The Coronavirus vaccination rollout is accelerating in Surrey, with more local residents getting their jabs every day.
Our local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Surrey Heartlands, has now opened all of its planned GP-led vaccination centres in the county. There are two in Elmbridge, at Emberbrook Surgery in Thames Ditton and the H&M building in The Heart Centre in Walton.
Vaccinations are also being offered in hospitals, at the mass vaccination centre at Epsom Racecourse, and at a Superdrug pharmacy in Guildford. Other pharmacies and hospital hubs will soon join in the rollout. Vaccines are also being administered in local care homes, and it was great to hear recently that this effort is being boosted by more supplies of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, which is easier to transport.
I understand that residents are keen to know when they or their relatives will receive the vaccine. In Surrey the priority remains vaccinating the over-80s and care home residents, following the priority list set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. The CCG has assured me that nobody will be missed out, so residents should not worry if they have not been contacted yet.
Residents should also be aware that the NHS has, at an England-wide level, decided that vaccinations can now be offered to the next highest groups on the priority list – those over 70 and the clinically extremely vulnerable. This means that, while the over-80s and care home residents are the priority in Surrey, the rollout will start to extend to the next highest priority groups. The CCG has explained what this means here.
This accelerating rollout is very encouraging and offers a clear route out of the current restrictions. For now though, it’s still important to keep to the rules, which you can find here.