PATIENTS invited to mass vaccination centres can wait for an appointment from their GP if they prefer.

Dorset’s Clinical Commissioning Group has clarified the situation after fears patients were becoming confused about the dispensing of the coronavirus jab.

One of the UK’s huge mass vaccination centres is up and running at the Bournemouth International Centre(BIC).

In a post on Facebook, a spokesman for the Hadleigh House Surgery in Broadstone said: “We have been made aware that people have been receiving letters from NHS England asking them to book their vaccine at the BIC or in Bristol.

“This is unfortunately something that has nothing to do with our practice or Primary Care Network and we realise that it has caused a great deal of confusion.”

A spokesman for Dorset CCG said people are welcome to accept invitations to the BIC or other large sites and that if they take them up their GPs will be notified.

But the organisation has warned against accepting such an invitation if you already have a vaccination appointment booked at a different centre.

The spokesman said: “The large vaccination centre at the Bournemouth International Centre is one of several places people can get their jab.

“If you already have an appointment through your GP at a local vaccination centre, or at a local hospital hub, please attend that appointment. This will prevent wasted appointments that the NHS cannot fill at short notice.”

There are numerous locations at which patients are receiving the Covid-19 vaccination.

GP-led vaccination services are up and running across all of Dorset’s 18 Primary Care Networks. These services involve groups of GPs working together to vaccinate the most vulnerable to their collective patients in one location. You may not be vaccinated by your local GP and you may be required to travel to a different site nearby to where you live.

Hospitals are currently focusing on health staff.

There is also a roving service with the vaccine being taken into care homes and into people’s own homes if they are housebound and unable to attend a vaccination site.