NHS Lincolnshire is making “excellent progress” as it completes the first round of vaccination for people aged 70 and over.
Lincolnshire CCG said in a statement on Friday (19th February) that it is now vaccinating cohorts five and six: people 65-years-old and over, people aged 16-64 with health conditions and frontline health and social care workers.
John Turner, Lincolnshire CCG, added that all care home residents aged 65 and over have been vaccinated.
Mr Turner said: “I am absolutely delighted with this performance from the teams across the county who have worked tirelessly and with incredible commitment. Whilst there is undoubtedly a long way to go yet with the vaccination programme, this does feel like we have reached a very significant and positive moment for all our communities.”
If you are in either cohort five or six you may already have received a letter inviting you to book your vaccination. As with the previous cohorts, you have the choice to either:
• Have your vaccination at a Local Vaccination Site via your local GP services, who will contact you directly if they haven’t already done so, or
• Book an appointment at a Large Vaccination Centre, either via online Book a coronavirus vaccination – NHS or the national telephone number 119
If you receive the letter but have already booked your vaccination, you do not need to do anything else – you can ignore the letter and attend for your vaccination as per your appointment.
Please do not contact your GP practice unless they have specifically asked you to (by writing, texting or emailing you). Your practice will contact you when it is your turn to be vaccinated, and is busy dealing with people who require care for clinical issues.
The Lincolnshire CCG statement continued:
“You should only attend for vaccination if you have an appointment booked – you will not be vaccinated without an appointment. In addition, if you are experiencing covid symptoms of any kind, or self-isolating, please do not attend for vaccination. You will be rebooked when it is safe for you to attend.
“We are committed to vaccinating everyone as quickly as possible. We know that there has been some reporting nationally about practices focusing on people in cohort six, however, we would like to reassure people in Lincolnshire that everyone in cohorts five and six will receive their vaccination.
“If you have been identified as one of the additional 1.7 million people required to shield until the end of March, the NHS will contact you to arrange your vaccination if you have not already had your first dose.
“There have been some patients who have requested their second vaccination date is moved, however, your date is linked to when you had your first vaccination, so we would ask you to keep the date you have been given. If you have not been given a date, please be assured the NHS will be in touch with you to arrange this.
“Finally, please be kind to our staff – they are there to help you and are doing an amazing job. We are aware of reports of staff, both in practices and at vaccination sites, being verbally abused. Abuse of any kind will not be tolerated and will be dealt with appropriately.”
For a comprehensive overview of the Lincolnshire vaccination programme, watch the leaders answer questions during January’s webinar below.
