The Rycote Practice continues to roll out the vaccination programme as fast as vaccine delivery allows. We believe that all patients over the age of 65 have now been invited for their vaccination by us or via a letter from NHS England. If you have not yet received the vaccine or know of someone over 65 who hasn’t, please contact the practice so that we can arrange this.
We are running a large vaccination clinic for patients with underlying health conditions (Cohort 6) at Morland House Surgery in Wheatley on Friday 26 March – we anticipate parking will be difficult on this day and would encourage those that have been invited to park off-site or arrange for a relative/friend to bring you. We plan a further clinic at Thame Health Centre on Friday 5 March and expect that by this date we will have vaccinated well over half of all patients in this cohort. This is a very large cohort and we are generally inviting patients in age order so do not worry if you have yet to be called. Please note that vaccination appointments are by invitation only – we will contact you by phone or text message if you are eligible.
There is ongoing confusion about whether carers or asthmatics will be eligible for vaccination in Cohort 6. We would like to remind patients that the current guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) states that carers will be eligible if they are 'in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill.' Patients with asthma will be eligible if they 'require continuous or repeated use of [steroid tablets] or [have had] previous exacerbations requiring hospital admission.'
Evidence shows that the current vaccines offer a very high level of immunity and help limit transmission. However we would appeal to patients to continue to wear a mask, practice good hand hygiene and observe social distancing even after you have been vaccinated so that we can stick to the roadmap laid out by the government and return to some level of 'normality' as soon as possible. Stay safe. Protect the NHS. Save Lives.
