Flu Vaccinations 2022
- We will be commencing our vaccination programme on 1 October 2022
- All patients eligible for a free vaccination will be contacted by the practice
- To make things as simple as possible for patients, we are taking a new approach this year. Every patient will be allocated a date and timeslot for their vaccination and will be notified of this. They will be asked to either confirm acceptance, decline the vaccine or let us know if they need to change their appointment. This means that for the majority of patients, they will not need to book online or contact the practice by phone.
- Flu vaccination clinics will be held in Hedon, Withernsea, Patrington, Roos and Keyingham. Wherever possible, patients will be allocated an appointment close to home.
- In addition to the above, we will be doing outreach clinics at some of our community centres which will be specifically targeted at older patients who may find it difficult to travel. This will include Easington, Burton Pidsea and Paull.
- Our team will visit all our local Care Homes commencing 12 October and will administer the flu vaccination and COVID Booster to residents and staff.
- Our team will visit housebound patients commencing 31 October and will administer the flu vaccination and COVID Booster to both the housebound patient and their husband/wife/partner.
- We will be offering flu vaccines for children during half term week.
- Where we have a mobile phone number for patients, primary contact will be via text message. Where we do not have this, patients will receive a letter from us.
Patients can help by:
- Waiting until they receive their appointment invitation rather than ringing the practice speculatively
- Responding to our text or letter so that we can keep track of appointments and ensure that we run an efficient service.
- Reading our Patient Information Leaflet before attending for your vaccination (see below)
- Ensuring that they do not attend for vaccination if they have any COVID-19 symptoms or have tested positive
COVID-19 Autumn Booster Vaccination 2022
- We are still awaiting confirmation of which vaccine we will be receiving and have not yet been able to place our orders. Therefore, the following information may be subject to change but reflects the current planning situation.
- People aged 50 years and older, residents in care homes, those aged 5 years and over in a clinical risk group and health and social care staff will be eligible for a booster jab.
- We expect to commence the booster programme on the week commencing 19 September 2022. Invitations will be sent out in the order that we are advised by the national vaccination programme.
- We will be offering a regular COVID vaccination clinic on a Wednesday in Hedon (Church View Surgery). This will be supplemented by Saturday clinics in Withernsea and Hedon.
- Eligible patients will receive an invitation to book their booster vaccine. As it has always worked well in the past, bookings will be made online using the AccuBook system. We have found that most patients found this easy and efficient. However, our vaccination phone line will be accessible for those who are unable to book online.
- Patients will be able to choose whether to come to us (by responding to our invitation as outlined above) or to use one of the many other vaccination sites which can be booked via the National Booking Service online or by ringing 119. Book or manage a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
- We have been advised that Rimmington Pharmacy will once again be offering a COVID vaccination service in Withernsea and that this is likely to run one day each week.
- Care home and housebound patients will receive their COVID booster at the same time as their flu vaccination. For all other patients, these will be administered separately. We have carefully considered this and would have liked to give both vaccines together to make things as easy as possible for our patients but unfortunately because we cannot be assured of vaccine supply dates and have not received confirmation of other factors which impact on the operation of the programme, we have decided that this is not viable. We are concerned that it would result in delays to the flu programme which would not be in the interests of our patients.
Patients can help by:
- Booking online if they wish to come to the surgery for their vaccination and are able to do so (Your invitation text will contain the link)
- Waiting until they receive an invitation rather than ringing the practice speculatively
- Reading the information made available on the government website: A guide to the COVID-19 autumn booster – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Ensuring that they do not attend for vaccination if they have any COVID-19 symptoms or have tested positive