Category: Injections

We are planning to provide COVID booster vaccines in Hartland in the coming weeks. The dates are just being finalised, and then the slots to book will be made available through the national booking system. We are planning to provide on a couple of Saturdays.

If you are keen to have your vaccine at the surgery, we should have more information within the next week.

When the dates and slots are released, you will not be able to book this slot through the surgery, we have to use the national booking system (online or telephone, call 119)

Thanks to the excellent mobile vaccine team, there is a “pop up” vaccine van on the following dates in Hartland, at the Royal British Legion, 10.30am to 4:30pm:

• Wed 28 September
• Wed 5 October
• Wed 12 October
• Wed 19 October
• Wed 26 October

There is no need to book and after an impressive busy first day today, they may be less busy in the coming October dates.

To check eligibility here:

• www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination
• or call 119.

I’m not sure if this will be the same each time, but today we had the bivalent moderna vaccine (which has better protection for omicron variant), and I was grateful to get my autumn booster as NHS staff, so we should keep our surgery up and running through the winter!

Who can have the seasonal COVID-19 booster?

At the moment, those being prioritised for a seasonal booster dose (autumn booster) of the COVID-19 vaccine include people who are:

• aged 65 years old or over
• pregnant
• aged 5 years old and over and at high risk due to a health condition or weakened immune system
• aged 5 years old and over and live with someone who has a weakened immune system
• aged 16 years old and over and a carer, either paid or unpaid
• living or working in a care home for older people
• a frontline health and social care worker

Other people, including those aged 50 to 64 years old who are not at higher risk, will be able to get the booster jab later in the autumn 2022.

If you have not been able to visit a walk-in vaccine in Barnstaple or through the national booking site, there will be a “pop up” vaccine service visiting Hartland on Tuesday 11^th January 11am to 5pm at the Parish Hall.

• Open to all people aged over 16
• No appointment required

To check you are eligible, or for more information about the vaccine, see the NHS site here.

We are understandably getting lots of people asking to have their COVID booster vaccine at Hartland Surgery.

We are not delivering these locally, so you will need to book through the national booking system online or by calling 119. We dont have an alternative way to book the booster vaccine.

Why are we not doing more COVID Vaccines at Hartland?

Unlike flu vaccines, which each GP practice has been undertaking for many years, when a new COVID vaccine program was started in Dec 2020, the government and NHS England decided that due to the complexity of vaccine storage and supply, they would only deliver vaccine “at scale” to networks of practices.

To accomodate this GP practices in North Devon were together able to hire and staff the leisure centre in Barnstaple for the frozen Pfizer vaccine, and we also expected and planned that the refridgerated Oxford Vaccine could be collected from our Barnstaple hub and then delivered from our practices, like the flu vaccine.

But when the Oxford Vaccine was made available, it was diverted locally by NHS England to the pharmacy at Westward Ho! and away from GP practices, causing chaos and cancellations of many hundreds of vaccine appointments especially for the Bideford GP practices. We were only given smaller amounts of “left over” to catch up with people who hadn’t arranged vaccine through the national system, along with the Pfizer vaccine which we delivered from the hub.

This duplication and delay of delivery meant all our GP practices were frustrated in our efforts, with our patients wondering why we were always behind with delivering the vaccine, and why we only contacted them AFTER they had booked or travelled to vaccine hubs in Wadebridge or further.

Given that we were second choice for delivery of vaccines, our Torridge Network of GP pracfices “opted out” as the first doses of vaccine delivery moved below the aged 50 group, who were much more able to travel for vaccine, or wait a little longer for local delivery. We would instead focus on getting our normal GP services back on track, after all the complexity of the previous year, which I hope we have achieved.

When the booster program was announced, the Torridge network again decided not to take part, since the hospital was now running the leisure centre, and there was ongoing provision at Westward Ho! and Wadebridge.

Given the recent upscaling and urgency for the COVID booster program, we are also frustrated at the lack of vaccine capacity and we are still looking at any ways we could try and help, but up to now there has been no flexibility in what we could deliver and for which patients. Therefore we are sorry not to be able to help further.

We are planning our vaccine dates for second doses of Oxford Vaccine at Hartland Surgery.

We amended dates on Tue 18 May 2021, after change of guidance and vaccine supply to enable 8 weeks interval between doses.

