Local GPs to begin offering COVID vaccine as Our Health Partnership supports biggest NHS immunisation programme

The COVID vaccination will be available from tomorrow to those aged 80 and above, as well as care home workers and at-risk health care staff and those identified as being in priority groups. Local vaccination services, run by family doctors and their teams, will open across Birmingham and Solihull and include three OHP supported primary care networks:

• Bournville and Northfield,
• Quinton and Harborne
• Kingstanding, Erdington and Nechells

The NHS will contact people in the priority groups when it is their turn to receive the vaccine.

Dr Vish Ratnasuriya, Chair of Our Health Partnership said:

“We are proud to play our part in helping the NHS in this huge national effort to save lives and overcome the pandemic, in what is one of the biggest vaccination programmes in NHS history

“The logistical challenges of offering the vaccination are tough but practice teams have worked tirelessly to put safe processes in place. Our patients recognise the high standards of care offered by their local surgery.

Dr Ratnasuriya added: ” So we can continue to also best serve patients needing usual GP services, I‘d like to emphasise that patients should wait for our call and invitation to attend rather than contacting their surgery with a vaccination enquiry.”

The latest phase of the vaccine roll-out is being co-ordinated by GP-led primary care networks (PCNs) with more practices joining the NHS roll out on a phased basis during December and in the coming months.

The local vaccination centres will build on the work of the scores of hospital hubs that have already started vaccinating.