COVID-19 vaccine facts and guidance

You can find out more about COVID-19 vaccination here

The Department for Health and Social Care advise that the second of the vaccines for most people aged 18+ should be scheduled 8 weeks apart. Those aged 16 and 17 need to leave a 12 week gap.

Boosted protection kicks in around a week or two after vaccination which is why it’s also important that when you do get invited, you act on that and get yourself booked in as soon as possible.

Even those who have received a vaccine still need to remain sensible and follow the guidance.

The Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine full dosages are needed because the evidence from clinical trials shows that this gives the best level of protection from the virus.

People at greater risk of serious illness from the virus will be invited to book a booster dose to maintain and boost immunity levels.

Not having the full dosage means you will not being as well protected as you otherwise would be. We would urge everyone to show up for all their appointments for their own protection as well as to ensure we don’t waste vaccines or the time of NHS staff.

• if you're pregnant or under 40 you'll usually be offered appointments for the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines
• if you're under 18, you'll only be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

Vaccinated people are far less likely to get COVID-19 with symptoms and pass it on to others and are even more unlikely to get serious COVID-19, to be admitted to hospital, or to die from it.

Even if you are younger, you can still get seriously ill from Covid, including longer lasting symptoms from 'Long Covid' like severe fatigue. You can read more about this here: Long COVID effects