Vaccination campaign
The latest on our campaign to get more pharmacies involved in vaccinations so nobody is more than ten minutes away from a jab – not ten miles.
The campaign to ensure nobody is more than a ten minute walk from a Covid-19 vaccine took a major step forward this week with the first pharmacy in Sussex offering vaccinations.
Ticehurst Pharmacy is one of 200 pharmacy-run centres across the UK which have started vaccinating people.
A pharmacy in Midhurst has also started taking bookings ready to deliver jabs soon.
Horsham’s pharamcists are still waiting for the goahead.
Shailesh Amin, owner and pharmacist at Nories Pharmacy in Oakhill Road, said extending the roll out when vaccine supplies allow will make a ‘huge difference’ to trust in the lifesaving inoculation. “Pharmacies are in a unique position,” he said. “They have an established customer base that have a level of trust. The patients in pharmacies will probably have a little bit more time [than in a mass vaccination centre]. There is a lot of reassurance needed. The contribution pharmacies will make is huge. If there’s some issues taking it they can sit down and address it.
“A pharmacy is able to intercept the trust and take it to the next level. Pharmacies can help build the trust.”
Shailesh said a conservative estimate would see smaller pharmacies delivering around 250 jabs a month.
With more than 10,000 branches across this country this would increase capacity by 2.5m jabs every month, according to the pharmacist.
He said these pharmacies would play an important role in ensuring patients who were ‘on the fence’ about the vaccine would get the jab.
Overall, our district is progressing well with the vaccination programme.
More than 6,000 people have now been vaccinated against Covid-19 at Horsham’s Park Surgery - along with thousands more at other sites nearby.
Park Surgery, which is vaccinating people from Holbrook, Orchard and Riverside surgeries as well as its own patients, says it has now also completed vaccinating all of its care home residents and staff, and all those over 80.
In a message on its website, Park Surgery says: “We are currently calling 75 - 80 year olds prioritising those most at risk. We will be starting to vaccinate the housebound patients in the next couple of weeks.”
Meanwhile, Courtyard Surgery, whose patients are being vaccinated at Christ’s Hospital along with patients from Cowfold Surgery andRudgwick Medical Centre, says it completed 800 vaccinations on Friday morning and it is now awaiting for more vaccine supplies before vaccinating ‘Group 3’ patients those aged 76-78 - along with front line health and social care workers.
The Glebe Surgery in
Storrington says its vaccination schedule is in line with Government targets and that nearly 5,000 people have now received their jabs.
The surgery is administering vaccines for people registered with Billingshurst, Henfield, Steyning and Storrington GP surgeries.
And people in Pulborough aged over 70 are now beginning to be invited to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Pulborough Medical Group says it has supplies of the Oxford AstraZenica vaccine and will be carrying out vaccinations over the weekend.
In a notice on its website, the surgery says: “These vaccines are for patients aged 70 and over, and those who are in the extremely high risk category and would be in receipt of a letter advising them to shield.”