This year, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the government has made changes to the eligibility criteria for the flu vaccine; due to the strict health and safety measures currently in place, we need to run our clinics differently to ensure we can keep our patients and staff safe at this time. Please read the below carefully before booking into a clinic:

All our clinics will be available to book via our Patient Auto Telephone system on 0118 9352121 by selecting 1 followed by 6.

Vaccine supplies are limited and we must offer vaccination to all our “At Risk” groups first.

To that end please ONLY book a flu vaccination appointment – if you are receipt of an invitation letter from the surgery. (If you do not receive an invite letter by the early November, and you feel you should have been sent an invite please contact us via the surgery website and we will look into this for you and advise accordingly, please note the recall system relies on national audits and programmes written by computer software suppliers to select the correct patients to recall for seasonal vaccinations).

Our clinics will run in a clinical priority order and will become available for patient booking from early October onwards.

You will be booked into a specific timed appointment and it is essential you arrive on time for that appointment. If you do not arrive for the time you book, you may be asked to re-book another time. Please join the queue at your appointment time. This is so that we can ensure we do not have big groups of patients congregating outside the surgery and can maintain social distance safely.

• You will be asked to queue outside with intervals of 2 metres and your name will be checked off a register by a member of staff so we have a record of your attendance.
• Patients must wear a face covering for their appointment. Please come alone to your appointment if possible to reduce the number of people at the practice.
• Please ensure you are able to remove your coat/outer clothing easily to be given the injection in your upper arm.
• We will run a one way system and patients will enter through our normal patient entrance at our main site (adjacent to the patient car-park) and will exit via our staff entrance door at the rear of the building. (The Entrance and Exit on the day of the flu clinic will be clearly marked)

Who is eligible for the 2020/21 Flu Vaccine?

Those eligible for the flu vaccine are as follows:

• All patients 6 months to under 65 years in “clinical at risk” groups, such as chronic long term respiratory disease on regular medication, heart, kidney, liver and neurological disease, diabetes, and suppressed immunity. Plus those who have recently had to shield during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their immediate family living with them (if they are also our patients).
• Pregnant women – vaccination will be offered in hospital maternity units this year.
• Patients over 65 years (or those turning 65 before 31st March 2021).
• Carers.
• Children aged 2-3 years on 31st August 2020 can be vaccinated at the surgery i.e. born between 1st Sept 2016 & 31st Aug 2018. Please await updates on clinics for this age group
• All primary school aged children and Year 7s (1st year at secondary school) will be vaccinated at school. Please contact your schools directly for further information.

Despite the current media coverage, we have not yet had confirmation from NHS England if all over 50s are also to be eligible to be vaccinated this year. We will be contacting all our patients via text message with any updates, so please look out for these.

Update from NHS England September 4^th 2020

Please note that, if you are aged between 50 and 64 and not in a clinical at risk group, the earliest you will be offered a flu vaccination is November, providing there is sufficient vaccine.  No appointments will be offered for people in this age group until then. This is to ensure that those who are most at risk are vaccinated first.  If you are aged 50 to 64 and are in a clinical ‘at risk’ group which is eligible for the flu vaccination, for example you have a health condition which puts you at risk from the flu, you will be invited earlier.

If you would like to find out more about the flu vaccine for 2020/21, please download the flu vaccination booklet:

www.gov.uk/flu-vaccination-who-should-have-it-this-winter-and-why