The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine have now been approved for use and we are vaccinating our patients in groups of clinical priority as defined by the Government JVCI. When it is your turn to be vaccinated, we will contact you.
The two approved COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any animal products or egg.
Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine
New guidance has been issued for the use of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
This follows further reviews by the independent regulator, the MHRA, and the Commission for Human Medicines, of a very small number of people in the UK who have developed a rare blood-clotting condition since having the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. The MHRA and Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisations have emphasised that the risk of this condition is extremely small and that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks for the vast majority of people. They have recommended that:
· Everyone who has had the AstraZeneca vaccine should still have a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, irrespective of age, unless they have had a blood clot or have an existing risk of thrombosis (blood clotting)
· People aged 40 and over or who have a health condition that puts them at higher risk of severe Covid-19 disease should still be offered the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. The benefits in protecting them against the serious consequences of COVID-19 outweigh any risk of this rare condition.
· People aged 18-39 who do not have a health condition that puts them at higher risk of severe Covid-19 disease will be offered an alternative Covid-19 vaccine where available. (This has been recommended as a precaution as people under 30 are at less risk from Covid-19 and not because they are considered to be at particular risk of developing the rare blood clot.)
· People under 40 can still choose to have the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine if this will mean they can be protected more quickly and they have been made aware of the guidance.
Please see the leaflet that has been produced by Public Health England and the NHS to answer any questions you may have.
Who will get a vaccine?
The vaccine has been offered to those at greatest risk from COVID-19 first: people over 80 years old, frontline health and social care workers. As more supplies of the vaccine or alternative vaccines become available it is being rolled out in phases to people aged between 50-80 years old, and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable. People will be invited for a vaccine when it is their turn so please avoid contacting your local hospital or GP practice.
Patients who are Clinically Vulnerable and are in priority group 6 for vaccination will already have a note in their medical record to advise us of this. These patients will be contacted by the surgery to book an appointment in due course by telephone or text message. Should you wish to query if you fall into this vaccination group we kindly ask that you do not contact the surgery to do this, instead please visit the Green Book which has the latest information on the Covid vaccine including a table of the clinical risk groups on pages 10 and 11.
Where and when can I get a vaccine?
The AstraZeneca vaccine will be given at this surgery. Arrangements are also being put in place to offer vaccines from a number of different locations as more supplies and different vaccines become available. These include new dedicated vaccination centres to make sure that everyone who needs a vaccine is able to get one.
You may receive a letter from NHS England inviting you to attend a vaccination centre outside of our local area. Please note, you do not need to go to one of these centres if you are happy to wait for the surgery to contact you. Like all GP surgeries around the country, we receive limited numbers of the Covid vaccine each week and we are inviting our patients in systematically.
Further information and how you can help us
We will share further information with you as it becomes available. In the meantime, there are three things people can do to help:
- Please don’t contact the NHS to seek a vaccine – we will contact you when it’s the right time to you to have yours
- Please act on your invite when it comes, and make sure you attend your appointments when you arrange them;
- Once you are invited for the vaccination and an appointment has been arranged for you, please read the latest government guidance prior to attending;
- Please continue to abide by all the social distancing and hand hygiene guidance, which will still save lives.
