Vaccines are on track despite snowy weather
Practices praised for reaching vulnerable groups
Strath residents are steadily being called up for the Covid vaccinations.
Local surgeries are being praised for their efficiency in reaching those in the more vulnerable age groups and those with underlying health conditions.
Crieff resident Ian Hamilton was pleased to be able to attend Crieff Hospital for his jab on January 29. Ian, who is in the over 75s category, said: “It was very friendly and very slick - I got a call asking if I could get down in five minutes and I said I’ll try and get down in three minutes. There was no real snow at that point.”
Ian was also given a comprehensive leaflet with the date for his second jab, which will also be administered locally.
In Crieff, those who are mobile in the over 80s category should all now have been vaccinated, and Crieff Medical Centre advises that if you are in this age group and haven’t been vaccinated yet to contact the practice.
The 75-79 age group will also soon be completed, and it’s the same in the 7074 category and those who are shielding, with these groups currently being offered appointments.
Crieff Medical Centre has also decided to vaccinate its housebound over 80s instead of the healthboard to try and get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible.
Patients in the 65-69 category are being contacted to attend the central vaccination clinic in Perth, and appointments for this are already under way.
The next category to be called will be the under 65 age group who are at risk.
Jill Hall, practice manager at Crieff’s Blue Practice told the Herald: “Unfortunately, the weather has made things a bit tricky but we are doing our best to vaccinate as many
people as we can.
“We have attempted to contact everybody at least once and we are now going round everybody we have not been able to reach.
“We are still waiting for some vaccines to arrive so it is about expected delivery and we would ask patients, particularly in this weather to keep their eyes peeled on the websites and Facebook information because there can be changes at short notice but we are doing our very best to help them where we can.
“Patients have done really well at getting themselves to clinic when the weather conditions have been difficult and we have had very few people who have not managed to make their appointments and they should be thanked for that.”
It’s also going well in Comrie where the over 80s and over 75s have been vaccinated.
The ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ patients were vaccinated at the start of this week and the practice has begun calling in its over 70s.
Practice Manager Janice Donaldson said: “We should have these all finished by the weekend - vaccines and weather permitting.
“The Scottish Government decided to vaccinate the over 65s at a vaccine centre, so that meant us calling a few hundred patients to go to Perth for their Covid vaccination.
“Sadly, for many of these patients the snow on Monday and Tuesday led to these appointments being cancelled.”
She added: “I can’t say things are easy though - what a lot of additional work there is for practice staff especially when we have two cohorts being vaccinated at the same time. Reception and nursing staff continue to work tirelessly to ensure all eligible patients are invited and vaccinated as soon as we receive vaccines.”