‘Don’t contact us about boosters,’ health board pleads

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) has pleaded with residents not to contact them about booster vaccine appointments.

Earlier this week, the Welsh Government announced it was bringing forward its plans to offer all adults in Wales a booster jab from the end of January to the end of this month, amid concerns over the Omicron variant.

Since that announcement, ABUHB has said around half the calls its vaccination booking centre has received are from residents asking when their appointment will be.

But ABUHB has urged people not to call and instead wait until they are given an appointment.

Residents will be told of their appointment details by letter, by text or by phone call, with calls coming from a number beginning in 0330.

ABUHB said it “appreciates the anxiety and worry that residents must be feeling” as Omicron cases grow, but said: “The vaccination team are doing everything they can to vaccinate as quickly and safely as possible.”

Last week, 30,000 booster vaccines were administered within the health board area.

ABUHB said it had redeployed “a number” of staff to help out at its vaccination centres, and is “currently working through our plans to identify additional staff that can be redeployed”.

Dr Sarah Aitken, Executive Director Public Health at ABUHB, said: “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.”

Dr Aitken urged people to be flexible and accept their first appointment.

She added: “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.”

Anyone unable to attend their booster appointment will be able to book a new time slot in early January.