Major milestone as first COVID-19 vaccinations delivered to every elderly Calderdale care home

Every elderly care home in Calderdale has now had their first life-saving COVID-19 vaccinations delivered to those that were willing and able to receive it.
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Working together in groups, GP practices have provided the vaccine to residents and staff as part of the national roll-out, which is prioritising those most at risk from the virus.

The Chair of NHS Calderdale CCG, Dr Steven Cleasby, said: “It is great news and a significant milestone for us. GPs, nurses, pharmacists and countless other staff, partners and volunteers have been working around the clock to provide these first vaccinations as quickly as possible to our elderly care homes and should be congratulated on their hard work and dedication.

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“We know people are eager get protected and may be concerned if they are in one of the priority cohorts and have not been contacted yet. However, we would like to reassure them that they will be contacted over the next few weeks and ask them not to contact the hospital, GP surgery or pharmacy to ask about vaccinations”.

Care home staff being given the vaccineCare home staff being given the vaccine
Care home staff being given the vaccine

The Leader of Calderdale Council, Councillor Tim Swift said this is an incredible achievement for the borough.

"I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone involved. It’s a significant step in a long journey to vaccinate an entire population in Calderdale," said Coun Swift.

“This is a mammoth task and the full rollout will take some time. It is therefore important that we all continue to do all we can to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The three big things to protect ourselves and our loved ones are – limiting our contact with others, wearing a face covering and isolating when needed.”

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Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group said if you are aged 75 or over, and have not yet had a vaccination, you may soon get a letter from the NHS national booking system inviting you to make an appointment at the nearest National Vaccination Centre in Manchester or the Boots community pharmacy, which is on Market Street in Halifax.

These are being sent to people who live within 45 minutes of one of the centres and might be in a different area to where you would normally receive your healthcare confirmed the CCG.

Residents do not have to book an appointment at one of these centres if it is not convenient for them to get there.

People can choose to wait for an invitation from their GP practice OR choose to wait until one of the West Yorkshire centres open and are added to the national booking system, which will happen over the next few weeks.

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Residents are being asked not to contact their local practice about an appointment until they receive an invitation from them.

Surgeries will not be able to advise people on when they will get an appointment or which centres are available.

All this information is available on the national booking system website.