10 January 2021

Dear colleagues,

Tomorrow sees the opening of seven vaccination centres across the country. This is in addition to the 100s of local vaccination sites lead by primary care networks and hospital hubs which are already up and running and the community pharmacy sites that will begin next week.

We appreciate this process is happening in parallel, with many local vaccination centres contacting patients but it is necessary to be able to drive through the vaccination programme at pace.

The initial sites were chosen from those ready to vaccinate large numbers of people quickly to give a geographical spread covering as many people as possible.

The first seven sites are:

• Ashton Gate in Bristol (South West)
• Epsom racecourse in Surrey (South East)
• Excel Centre in London (London)
• The Centre for Life (North East and Yorkshire)
• Etihad Tennis Club in Manchester (North West)
• Robertson House in Stevenage (East of England)
• Millennium Point in Birmingham (Midlands)

These sites will work hand in hand with GPs, pharmacies, hospitals and care homes to offer vaccines to everyone in the top four priority cohorts, saving thousands of lives.  

Letters have been sent to people aged 80 or over who have not yet received a vaccination and live 30 to 45 minutes drive from one of the seven new sites and explain how they can book a slot – over the phone or online through the national booking service. The online booking service is available via this link. http://www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination  Examples of the letters can be found on FutureNHS.

The letters explain that people may have also been contacted by their GP services and if they have booked with them, they should take no further action and continue with their original booking. In order to avoid duplication or confusion, the system has been designed so that letters only go to patients who have not yet had their vaccine. However, if an overlap does occur, whereby a patient already has an appointment booked at an LVC, they can disregard the letter.

Information on which patients have not been vaccinated is drawn from GP records so it is important that you keep these as up to date as possible.

We have produced further information and materials to assist with any concerns you or your  patients may have about when and where to get the vaccine along with example communications. 

Please continue to work with your regional system leads to ensure a coordinated approach to the vaccination programme in your area.  

We thank you again for all your hard work. We know this has been another busy weekend for all of you

Nikki and Ed

COVID-19 updates 

Recently published materials

Freeing up practices to support covid vaccination

Letter from Dr Nikki Kanani, Ian Dodge and Ed Waller.

COVID-19 Vaccine Oxford AstraZeneca – movement of vaccine

Letter from Dr Nikita Kanani, Dr Keith Ridge CBE, and Ed Waller, providing information on additional operational flexibilities offered by the introduction of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

National protocol for COVID-19 mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech) – updated 10 January
This protocol is for the administration of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 to individuals in accordance with the national COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Operational guidance: vaccination of frontline health and social care workers

Further to the letter of 30 December 20201 this update provides additional operational guidance on the immediate requirement to vaccinate frontline health and social care workers ensuring maximum uptake of vaccination and timely, equitable access across staff groups.

Standard operating procedure: COVID-19 local vaccination services deployment in community settings – updated 6 January

This standard operating procedure describes the operating model and design requirements for safe delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in the community.

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme workspace

Dates for your diary

New year webinars on working with people and communities in PCNs
Our webinar series for colleagues working in primary care networks continues next month, helping PCNs to provide inclusive services for people and communities from the most marginalised groups, who experience the greatest health inequalities. They include:

• Wednesday 13 January 2021 12pm - 1pm. ‘A masterclass on conducting telephone surveys’
• Tuesday 26 January 2021 12pm - 1pm. ‘A masterclass on surveys’

Tuesday 12 January 2021, 1pm - 2pm. COVID Oximetry @home: an overview for primary care. 

Wednesday, 13 January 2021. 2pm - 3.30pm. Common Challenges and Proven Solutions for Teledermatology: (Part 2/3)

Thursday 21 January 2021, 11am-12pm. NHS Reset: Ensuring a greener future for respiratory care

The NHS Confederation’s webinar in partnership with the Primary Care Respiratory Society will explore how we can make respiratory care greener and kinder to the environment whilst still focusing on the complete patient journey from prevention of disease and diagnosis, through to routine chronic care including the acute situation with a #nowastenoharm approach.