31 December 2020

We have some important news to share with you before next week. There will be a further update on Monday morning as things become clearer over the weekend and we will hold an extra Q&A on Monday 4 January at 2pm. Click this teams link at 2pm on Monday to join the session.

The Covid vaccine gives us the opportunity to think positively about the new year and about protecting our staff and our patients.

We are hoping to be in a position to be launching our vaccination programme with the Pfizer vaccine from Monday 4 January 2021, at the Gail Briers Education Centre at Hollins Park House. Because of the properties of the vaccine we are only able to provide one site for the whole trust.  We accept this is inconvenient for many but it is the only way we can handle this particular vaccine.  When we have access to the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine we will be able to review our arrangements.

Whilst all staff will be able to gain access to the vaccine eventually, we have rightly been instructed by the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunizations (JCVI) to prioritise our own staff who are clinically vulnerable alongside our front line staff who work with patients. These are the staff who are currently using the lateral flow test kits (or could be if they were in work) and the staff who have been identified as clinically vulnerable.

Therefore if you are support staff in a non-patient facing role or corporate staff not currently using the lateral flow test kits, please do not book an early appointment. We are determined not waste any vaccines and we have to vaccinate 975 staff in each five day window, so we may be in a position of offering last minute appointments to you to avoid wastage so please be ready if we call on you.

You must have booked an appointment to access the vaccine – you can’t just turn up. 

The link to book your appointment is https://northwestboroughsnhsfoundationtrust.nhsbookings.com/ and you will need to have your NHS number ready in order to so do. 

There are some people who are excluded from being able to have the vaccine for personal health related conditions such as pregnancy so fill in this screening tool to see if you are eligible.

Further information in terms of what to expect on the day will be provided to you with your booking confirmation.

More detailed FAQs will be produced in the next couple of days and will be available ready for Monday.

We would like to recognise and thank the vaccination steering group who have done an amazing job to get us to this position and who will be working over the bank holiday and the weekend to confirm the arrangements and hopefully launch on Monday.