Covid Vaccine Update 5th January 2021

We are all excited to hear about the progress of the rolling out of the Covid vaccine and look forward to this improving the quality of life for all of us.

We know that you, like us, are struggling with the confines imposed upon us all due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Everyone is trying to make the best of the situation and, as a practice, we are committed to caring for you in the best possible way whilst keeping both you and our team safe.

To keep you as informed as possible, we will update these messages frequently as we become aware of more information from NHS England:

  • The approval of the Oxford/Astra-Zeneca vaccine provides a major boost to our plans to offer protection to our patients.
  • The new guidance from the JCVI on the period between doses also means that we will be to get the maximum benefit for the most people in the shortest possible time and will help save lives.
  • The large increase in Covid cases hospitals are seeing and the emergence of a new variant of the virus also shows that we cannot let our guard down now and even those who have received a vaccine still need to follow social distancing guidance.
  • Please do not contact the surgery nor the hospital to seek a vaccine, we will contact you in the order that the NHS has instructed us to
  • Please continue to abide by all the social distancing and hand hygiene guidance, which will still save lives.
  • Clincally extremely vulnerable: Due to the current lockdown, patients that are classed as clinically extremely vulnerable will receive a letter in the next week from NHS England.
    These letters can be used for sick pay, priority shopping slots and other needs. The Orchard Partnership will not be issuing shielding letters to patients.
    Please wait for your letter to arrive instead of phoning the surgery. Thank you.

Thank you for your patience
The Orchard Partnership
05.01.2021