GPs, working together with Sefton’s two Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), are continuing to roll out the COVID-19 community vaccination programme across the Borough.

Vaccinations, which began at the end of December, will gather pace over the coming weeks. More people with who are most at risk of COVID-19 or aged over 80, as well as care home staff and residents will be invited for their immunisation first.

Challenge
This is the biggest vaccination programme the NHS has ever undertaken. It is a huge challenge and the local NHS is working hard to overcome any logistical issues as they may arise. So, the exact weekly roll-out of the programme will be largely shaped by the vaccine supply from the manufacturers.

Not all local premises or surgeries can become community vaccination centres, as they need to meet the strict clinical and logistical requirements of the programme. So, when it is your turn to be vaccinated, be prepared that it may not be at your GP practice or another nearby venue.

The NHS has a clear vaccine delivery plan but it will take some time for GP practices to work through the number of people aged over 80 that need to be contacted.

Patience
So, GP practices and the CCGs are asking everyone to be patient and until people are fully vaccinated with two doses, they are reminded to follow the current restrictions and guidance and play their part by following these steps:

Do not contact your GP practice or the NHS to seek a vaccine, we will contact you
When we do contact you, please attend your booked appointments
Please continue to follow all the guidance to control the virus and save lives by socially distancing, wearing a mask or face covering and washing your hands regularly.
The roll out of the programme in community vaccinations centres is in addition to hospital immunisation hubs, which began operating in December.

Working together
Dr Craig Gillespie, chair of NHS South Sefton CCG, explained: “Our GP practices are working together in groups to deliver vaccinations as quickly as possible to their patients aged over 80 years and to invite them into a community centre to be immunised safely.

“Importantly, in the meantime, we are asking everyone not to contact their GP practice or another NHS organisation to ask for their vaccination – or to request one for a member of their household or their carer.”

Dr Rob Caudwell, Chair NHS Southport and Formby CCG, said: “We do understand that people will be keen to know when they will receive their vaccines. Each of us will receive an invite when it is our turn to be vaccinated, either by letter or a phone call.

“You may know others aged over 80 who have been invited for their vaccination already, however, not all areas of Sefton could start vaccinating at the same time, so not everyone has been contacted yet, but we will get to you.”

Find out more about the COVID-19 vaccine.

You can find out more about the Southport and Formby and the South Sefton CCGs at southportformbyccg.nhs.uk and southseftonccg.nhs.uk.

Originally Posted by roving-eye

GPs, working together with Sefton’s two Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), are continuing to roll out the COVID-19 community vaccination programme across the Borough.

Vaccinations, which began at the end of December, will gather pace over the coming weeks. More people with who are most at risk of COVID-19 or aged over 80, as well as care home staff and residents will be invited for their immunisation first.

To help put things in perspective ..

The Ainsdale Birkdale & Formby hub comprising all the nine surgeries in these three communities require about 100,000 doses to cover a population of approx 60,000 people. As of 7 Jan they have received under 1,000 doses.

Source : https://www.ainsdalemedicalcentre.nhs.uk/other-content/covid-19-vaccinations/#

Originally Posted by r4dent

To help put things in perspective ..

The Ainsdale Birkdale & Formby hub comprising all the nine surgeries in these three communities require about 100,000 doses to cover a population of approx 60,000 people. As of 7 Jan they have received under 1,000 doses.

Source : https://www.ainsdalemedicalcentre.nhs.uk/other-content/covid-19-vaccinations/#

Or to put another perspective on this, while vaccinations started at the end of December we’re bow only on the 11th of January. The Pfizer vaccine (which this refers to) needs special ultra cold storage (of which there’s not a huge amount) it then needs to thawed in a strict manner before it can be administered. In addition, it has to be specially trained personnel to carry out the procedure.

Because of all this there’s been a huge learning curve trying to get around the logistics, I saw this first hand watching my wife putting in 14 1/2 hour days from Monday through to Saturday. Today, because of the efforts all the staff put in, they’ve hit the ground running this week and the numbers they can vaccinate are going up massively

Originally Posted by Sap33

Or to put another perspective on this, while vaccinations started at the end of December we’re bow only on the 11th of January. The Pfizer vaccine (which this refers to) needs special ultra cold storage (of which there’s not a huge amount) it then needs to thawed in a strict manner before it can be administered. In addition, it has to be specially trained personnel to carry out the procedure.

Because of all this there’s been a huge learning curve trying to get around the logistics, I saw this first hand watching my wife putting in 14 1/2 hour days from Monday through to Saturday. Today, because of the efforts all the staff put in, they’ve hit the ground running this week and the numbers they can vaccinate are going up massively

My daughter is a senior partner in a GP practice in Yorkshire and is also working long hours. She says the hours are as long as when she was a JHO. Her practice are using Pfizer so I am aware of the problems. They started at the same time as Ainsdale / Birkdale / Formby practice but have completed all of group 1 and 90% of group 2 and are making inroads into group 3. Over here our practices are still on group 1.

For the rollout to work you need
a Staff to perform the procedure
b A location to do it
c A supply of vaccine

Our unit have a sorted a & b, alas c seems to be a problem

They have received very little vaccine and are still on group 1.

The purpose of my post was to highlight the supply difficulties and to prepare people for a longer wait than implied in the OP.

Originally Posted by r4dent

My daughter is a senior partner in a GP practice in Yorkshire and is also working long hours. She says the hours are as long as when she was a JHO. Her practice are using Pfizer so I am aware of the problems. They started at the same time as Ainsdale / Birkdale / Formby practice but have completed all of group 1 and 90% of group 2 and are making inroads into group 3. Over here our practices are still on group 1.

For the rollout to work you need
a Staff to perform the procedure
b A location to do it
c A supply of vaccine

Our unit have a sorted a & b, alas c seems to be a problem

They have received very little vaccine and are still on group 1.

The purpose of my post was to highlight the supply difficulties and to prepare people for a longer wait than implied in the OP.

The problem to 'c' is the logistics of getting it out of ultra cold storage and administered in time. Unfortunately it's not as simple as just having a supply of the vaccine. You need to be able to transport, store, and prepare the doses.

Your daughter's practice may have the facilities in place as they have need for the equipment on a more day to day need than the practices in Ainsdale, Birkdale and Formby, who's normal day to day requirements may be completely different.

I'm afraid it's business as usual on this site! The persistent whining about problems and, an apparent joy - shown by some - over perfectly understandable problems being encountered.