TEENAGERS aged 16 and 17 are now eligible to get the Covid-19 vaccine, with over 125,000 already having the first dose in England.

Invitations from the NHS to get the jab were sent out from yesterday and many from the age group have already been invited by their GPs in the past two weeks.

However, some members of the public have been in touch to say they have been unable to attend walk-in centres across Brighton.

One mother, who asked not to be named, was directed to Eastbourne or Chichester for her son's vaccination.

She then managed to get an appointment by calling Brighton Racecourse vaccination centre, who are offering bookable appointments.

Healthwatch Brighton and Hove said that plans for walk-in centre to begin taking 16 and 17 year olds are in the works and will be confirmed shortly.

A spokeswoman for Healthwatch said: "The invites for 16 to 17 year olds just started to go out yesterday from the national programme and our vaccination services are working in line with this. are also now contacting patients directly to arrange their appointments.

"In terms of 16 and 17 year olds in the city, they will be contacted by the Racecourse vaccination team so they can arrange their appointment over the coming days.

"We also expect that there will be walk in sessions for this age group at that vaccination services and we will be confirming the start of these shortly.

"Nationally this age group is not on the national booking system, so as the national letters say, people will be contacted by their local vaccination service to book their appointment as soon as possible."

This comes as infection rates in the city continue to rise, with the number of coronavirus cases increasing by 196 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

There has been a national drive to encourage older teenagers to get jabbed as soon as they are offered it, are the rate of infection is high in the age group.

“While we know that the majority of younger people aged 16 -17 aren’t at risk of severe illness if they catch COVID-19 themselves, we do know that infection rates among this group have been increasing, so vaccinating them to get their all-important protection before they go back to school, college or begin work, and stop the spread in our communities," said the spokeswoman.

Over one million 16 and 17 year olds across England have now received letters inviting them to get their vaccine, according to the NHS.

More than 125,000 have already received their first dose since they first became eligible two weeks ago.

An NHS spokesman said on Thursday August 19: "Follow-up text messages are being sent out tomorrow (August 20) to ensure NHS staff are vaccinating 16 and 17-year-olds as quickly as possible ahead of their return to school.

"GPs are also inviting at-risk children aged between 12 and 15 years old, who are clinically vulnerable to Covid or live with adults who are at increased risk of serious illness from the virus."