THOSE who are due to receive their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine will get an invite to book an appointment shortly.

The vaccination programme, which takes place at Bridport Medical Centre, was put together by the Jurassic Coast Primary Care Network (PCN) in December - meaning that appointment dates for those who received their first vaccination 12 weeks prior are fast approaching.

The Jurassic Coast PCN is now in the process of getting details on the delivery dates for the second doses from NHS England and will be contacting patients directly in the near future. These patients will then be able to book their own appointments online via a new booking system developed by the Jurassic Coast PCN team.

Dr Dani Farrell, clinical director of Jurassic Coast PCN and GP at Barton House Medical Practice in Beaminster, said: "We started vaccinating late December and so second dose dates are fast approaching.

"When we first started these clinics, we did not have an IT solution that allowed patients to book their own appointments online.

"We do now, and so if we have your mobile number, we can send your invite via a text and you can book a vaccine appointment directly online.

"If the clinic is full, you will be able to book the next available clinic once this has been put in the system- it will appear as an option; we need confirmation from NHS England centrally of vaccine delivery before we can put clinic dates on ; dates are not known far in advance. "

She added: Thank you for your patience - we will get to everyone as soon as we can. As you know, we have a fantastic healthcare and community team who have worked hard to bring this together and make it happen."

If patients do not have a mobile phone, the team will contact them by telephone to arrange an appointment. If patients are unreachable by telephone, a letter invite will be sent out.

The Jurassic Coast PCN is made up of surgeries in Beaminster, Bridport, Lyme Regis and Charmouth.

Dates of vaccination clinics are available on the group's website, www.jurassiccoastpcn.nhs.uk