THE NHS has begun texting people to invite them to book their coronavirus vaccine jabs.

Health trusts in Lancashire and across England hope that this will make the process of getting an appointment quicker and much easier.

The texts will arrive in advance of standard letters and will include a web link to book an appointment with reminders sent 2-3 weeks after the original alert to encourage people to get their vaccine if they have not taken up the offer.

Lancashire and South Cumbria Covid-19 vaccination director Jane Scattergood said: “Thanks to careful planning and the huge efforts of NHS staff we have vaccinated more than 560,000 people in Lancashire and South Cumbria, which is a remarkable achievement.

“The NHS vaccination programme, the biggest in health service history, continues to go from strength to strength and we are now building on that momentum by trialling a quick and easy service that will hopefully make it more convenient for people to book their life-saving jab.

“The vaccine is simple, quick and painless and I would encourage others who have not yet taken up the offer to come forward and receive the jab.”

Almost 400,000 people aged 55 and over and 40,000 unpaid carers will be the first to get text alerts.

Meanwhile, people will continue to receive letters inviting them to book an appointment as well as a text alert, to ensure that people who don’t have a number registered or need information in different languages or formats don’t miss out.

People should not receive a text message or a letter from the NHS if they have already been vaccinated and this has been recorded.

If they cannot or would prefer not to travel to a Vaccination Centre or pharmacy-led site, they can choose to wait to be invited by a local GP-led service.

However, Ms Scattergood warned that in some cases, text messages have been used by scammers to try to collect personal details from people, get them to ring premium-rate numbers or enter their banking details.

She said: 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 licence, bills or payslips.”