Venues for vaccines firming up
An Auchterarder medical centre has been listed as a potential Covid vaccination venue for when the programme is fully up and running.
The Lang Toon’s St Margaret’s Community Hospital is listed on a Scottish Government paper which features a number of vaccination venues in Perth and Kinross.
In addition to Crieff Community Hospital, others in the region include the Dewars Centre, Perth Royal Infirmary, Blairgowrie Community Hospital and Pitlochry Community Hospital.
The plans are still being ironed out but it is understood the Tayside programme will follow a similar model to the flu vaccination programme, with the majority of residents being vaccinated at GP practices.
It is expected bigger centres could be used to meet additional demand – such as places including Perth Racecourse – and that people should not have to travel long distances for an appointment.
Over the weekend Scotland’s national clinical director, Jason Leitch, told Radio Scotland offers had been received to use all manner of sporting venues and these would be taken up “as and when we need them”.
He said such venues would only be required in February and March, once a larger numbers of vaccines is available.
NHS Tayside this week stated more than 18,000 vaccinations had been carried out in care homes, hospitals and GP practices across the region.
A spokesperson said around 4000 staff and 3000 residents in 96 care homes have been vaccinated, as well as around 9000 frontline health and social care staff, since the programme began on December 8.
As featured in last week’s Herald, NHS Tayside has also been vaccinating older people in the community – with the first Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines in Scotland delivered by GPs last week.
The health board spokesperson said the aim was to vaccinate every person over the age of 80 in the region – as well as the remaining frontline health and social care staff and care home staff and residents – by the end of January.
Those who are eligible will be contacted directly by their GP practice when it is time for them to be vaccinated.
NHS Tayside’s associate director of public health, Dr Daniel Chandler, said: “Our vaccination teams have put in a huge amount of work and planning to get to this stage, with significant numbers of our most at-risk communities already having had their first dose of the vaccination.
“We are really pleased to see such high uptake among our staff, those living and working in care homes and the older population.
“We know that people are eager to get vaccinated and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we work our way through the priority groups of those who are most at risk from the virus.
“Please do not contact your GP practice to enquire about when you will receive the vaccine as they are currently very busy making arrangements and booking appointments.
“The vaccination programme is a vital step in our fight against Covid-19, but it takes two to three weeks for the vaccine to provide protection and it’s not known whether having the vaccine stops you spreading the virus.
“So it is really important for everyone, even if they have been vaccinated, to continue to stick with all the guidance and help stop the spread in our communities.”
Our vaccination teams have put in a huge amount of work and planning to get to this stage ...
Dr Daniel Chandler, associate director, NHS Tayside