I'm writing with the good news that we now have another route for unpaid carers to come forward to register for the COVID-19 vaccine. As you may know, we have been advocating for carers to be a priority in the vaccination programme since last July. On 30 December 2020, carers were included in Priority 6. Last October 2020, you told us that getting the vaccine was your top priority. We have continued to advocate for you, working with Government, local authorities and the NHS to make sure that this happened as quickly and as easily as possible. If you are offered the vaccine, we encourage you to take it up.
We know that many of you will have already had the vaccine. If you already have a letter or appointment, then please continue with that route.
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has now confirmed that unpaid carers in England can register for their COVID-19 vaccine online if they are the primary carer of someone who is clinically vulnerable (see definition on p11).
If you have been receiving Carer''s Allowance for a while (or have an underlying entitlement), you should automatically be notified about your vaccine by letter. The same applies if you have a carer's flag on your GP record. If you have only recently qualified for Carer''s Allowance, we would suggest using the National Booking Service.
If you have had a carer's assessment recently, then you should receive an invitation for a vaccination. If you don't get this in the next few days and you think you are eligible, then please follow the procedure below.
If you are the primary carer of someone who is clinically vulnerable and over 18, you can use the National Booking Service at www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or call 119. There are a few questions to answer to see if you are eligible. We are frequently updating our vaccine FAQs page on our website, which you can find here. This page also contains the answers to lots of commonly asked questions about the vaccination programme across the UK. You can refer to this government guidance for more information.
If you encounter any issues, please email us at comms@carersuk.org to share your experience and we will look into this. Alternatively, if you have any questions that aren't answered on our FAQ page, you can get in touch with our advisers at advice@carersuk.org