First Dose at Hartland	Second Dose at Hartland (Amended)
Wed 3rd Feb Thu 12 Feb	Wed 28 Apr
Wed 17 Feb	Fri 7 May
Thu 25 Feb Fri 5 Mar Wed 10 Mar Fri 19 Mar *	Fri 21 May
Wed 31 Mar * Thu 1 Apr *	Wed 2 Jun

* second dose date brought forwards to around 8 weeks

If you are aged 45 or above, you are now eligible for a vaccine, booked through the national booking website. You will be offered a choice of vaccine venues.

We will not be doing more “first doses” at Hartland Surgery. We will still be doing second doses up until the end of June for those who had the first dose at the surgery.

We still encourage everyone to get a vaccine, to get protected for themselves, and to prevent circulation of the virus in our community.

We currently have 1648 (59%) of our patients vaccinated (first dose) including 272 (10%) who are fully vaccinated (both doses).

We are now looking out for blood clots after the Oxford Vaccine (Astra-Zeneca), around 4 in every millions doses. There is more information in a government leaflet here

We are told these dont develop until after 4 days from the vaccine date (which is after the common 2-3 days of “flu-like” symptoms, which can include headache, temperature and feeling unwell).

There are no reports of clots after a second dose, so we have no concerns recommending the second vaccine dose, even where you felt unwell for 2-3 days afterwards, or are in the younger group of people.

What should I look out for after vaccination?

Although serious side effects are very rare, if you experience any of the following from around 4 days to 4 weeks after vaccination you should
seek medical advice urgently.

• a new, severe headache which is not helped by usual painkillers or is getting worse
• a headache which seems worse when lying down or bending over or
• an unusual headache that may be accompanied by:
  • blurred vision, nausea and vomiting
  • diffculty with your speech
  • weakness, drowsiness or seizures
  • new, unexplained pinprick bruising or bleeding
  • shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling or persistent abdominal pain

We have vaccine available, and a few of our patients are eligible but still not had their first dose. Overal 1534 (56%) of our patients have had a first dose of vaccine so far. This is actually 71% of those eligible, since a vaccine is currently recommended for those aged over 18.

We are therefore getting in touch with those not yet done to offer a catch up vaccine for Wednesday, please get in touch if you are waiting from groups 1-9 (Aged over 50, vulnerable, carers).

For those under 50, there is expected to be a delay through April while vaccine priority is on the second doses within 12 weeks to get maximum protection for those most at risk.

Regarding numbers, we have the following cohort sizes still needing vaccine, a total of 635

• Aged 40-49 – 205
• Age 30-39 – 190
• Age 18-29 – 240

As we move to younger groups of patients, we are getting more questions regarding whether it would be a good idea to be vaccinated?

YES! 100% yes! Every member of our staff has been vaccinated.

• COVID is very contagious – you will almost all get exposed in the next year or two.
• Fatigue and breathlessness is common after COVID, even in previously fit and active people, its not just the risk of death.
• There is very good safety data on the vaccines to show that any risks are much lower compared with the placebo group. “Real world” data in the UK has shown a dramatic fall in the overall death rate starting a few weeks after the vaccine.
• After a vaccine you are unlikely to be unwell from COVID, almost certain to not need hospital treatment for COVID, much lower risk of spreading infection.
• You will be protecting our community, making our area a safer place to live for everyone. Especially for those who dont have a strong immune system.

What about pregnant women or children? We are waiting to confirm that vaccination is safe, but we will vaccinate our children if this is recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). They are the best in their field, whose expert advice we trust.

We had 190 doses of Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine today, but as an unexpected bonus each 5mls vial contained 6mls of vaccine (12 doses not 10), meaning we actually had an extra 38 doses. We were warned these were definitely not going to be over-filled. We have therefore been making some last minute calls today to use all the vaccine and make sure none is wasted.

Almost every person aged 50+ or in an at risk group has now been offered a vaccine from the surgery, nearly 4 weeks ahead of schedule! What a great success.

We are told the next priority for vaccine will now be for completing the second doses before 12 weeks, and this is all fully on course. We will still be sending updates with just a short notice, when the supply of vaccine is confirmed.

This means there may be some weeks before those under 50 start getting invited, by the national booking system.

A big thank you for all your ongoing support (and patience as you await your turn).