Monkeypox Vaccine Invite

This service is currently only for those who have been invited to book a monkeypox vaccine. For general information on Monkeypox please click here.

Why have I been offered the vaccine?

You have been invited to have a Monkeypox vaccine as you may be at higher risk of acquiring Monkeypox. Higher risk includes gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men who have sex with multiple partners, participate in group sex, attend sex on venue premises or have been diagnosed with certain sexually transmitted infections recently. 

You may also have been invited to have the vaccine if you have had significant contact, including sexual contact, with someone with confirmed monkeypox. 

As our vaccine stocks are limited, we ask that if you do not meet these current eligibility criteria that you do not book an appointment at this time. This will allow us to target those at highest risk of acquiring monkeypox.

For more information please read the Waiting for the monkeypox vaccination leaflet.

Is my text invite legitimate?

We understand that many people get spam text messages creating concern about clicking on links.

Trying to spot whether our invite is legitimate:

• The text has come from NHS No Reply
• If you haven’t deleted texts from Lothian Sexual Health you should have previous appointment confirmations from our service.
• We have included your unique patient AN number in the text: AN followed by 8 numbers
• We have used the full web address in the text invite to allow you to manually check this takes you to the Lothian Sexual Health Services webpage that is set-up specifically to book an appointment using our online booking system. 
• The online booking system takes you to an NHS Scotland branded webpage.
• The online booking form requires your unique patient AN number and registered date of birth. If you put in a different date of birth the system will not let you progress. 

Before attending for your vaccine appointment

Please read the patient information leaflet regarding the monkeypox vaccination before attending your appointment. This is to ensure you understand the vaccine, how it works, potential side-effects, when you shouldn’t take it and if you need to alert our team about anything.

Reasons you should not have the vaccination

• Previous sudden life threatening allergic reaction to a dose of a modified vaccinia ankara (MVA) vaccine or any ingredient of the vaccine including those present in very small amounts, such as chicken protein, benzonase, gentamicin or ciprofloxacin. 

When you see your vaccinator, please let them know if you:

• have a high temperature
• have atopic dermatitis (atopic eczema)
• are living with HIV or any other condition or treatment leading to a weakened immune system
• are pregnant, planning to have a baby or breastfeeding
• feeling unwell, 
• taking other medication
• recently had another vaccine.