Millions of Britons have now had their two Covid-19 vaccine doses, with millions more waiting on their second.

And now the opportunity is available for everyone over the age of 25 to book an appointment.

The invite allows those eligible to book both jabs at the same time and choose a location from a list of NHS vaccination centres, pharmacy-led vaccination services and GP-led sites.

The NHS is urging everyone who is eligible to take up the offer at one of the 1,600 locations across the nation including mosques, museums and sports grounds, such as Ashton Gate here in Bristol.

But how do you actually book your coronavirus vaccine appointment?

How to book your Covid-19 vaccine appointment

Eligible individuals can book their Covid-19 vaccine appointment right now on the NHS website. That includes anyone to whom any one of the following apply:

  • You're aged 25 or over
  • You'll turn 25 before 1 July 2021
  • You're at high risk from COVID-19 (clinically extremely vulnerable)
  • You have a learning disability
  • You're a frontline health or social care worker
  • You receive a carer's allowance, get support following an assessment by your local authority, or your GP record shows you're a carer

You don't have to use the NHS website to book your appointment: everyone will be contacted in turn by their GP surgery - either by phone, text, or letter - or by text from 'NHSvaccine'. In some cases this is happening earlier than the NHS booking system opens above, and in some cases later.

Can I choose which Covid-19 vaccine to have?

People under the age of 40 are now, in most cases, only being offered the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, following reports of blood clots in a few people who had recently received their first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

Blood clots of this type have occurred in about one in every 100,000 people to have received the vaccine, so it is extremely rare. However, since young people seem to be more at risk of these clots, the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation (JCVI) has said it is preferable for healthy people under the age of 40 to be given a different Covid-19 vaccine than the Oxford/AZ one.

You may be offered either the AZ, Pfizer, or Moderna jab, depending on supplies in your area. The government says you may still go ahead and get the AZ jab if you have considered the risks and benefits, even if you're young and healthy.

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If you've already had a first jab, you should get the second dose of the same course, rather than mixing and matching.

If you have underlying health conditions or are over 40, the risk of suffering severe illness from Covid-19 is higher than the risk of suffering from a rare blood clot, and so the JCVI says "the benefits of vaccination in protecting you against the serious consequences of Covid-19 outweigh any risk of this extremely rare [blood clotting] condition" - you should therefore get whichever vaccine is offered to you as soon as possible.

For more on the risks and benefits of the Covid-19 vaccines, check out the government website or the NHS website.