Lincolnshire NHS bosses ask patients to book Covid booster jab

The vaccination site at the Lincolnshire Showground near Lincoln is incorrectly listed as a walk-in centre

Health bosses are urging people not to turn up for walk-in booster jabs in Lincolnshire after confusion following a national campaign.

Sites at Boston and Lincoln were listed as drop-in centres on an NHS website, however the Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said appointments were needed.

Rebecca Neno from the CCG said there were plenty of slots available.

More than 125,000 booster jabs have been given across the county.

Ms Neno said the booking system helped ensure safety.

"Clearly we want to make it as easy as we can for people and where we can facilitate those people who do walk in we will of course offer a vaccine," she said.

"What tends to happen is that people come all at once and then we get long waits and we end up having to turn people away because the environment becomes unsafe."

She added there was no shortage of Covid booster vaccines in the county.

The NHS launched a website on Monday allowing people to search for a walk-in centre near their home. NHS England said nearly every person registered with a GP practice lives within 10 miles of a vaccination site.

More than 125,000 people have received Covid booster jabs in Lincolnshire

Those entitled to a booster jab include people aged 50 and over, care home staff and residents, and frontline health and social care workers. Also included are people aged 16 to 49 years old with underlying health conditions which put them at greater risk of severe Covid, and adults sharing a home with vulnerable people.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged people to take up the booster jab when they become eligible, which is six months after having the second vaccine dose.

"I think people don't quite realise that the first two jabs do start to wane," he said.

"How sad, how tragic it would be if people who had other complications, other compromises in their health, got seriously ill because they were overconfident about their level of immunity and didn't get their booster when they needed it."