You can now register for a Covid-19 vaccine if you’re aged 18-29 and live in Scotland

Anyone aged between 18 and 29 living in Scotland can n0w register for a Covid-19 vaccine through this link.

NHS Scotland opened an online registration portal this morning. The registration system means you will be contacted by email or text to book your vaccine. This is instead of receiving a blue letter like anyone 30 or older.

You can’t yet book a vaccine appointment but the NHS are estimating it will only be a “few weeks” until they are able to contact you to book one.

One Edi student told The Edinburgh Tab: “It’s really exciting that this is finally happening – especially for young people. It makes it seem like things are changing after so long, and hopefully things can get back to normal!”

To get registered you just need some basic personal information like your date of birth, address, and name. You don’t even need to have your CHI number (also known as an NHS number) although having it will speed the process up.

Your details are then cross-referenced with your GP to confirm who you are. And once this is confirmed, you receive an email telling you to “wait to be contacted” about your first vaccine appointment.

To use the online registration system, you need to be registered with a GP in Scotland at your current address.

Anyone who isn’t registered with a Scottish GP is being asked to phone the vaccine helpline on 0800 030 8013.

However, some who aren’t registered with GPs have complained that despite this advice on the NHS Scotland website, you still can’t register through this phone number yet. And operators are simply telling people to “try again in a few days”.

Other students who are registered with a GP have also reported not being found on the system.

One Edi student told The Edinburgh Tab she’d tried to register three times but her details still couldn’t be found on the system despite being registered.

These problems are likely to disproportionately affect students. This is because students are more likely to move more frequently and so get deregistered from GPs if they move outside their GP’s catchment area.

Also, UK students from outside Scotland may still be registered with GPs at home so are less likely to be registered with a GP at their term time address in Scotland.

A Tab Instagram poll last month found that 94 per cent of students nationally would get the vaccine when offered.

The same survey also found that more than 95 per cent of Edinburgh students would also accept a vaccine.

This is despite government concern that vaccine uptake levels amongst younger people would be low.

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