IDENTICAL twins fear one of them will miss out on the Covid-19 vaccine after it emerged their medical records have been mixed up.

Prathima Murthy had the first dose of the Covid jab but now worries how her sister, Pallavi, will receive the vaccine after the sisters realised they share an NHS number.

Originally from India, Prathima has lived in Rochford for three years, but had never needed to register to the NHS until the pandemic hit.

However, after registering in April and receiving the vaccine, she compared details with her sister only for the pair to realise they both have matching NHS numbers.

An NHS number is a ten digit code meant to be unique to the individual.

The 41-year-old, said: “I don’t understand how this has happened. We share the same birthday and at some point shared the same address, but she lives in Brentwood and I live in Rochford.

“On top of this, my sister has already been registered with the NHS for about five years now, she needed to register when she got pregnant.

“At that point I wasn’t even in the country so wouldn’t have been on the system, it’s only in more recent years I made a more permanent move.

“We went into such panic when we found out we’d got the same number, worrying if she’d get the vaccine. We compared details and both informed our doctors surgeries, but nobody seems to understand what happened.”

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The issue has unfolded as England moves to the next step in the roadmap out of lockdown, with further rules eased.

Prathima continued: “If she can’t have the jab, she will be the only one in the family not able to get her vaccine.

“When we’re meant to meet this week she will be the only one not protected, and has already been stuck indoors for six months. She’s the only family I have in the UK.

“I’m still meant to have my second vaccine in July, but who knows what will happen.”

A CCG spokesman, said: “Such incidents are extremely rare. To enable us to thoroughly investigate the circumstances and establish the facts we would advise the patient to contact our complaints team in line with CCG policy so this can be logged and recorded officially via sccg.complaints@nhs.net.

“This will allow us to work with the GP practice and the patient directly to resolve this as quickly as possible”.