Flu Vaccinations Update - 17 September 2021
NHS Orkney has begun delivering the flu vaccinations programme.
This year flu vaccinations will be delivered to everyone aged 50 and over and those aged 6 months to 49 years with certain underlying health conditions which increase risk.
For eligible patients the following arrangements are in place:
• Those on the Isles, your GP Practice will contact you and invite you in for an appointment.
• For those registered with Skerryvore, Heilendi, Dounby and Daisy Villa Practices appointment letters will be sent to you when it’s your turn to attend.
• Patients registered with Stromness Surgery will continue to be invited to attend by their own GP Practice.
• For patients who are housebound and normally receive their vaccination at home this will continue to happen.
The current position is as follows:
• Letters have been sent out to all patients aged 65 years and over and those on the shielding list.
• Letters were sent out yesterday to all those patients aged 18-65 who fall into the clinical at-risk group.
• We will then start to progress down to offering vaccinations to the following groups:
• Ages: 60-64, 55-59, 50-54, 2-5 years.
• Unpaid carers will be offered vaccination through WHB Sutherlands. We anticipate this will commence from early October. Further details will be released once things are confirmed.
• We will be attending schools during a two-week period commencing 25 October to offer vaccination from Primary 1 upwards. We also intend to offer vaccination to school staff as part of this process. We are working with the education department around the planning for this, including parental consent.
As always, we appreciate your patience and co-operation throughout this process. The vaccination teams are extremely thankful to each of you for being so understanding and willing to travel to mass vaccination clinics when asked. It really does go a long way to assist in streamlining our process and ensuring you receive your vaccine as quickly as possible.
