Vaccination Update

This morning I took part in a briefing given by NHS Norfolk & Waveney CCG's Chief Officer.

• Administration of the Pfizer vaccine began on 14th December 2020. 

• Nearly 30,000 people in Norfolk & Waveney have already received the vaccine - this includes almost 40% of people aged 80 and over. The Prime Minister has committed to providing daily updates on the number of people vaccinated.

• The Oxford vaccine began to be rolled out on Monday 4th January.

PLEASE WAIT FOR YOUR GP SURGERY TO CONTACT YOU TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT AT A LOCAL VACCINE OR GP-LED CENTRE.

The vaccine programme in Norfolk & Waveney is being delivered via:

1. Hospital hubs: the James Paget (Great Yarmouth), Norfolk & Norwich (Norwich), and Queen Elizabeth (King's Lynn) hubs have been up and running since 14th December.
2. Local vaccine services: These major centres include roving teams to visit care homes and housebound patients. 
3. GP-led services: a number of sites have been operating since 14th December, with more going live over the next week. For the North Norfolk area, new GP-led services will be operating at Sheringham Medical Practice, Rossis Leisure in North Walsham, Hoveton Village Hall, and the Market Surgery in Aylsham.

Please wait for your own GP surgery to contact you to arrange an appointment at one of the local vaccine or GP-led centres. Vaccines will be administered in the order shown in the 'Priority Groups' graphic below.

Dr Anoop Dhesi, Chair of NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group(CCG,) which is co-ordinating the roll-out of the vaccination programme, said:

We’ve made a great start beginning to protect the most vulnerable people. That’s testament to the immense effort made by doctors, nurses and administrators in General Practice, staff in our hospitals and in the clinical commissioning group. But truly this is going to be a marathon not a sprint.

More GP-led sites are about to open, and these will be followed by more large vaccination centres to drive up the numbers we can vaccinate every day into the many thousands, with a spread of sites reaching into every corner of Norfolk and Waveney.

The NHS has worked with district and county councils across Norfolk and Waveney, along with voluntary groups, private businesses and the police, to set-up and run the vaccination sites in what has been a real shared endeavour. The NHS would like to thank everyone who has offered sites for the vaccination programme; no further sites are currently needed.

Duncan Baker, MP for North Norfolk said:

I would like to thank the NHS for the enormous amount of work that has gone into identifying suitable locations for the vaccination programme. An enormous range of factors have to be taken into account, including site security, easy access by road and/or public transport, and the provision of adequate parking. This work, which has taken place at great speed in recent days and weeks, now means we have good access to vaccinations in North Norfolk. With a great many older and vulnerable residents here, I know this will be very reassuring news. 

The NHS's Covid-19 Myth Buster explains the process and answers some of the questions you may have.