All GP practices in Bolton now have access to a local vaccination site.

Bolton's health bosses say they are working hard to get everyone vaccinated who is eligible.

Here are the most commonly asked questions answered Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group:

When will I receive my vaccine?’

If you are in the priority groups you will be contacted by the NHS. The invitation may be by text, telephone or by letter and you could be asked to attend your own GP practice or another location.

If you are waiting to hear about your vaccination, please wait to be contacted and try to avoid contacting them for updates.

You’re wondering why a friend, neighbour or someone from another part of town has been called for their vaccination before you.

Everyone is working really hard to get the vaccination programme rolled out to those who need it most. The delivery of the vaccines is being led by NHS England and as soon as we receive deliveries we are working fast to get people vaccinated

Where will I have my vaccination?

More vaccination sites are being introduced in order to provide you with a choice of where to get vaccinated. You could be contacted by your GP practice, either by text, phone or letter to make an appointment at your local vaccination centre. This could either be at your own GP practice or another site in Bolton.

Large vaccination sites have also been selected so they can vaccinate thousands of people each week. You may have already received a letter in the post giving you the option to attend a large site – around 30 minutes’ drive away. You can take up this offer or wait until you’re invited by your local GP. More local sites are likely to be introduced, including some managed by pharmacies, so that more people can be vaccinated as quickly as possible.

If you’ve already received your first dose, please wait to be contacted about your second. You may already have an appointment arranged – please keep to those arrangements. You will be contacted soon if you haven’t received any invitation yet.

Please note: our mobile teams will get to all care homes and anyone who is housebound will be contacted so we can make arrangements to vaccinate them at home.

What to expect when you have your vaccine

When it is time for you to receive the vaccine you may receive a text message, phone call or letter. This could be direct from your GP practice or a central NHS organisation.

You’ll be given an appointment and it’s important that you arrive on time. While it’s tempting to turn up early, appointments are running to a strict schedule. This is so we can manage social distancing and help to minimise queueing or waiting.

On arrival you will be greeted by a marshal who will take your details. Don’t forget your face covering!

You will then go through a short medical screening process to make sure you’re fit to have the vaccine and you will be asked to give consent – to make sure you are happy to proceed with the vaccine.

The vaccination itself takes a matter of seconds – this will be done in the top of your arm.

Depending on which vaccine you receive, you may be asked to take a seat in a waiting area for 15 minutes, for observation. Then you’ll be free to go!

How does the vaccine work?

The vaccine encourages your body to make antibodies, which will be used to try and protect your body from the virus. Both of the current COVID-19 vaccines are ‘inactivated vaccines’, which means they cannot give you Covid. Vaccination will significantly reduce the chances of you catching the virus and becoming seriously unwell if you were to catch it.

Even if you’ve already had COVID-19, the vaccine will ensure that your immunity to the disease is as strong as possible.

Can I choose which vaccine I get?

There are currently two vaccines available in the UK and both give very high protection against COVID-19 and reduce the chances of getting seriously ill. Both require two doses, 12 weeks apart. The vaccine you are offered will very much rely on the type we are supplied with and we won’t necessarily know which vaccine we’ll receive until a day or two before. Our ultimate aim is to vaccinate as many people as possible within a short timeframe, which means there is no choice of vaccine.

Do the vaccines contain animal ingredients?

Both vaccines that are currently being used do not contain any animal ingredients or egg. The ingredients have been reviewed by regulators and ingredients on both vaccines can be found on:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca

Both vaccines are recommended by the British Islamic Medical Association: www.britishima.org

For more detailed information about the vaccine visit www.nhs.uk/covidvaccination

Bolton CCG website: https://www.boltonccg.nhs.uk/patient-zone/coronavirus