Am pleased for you Bob.
I have just tried to talk to my haematologist at Ninewells in Dundee as have been invited to attend my local clinic for a “booster”. My point being to ask his advice and help to get a 3rd dose.! It appears according to his secretary that he has no knowledge of the 3rd dose as opposed to the booster and I am informed via his secretary that it’s the patients choice which they receive!
Now trying to speak to my GP.
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Oh @Lelly back and forth from pillar to post, please let us know how you get on.
Look after yourself as well this can be very stressful.
I have spent many hours on this issue. My hospital told me to refuse a booster and hold out for a third jab. Staff at my GP practice told me there is no such thing as a third jab. Eventually I got to speak with the practice manager and on that day the regional vaccine specialist or whatever her title is happened to be in and I was able to talk to them both. I believe I now have this sorted. The third dose and the boster (but not the Moderna booster) are indeed one and the same thing. The difference is in how it is classified, not in what the substance actually is that they put in your arm. The NHS, at least where I live, have not yet updated their systems so the third dose does not appear on computer systems and does not, officially, exist. What practices have been instructed to do is to give the “booster.” Then, when the NHS system gets brought up-to-date, our records will be changed to say we had the third dose. That way we can be considered for a booster again in six months or so, meaning we will have had four injections, not the three that everyone else gets. On that basis I agreed to have my Pfizer booster, which I got yesterday.
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You have done your homework @Quercus59 and glad you have got your Pfizer booster.
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Hi Lelly,
You should contact your local covid team and they will sort this out for you and arrange an appointment and that the correct vaccine is available.
If you phone either Public Health Scotland or local Public Health, then they should have the local covid team number.
I did that and after initial delay due to email backlog. (Each person has to have a clincian confirm they are in eligible group for 3rd primary dose by checking their medical records)
They have got back to me with an appointment after confirming that they had secured AZ for me to get in local vaccine centre.
Hopefully this is of use for you?
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Finally had my third vaccine yesterday along with flu jab.
Feel like I have been hit by a bus today 
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It’s great that such leadership on this is coming from Blood Cancer UK and helping to clear the way through the fog. It’s a shame that those actually in charge of this weren’t able to step up. Like others on here after several coversations with my GP practice, I’ve been told that I can have a booster 6 months after my third dose, probably around March.
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Welcome @Tenet and you have already shown the value of our forum by sharing your experiences.
I am glad that you are getting the vaccine at your local vaccine centre as well.
Please keep posting as I would like to know more about you.
Well done for your tenacity, Quercus59.
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I finally got my 3rd dose 4 weeks ago along with the flu jab. Reacted badly as I’ve done both times before. BUT on testing for spike protein antibodies the result is still negative! This is a year after completing chemo for NHL which included rituximab. This is a real blow. The 3rd jab hasn’t turned out to be the key to freedom I had hoped for. With nothing else to try I think I’ll just take my chances and get out and about anyway. Life’s too short to shield.
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Oh @MountainGirl I am so sorry you must feel gutted.
That elusive golden key.
It might be worth a chat with someone within your medical team.
Everyone is individual and there are no rights or wrongs or do’s or don’ts, just do what feels right for you.
Look after yourself and take care.
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Hi @MountainGirl ,
I am sorry to hear that you still have a negative antibody result following your third dose and flu vaccine. It is understandable that this felt like a real blow.
We have some further information on our website about what antibody tests do and don’t tell us, I have pasted some of the text below but you can read all of the information here: What do covid antibody test results mean for people with blood cancer? | Blood Cancer UK.
Antibody tests give you a sign of how you might have responded to the covid vaccine , but they don’t give you the full picture of what your immune system is doing. But not having an antibody response does not mean you’ve had no response to the vaccine as other immune cells may also be involved in the response. Such as T cells, which are also important but there aren’t tests readily available to buy that look for these cells. Both immune cells destroy viruses in slightly different ways, and it could be that if you don’t have antibodies to kill coronavirus, your T cells will takeover and vice versa. It’s going to take some time to understand which cells are most important in protecting people from covid follow vaccination, but we think both are important for people with blood cancer. We also have information about the other types of antibody treatments that are available for people with blood cancer which you may find helpful. You can find this here: Antibody treatments for people with blood cancer | Blood Cancer UK
Please do not hesitate to contact our Support Team if you would like to talk anything through on 0808 2080888.
Best Wishes
Jo
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I was told that the jabs are the same anyway …so I took the booster in September only to be called up for the third jab twice the following week …I had a chat with my gp and hematologist who both said they are the same that the system doesnt have the facility to record as a third yet (then) and that it had been noted on my notes that I would need a booster after christmas …so we shall see 
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Hi @Annie78, we shall see, take care
It looks like the message you get depends on who you speak to. Thanks for sharing your experience @Annie78 . My GP told me that I would get called up for a booster early next year too but I don’t have a large amount of confidence in them given my previous experiences. It’s amazing that this rollout is so chaotic when the original two doses were done so efficiently.
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Got a letter last week from my local health care trust telling me I am officially eligible for the 3rd primary. It says if i had a booster i can use the letter by taking it to my gp to get my records altered to show it was a third.
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Good luck with that @Chrispy my GP surgery are still totally unaware of the concept of the third vaccine or any booster after a further six months and I never received an invitation from them or the PCN vaccination centre for a third vaccine but by dint of chasing the PCN centre to check my nhs no I did get a third vaccine three weeks ago in the form of what they and the GP surgery referred to as “an early booster vaccine” as it was Pfizer I took it thanks to Blood cancer UK for the info that the Pfizer was the same either way. Life is too short to go through the rigmarole of trying to get it recorded as a third vaccine which they do not seem to believe exists anyway. When I had my Haematologist appointment she said not to worry she would not be at all surprised if all CEVs and over 70s are offered another booster next year anyway.
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