Thousands get vaccines at Blair town hall
Around 3000 Covid-19 vaccinations have been delivered at the community clinic at Blairgowrie Town Hall.
NHS Tayside revealed the figure to the Blairie on Friday last week after it was announced almost 135,000 people have now been vaccinated in the region as a whole, which is around 38 per cent of the adult population in Tayside.
The Brown Street vaccination venue has been in operation for almost one month and is one of three communitybased facilities in Perth and Kinross.
People currently being invited to receive their vaccinations include those aged 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions and adult unpaid carers.
This is group six on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) prioritisation list and said to be one of the largest.
The health board has stressed those eligible will be called directly by their GP practice or the NHS Tayside booking teams with the offer of an appointment and that people in Tayside will not receive a letter through the national appointment system.
A spokesperson went on to explain: “Most people will be called from a local NHS Tayside phone number. However, occasionally it may show up as a private or mobile phone number. Please answer these calls if you can.
“The first to be invited are people who have conditions which are included on both the JCVI priority list and the at-risk flu vaccination list. Although there is some overlap, the two lists are not exactly the same.
“Unpaid carers who receive carers’ benefits or who have been identified by GPs will also be invited in the first stage.
“Anyone who identifies as a carer but does not receive carers benefits, and who is not registered as a carer with their GP practice, will be invited to register at a later date using a national system.”
Dr Daniel Chandler, associate director of public health with NHS Tayside, said: “We are making excellent progress with the programme and it’s really encouraging to see such high numbers of people coming forward for vaccination.
“However, there is still some way to go in overcoming Covid-19, and vaccination is only one of a number of tools for suppressing spread of the virus as much as possible.
“Everyone in Tayside has made a great effort to drive down the infection rates, and we need everyone to keep sticking to the FACTS guidance and lockdown rules to ensure that cases continue to fall as we work our way through the vaccination programme.
“We have now moved on to priority group six which is one of the largest groups of people on the JCVI priority list, with people as young as 16 and many with underlying conditions which may not be obvious to others.
“It may take several weeks to get through the whole cohort so we are asking people in this group to please be patient and not worry if they are not contacted straight away or if they hear of others being contacted before them.
“Our booking teams are making thousands of calls every day to arrange appointments in GP practices and community clinics across Tayside.
“This is no small task, especially as we move into this larger cohort and so we are asking that people do not call with enquiries about getting the vaccine unless they are in any of the previous groups.”
NHS Tayside has said anyone aged 70 to 79 or who is shielding who hasn’t been contacted in relation to a vaccination should now call their GP, who will either offer an appointment in their own practice or will ensure they get vaccinated at their local community vaccination centre.
Anyone aged 65 to 69 who hasn’t been contacted yet should email tay. c19vaxlocalenquiries@nhs.scot or call 01382 423108.