Medical centres in Truro plan to vaccinate 1,200 people a day for two weeks
The Three Spires and Lander practices are responding to the upscaling of the booster jabs programme
Last updated 14th Dec 2021
Truro Primary Care Network, made up of Three Spires and Lander medical practice, has expanded their vaccination programme to offer to 1200 jabs every day for two weeks in a fight against the Omicron variant.
This is part of a national upscaling of vaccinations before Christmas, following Boris Johnson's: 'Get boosted now' message which urges everyone to get a third vaccine.
DR Andy May, GP and clinical commissioner of the Truro Primary Care Network said: "This takes a large operational capacity out of our ability to do our usual day-to-day work. We're asking people to really only contact us with issues that need same-day or are urgent cases.
"If there's anything they can defer to another day reasonably, we would ask them to look at other resources available to them and only use emergency services where it's absolutely critical".
The vaccine service will be available to all patients to their practices and will see a change in the way they're run for the next couple of weeks.
This means a prioritisation of vaccinations for the next fortnight with everyone eligible to be contacted by the practice to book an appointment.
Advice given by NHS Kernow is to manage minor ailments and conditions at home or with the help from a pharmacist until normal services resume. They also advise to call 111 if you need health advice or think you need to visit a minor injury unit and only calling 999 or going to A&E if it’s life-threatening.
DR Andy May continued: "In the surgeries we will be offering a safe reliable service if they're needed. We hope by delivering a large scale programme over a short period of time this will have a lesser impact in terms of people looking for routine appointments in the future and are hoping that come the new year it will feel more like business as usual.
"The impact this might have on our patients, we hope it's minimal and we really hope they appreciate that we've been able to extend this vaccine offer.
"We're really keen that all of our patients will accept vaccine invites. If we can get our communities fully vaccinated, this will have the biggest impact on damage limitation that this new variant is causing".
NHS Kernow are encouraging people to continue with regular testing, wearing face coverings in public and crowded places, social distancing and regular hand washing.
The Primary Care Network are also urging people to get their first and second vaccines, if they haven't already.
To book a vaccine or booster jab, you can call 119 or book directly from the NHS website.