Vaccination programme "running smoothly" at Riverside Medical Practice

A practice spokesperson stressed that the vaccine uptake had been high, with almost all patients eager to get the jab to protect them against the deadly virus.

The practice – East Lothian’s biggest – is now contacting people aged between 75 and 79, and those shielding, who should have already received a letter from the Government or been defined as a shielder by their GP, to offer appointments

Riverside has about 1,100 patients in this group and, after a special weekend vaccine clinic this Saturday, expects to have offered appointments to about half of them, with remaining patients to be contacted once the surgery receives its next vaccine delivery.

The practice said it had already offered appointments to all registered patients aged over 80.

“We look forward to welcoming many more patients to their Covid vaccine appointments this week,” said clinical manager Chris Gent.

Dr Richard Fairclough, GP partner at Riverside Medical Practice, receiving the vaccine from lead nurse Diane Fyffe. Inset: Chris Gent, clinical manager at Riverside Medical Practice

“Our team are doing a great job getting everyone into the surgery as soon as possible, with many working throughout last weekend to make calls and get people booked in.

“We find that this is the most efficient way to confirm appointments quickly, rather than sending a letter or text.

“Many more staff have volunteered to man our vaccine clinic on Saturday.”

He urged patients to only go to the surgery if they had been given an appointment and to attend by themselves if they could.

He said: “We’d ask everyone to come to the surgery as close to their vaccine appointment time as possible to make sure we can follow social distancing guidelines to keep everyone safe.

“If people think they might struggle getting into the surgery, a number of local taxi firms are offering free transport to vaccine appointments: HcL (0131 447 9949) and Handicabs Lothian (0131 447 9953).”

Mr Gent added: “We’re aware of the mid-February target date for the first four priority groups to be vaccinated; however, we can only vaccinate as fast as supplies and logistics allow and have no control over the number of doses we’re sent each week. We assure you that we’re vaccinating as fast as we can, and that everyone eligible for vaccination here will be invited to attend as soon as possible.

“We’re getting lots of calls asking when appointments will be, as well as general queries, and this means we can’t answer calls from patients with urgent health queries.

“Those who have a general query about the vaccine, please call the national Covid-19 vaccination helpline on 0800 030 8013.

“We’ll contact people for second doses shortly before they’re due – currently 12 weeks after the first dose.

“By this time, we expect to have a better understanding of what vaccine supplies we’ll be sent and when, so we can book appointments in the most efficient way.

For example, larger allocations will allow us to hold weekend clinics, which larger numbers of people can attend.”

Find out more about the vaccination programme at Riverside by visiting theriversidepractice.co.uk/covid-vaccine

Go to the gov.uk website for information about priority groups.