CENTRE IS REGION’S FIRST TO GIVE JABS

Shots already given to some over 80s

Crieff Medical Centre is the first in Per th and Kinross to begin giving Covid vaccinations.

The first jabs of the Astra Zeneca ( Oxford) vaccine have already been administered in the Strath capital at the medical centre’s Red and Blue Practices.

Red Practice manager Jennifer Bennie told the Herald: “We were the first practices in Perth and Kinross to get the vaccine, with a small supply for each practice.

“We are hoping to now receive weekly deliveries and start our full campaign as soon as possible.”

Mrs Bennie continued: “We started vaccinating the first group of over 80- year- olds and will continue to work our way through the groups as per government advice and when more vaccines become

available.

“We will be utilising the Day Unit at Crieff Hospital to give the vaccines as we feel it worked so well for the flu clinics.

“The practices will be vaccinating people in the following order: patients over 80; patients over 75; patients over 70, patients over 65, and those under 65 and at clinical risk – similar to the flu vaccinations.

“The practices will contact patients to make appointments so please do not phone for vaccination appointments.

“We hope to carry out the vaccinations as quickly and efficiently as possible but we do have some constraints as to when the vaccines are delivered, and we are also doing this around our already very busy workload so we ask for patients to bear with us and be understanding.”

Practice staff will be administering the vaccinations.

The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, the first batch of which was released on December 29 following approval by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, which concluded that the vaccine was safe and effective for those most at risk of death and serious illness from Covid-19.

To be fully effective, two injections are required.

Mrs Bennie stressed that it was important to follow up with the second inoculation.

She added:“The second dose of the vaccine will be given around 12 weeks after the first and people will be given their second appointment at the time of their first.

“You are not fully immunised until you have had your second dose so people still need to take precautions.

“This is very positive and we hope that this is a way forward in getting ourselves out of this pandemic although there is still a long way to go.

Things are not back to normal as we all know with the new lockdown and we all need to stay home and stay safe, but hopefully with the new vaccine being rolled out we can see an end to the pandemic.”