), and batch numbers of our previous vaccinations. Only knowing the dates was essential; I didn't know my batch numbers, but they said I could always have them added to my record later by calling 119 or talking with my GP when registered.
We were not asked to show any kind of ID/proof of address/etc at any stage. As walk-ins we were in a different (and slower) queue than those with appointments: the total time from parking to driving away was about an hour.
This is only one experience of one walk-in centre, but the staff -- and as far as I could tell the system as designed -- was focused entirely on getting as many people protected as possible, and welcoming everyone equally. Our forgotten/non-exsistant NHS records didn't faze them at all.
posted by metaBugs at 3:18 AM on December 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yes. My SO and I are not registered with GPs in England (we've just moved from Scotland, whose NHS database isn't linked with England and Wales) and went to a walk-in centre yesterday for our boosters, for exactly that reason.
My SO has never interacted with the English NHS, (in the country legally, but is not a UK citizen and has never lived in England until just now), and had absolutely no problems.
We were asked whether we had an appointment (no) and whether we were registered with a GP in England (also no). They seemed content with that.
We were asked for: our names, addresses, dates of birth, and our NHS number "if you know it".
I didn't know my old English NHS number, but they found it from my name and birthdate. My SO has never had one, so there was no record to find, and they were also fine with that. I assume they created a new record for her, because they said that when she registers with a GP (we told them we were in the process) this new dose should turn up on her new record.
Because these were booster doses, we were also asked for the dates, rough locations (city), and batch numbers of our previous vaccinations. Only knowing the dates was essential; I didn't know my batch numbers, but they said I could always have them added to my record later by calling 119 or talking with my GP when registered.
We were not asked to show any kind of ID/proof of address/etc at any stage. As walk-ins we were in a different (and slower) queue than those with appointments: the total time from parking to driving away was about an hour.
This is only one experience of one walk-in centre, but the staff -- and as far as I could tell the system as designed -- was focused entirely on getting as many people protected as possible, and welcoming everyone equally. Our forgotten/non-exsistant NHS records didn't faze them at all.
posted by metaBugs at 3:18 AM on December 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
Epidemiologist in London here. If Nurse Christmas wants to really go that extra mile for this person, Nurse Christmas may want to go to a convenient vaccination site and have this exact conversation with the intake crew there. They will tell you exactly how to smoothly, swiftly get someone in and out with the minimum amount of friction possible (there should be no friction, but advance planning is always a help).
Also: bless you for asking and helping.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:19 AM on December 19, 2021 [8 favorites]
Also: bless you for asking and helping.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:19 AM on December 19, 2021 [8 favorites]
Vaccination volunteer in London here. If you came to our drop-in clinic, we'd be more than happy to vaccinate you. The NHS is a big umbrella. We are absolutely used to meeting people in this exact situation, and we are absolutely thrilled when someone comes for a jab.
In the last week I have personally vaccinated people from the UK and several other countries, some of whom had already had their previous jabs and some of whom had not. Some were recently arrived refugees, some were spending time here for Christmas and wanted to get boosted, some had moved house and hadn't seen a GP in ages.
All of them got their vaccines. I've seen a variety of vaccine "passports" and records from around the world and we accept all of them.
We can enter your vaccines in the system as NOTREG if you don't have a GP; we can enter them without an NHS number if you don't have one yet; we can enter them without a fixed address if you don't have that, or if you've moved recently or even decades ago and haven't updated your GP or your new address.
The hypothetical person will get to the door and be greeted by a volunteer or staffer and asked for name, date of birth, and postcode. You don't need to know your NHS number because we'll find it on the computer when you come up for your jab.
Volunteers and staffers will confirm verbally that you are who you say you are (and won't ask more than that) and will check whether you're having one, two, or booster jabs by looking in the computer system. Then you'll get the chat about medical background, potential side effects, and once you've consented you'll get the jab.
I hope Nurse or Volunteer Christmas gives you a present nobody else can give you!
posted by Orkney Vole at 8:09 AM on December 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
In the last week I have personally vaccinated people from the UK and several other countries, some of whom had already had their previous jabs and some of whom had not. Some were recently arrived refugees, some were spending time here for Christmas and wanted to get boosted, some had moved house and hadn't seen a GP in ages.
All of them got their vaccines. I've seen a variety of vaccine "passports" and records from around the world and we accept all of them.
We can enter your vaccines in the system as NOTREG if you don't have a GP; we can enter them without an NHS number if you don't have one yet; we can enter them without a fixed address if you don't have that, or if you've moved recently or even decades ago and haven't updated your GP or your new address.
The hypothetical person will get to the door and be greeted by a volunteer or staffer and asked for name, date of birth, and postcode. You don't need to know your NHS number because we'll find it on the computer when you come up for your jab.
Volunteers and staffers will confirm verbally that you are who you say you are (and won't ask more than that) and will check whether you're having one, two, or booster jabs by looking in the computer system. Then you'll get the chat about medical background, potential side effects, and once you've consented you'll get the jab.
I hope Nurse or Volunteer Christmas gives you a present nobody else can give you!
posted by Orkney Vole at 8:09 AM on December 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
Might it depend why you want the vaccine? If it's to be able to prove status for travel or events where this is necessary, I'm not sure how well this will work at a walk in without an NHS number.
posted by turkeyphant at 5:44 PM on December 19, 2021
posted by turkeyphant at 5:44 PM on December 19, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by parmanparman at 12:12 AM on December 19, 2021 [2 favorites]