Residents aged 70 and over urged to book vaccine appointment

Mayor of Rochdale, Billy Sheerin gets his vaccination at Number One Riverside

Residents of the borough of Rochdale who are aged 70 or over and have not yet received their first Covid-19 vaccination, can now ring or email to book an appointment.

Anyone in this age group, who has not yet received an invitation for a vaccine, can now book their appointment at one of the four vaccination centres in the borough by calling 0300 303 0355 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm) or emailing hmrccg.hmr.enquiries@nhs.net

The information only applies to those residents aged 70 or above who have yet to be invited for their first Covid-19 jab and are registered with a GP in the borough (Heywood, Littleborough, Middleton, Milnrow and Rochdale).

More than 30,000 residents across the borough have now received a vaccine since the programme began in December.

The vaccination programme is still on course to offer everyone in the first four priority groups an appointment by the national deadline of 15 February, but any residents aged over 70 that have not been offered an appointment either locally or at a mass vaccination site such as the Etihad complex in Manchester can now get in touch.

Anyone not in the first four priority groups should continue to wait until they are contacted by the NHS.

Councillor Daalat Ali, Rochdale Borough council’s cabinet member for public health, said: “We are making really good progress but we want to make sure no one has been missed. That’s why we have created a single point of contact, for residents aged 70 and over to get in touch wherever they live in the borough. If you are 70 or over and haven’t yet had your vaccine invite, please ring or email and the teams will book you in for a jab at one of our four local vaccination centres. We have made a good start but there is still much to do to encourage everyone to take up the vaccine when it’s their turn to protect themselves, their friends, family and the community.”

Dr Chris Duffy, chair of HMR Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We are urging those people who have a Heywood, Middleton or Rochdale GP and are over 70 years old to contact the phone number or email address straight away in order to get your vaccination booked in. It’s paramount that over 70s who have not yet received the vaccine are protected as soon as possible with their first vaccination.”