Aneurin Bevan University Health Board has made a plea to local residents, asking them to wait to receive their booster vaccination and not to contact them for details of their appointment.

Since the Welsh Government announced on Monday evening that every eligible person will receive an offer of an appointment for their Covid-19 booster vaccination by the end of 2021, the health board has seen an unprecedented amount of queries from local residents.

Approximately 50% of the calls received by the vaccination booking centre have been from residents asking when they will get their appointment.

You will get your appointment by letter, phone or text

Appointments will be given by letter, by phone, or by text, with phone calls coming from a number beginning in 0330. Anyone unable to attend the first appointment allocated to them is now advised that a second appointment will be made for them in early January.

Dr Sarah Aitken, Executive Director of Public Health and Strategic Partnerships at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said: “We’re really pleased to have the opportunity to offer the booster vaccination to so many residents, and we’re very grateful to those who have accepted the first appointment and have attended on time. Unfortunately, due to the incredibly high number of residents now requiring vaccinations by January, answering phone calls and queries from those asking when they will receive their appointment is putting further strain on an already busy service.

“Whilst we will do everything we can to help, each query takes time to deal with; time that could be better spent issuing vaccinations. Please be flexible, accept your first appointment, expect to receive an appointment at short notice, and answer our calls from an 0330 number. If you cannot attend the appointment allocated to you, please be aware that we will not be able to issue you with a replacement appointment until the New Year due to the very high volume of people that we are vaccinating.

“Contacting us will not accelerate your appointment and will slow down our process for offering appointments- so please don’t contact us to ask when you will receive your appointment. Please be patient and trust that we will be in touch with you once we have allocated you an appointment.”

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