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The National Health Service England will now send reminders via text messages to people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus infection, Sky News reported.
According to the report, text messages will be sent to 40,000 unpaid carers and almost 400,000 people aged 55 and beyond.
The text messages incorporate a web link that will help people fix an appointment for inoculation, at more than 300 vaccination centres and pharmacies across England.
These messages will be sent to people every two to three weeks to remind them of their pending inoculation.
If the reminders see people coming to the vaccination centres, the same will then be used during the next phase of the vaccination that will cover younger people.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in an official statement: “Our vaccination roll-out is moving at a blistering speed and these text alerts will increase the pace by making it easier for people to get booked in for their jab.”
“Thanks to the tireless work of our NHS staff, two in every five adults now have some degree of protection. Vaccines are the best way of securing our long-term freedom and will save thousands of lives; so I urge everyone to take up the offer when the text pings into their phone,” he added, as cited in the Sky News report.
According to media reports, over 22 million people have been administered the first dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca jab so far.
Dr. Nikki Kanani, GP and NHS Medical Director for Primary Care, said, “We know that some people are rightly worried about scams going around, but if the message comes from ‘NHSvaccine’ and links to the NHS.uk website you can be sure that it’s the right invite.”
“For any messages, you might get about the vaccine, always remember that the NHS will never ask you for your bank account or card details, your PIN or banking password. The NHS will also never arrive unannounced at your home to administer the vaccine or ask you to prove your identity by sending copies of personal documents such as your passport, driving license, bills, or payslips,” she warned.
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