Covid Vaccination Clinic Update

The Covid-19 vaccination clinic run at Cirencester Hospital is run by a collaboration of the 5 local surgeries that make up the South Cotswold Primary Care Network. To date we have provided over 80,000 covid-19 vaccinations. We are proud of what has been achieved at the Cirencester Hospital vaccine hub, as well as visiting our housebound patients and Nursing Homes.

Our capacity at the vaccine hub has reduced as staff have had to return to their normal General Practice duties. Alongside this the NHS in Gloucestershire has increased capacity with other providers of covid-19 vaccination in community pharmacies and town halls across the county. So, whilst we are keen to vaccinate as many of our patients as possible there are alternatives and patients are welcome to use these. Alternatively you can wait to be invited to make an appointment at the vaccine hub.

Appointments at other hubs can be booked at: www.nhs.uk – Book or manage your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination or walk in clinics can be found at: www.nhs.uk – Find a walk-in coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination site.

A Summary of the current Covid Vaccine Rules

1st and 2nd DOSES

Anyone over 17 years and 9 months is eligible for 2 doses.  There must be a minimum of 8 weeks between doses.

Children

Healthy children aged 15 years to 17 years 9 months are eligible for just a single dose. There are not currently any plans nationally to offer a second dose to children.

Healthy 12-15 Years old: Responsibility for vaccinating this age group lies with the school immunisation teams and they will be vaccinated in a visit to the school by the Immunisations Team. They are only eligible for one dose.

Clinically vulnerable children – aged 12 years to 17 years 9 months. If the patient’s own GP has decided they meet the criteria in the green book to count as “clinically vulnerable”, then they are eligible for 2 doses.

3rd Primary Doses

Patients identified as severely immunosuppressed at the time of their 1st and 2nd vaccines should have been notified of this fact either by the practice, their hospital consultant or centrally by the government. Please note this is not all patients who were “shielding” but a small subset on chemotherapy and immunosuppression. They are eligible for a third dose at least 8 weeks after their second dose.

Boosters

Anyone over the age of 50 who had their 2nd dose at least 6 months (182 day) ago is eligible for a booster dose.