COLUMN: Providing vital protection from flu and Covid

The vaccination programme for flu and COVID has been brought forward. Library image.

The NHS has been asked to bring the flu and Covid vaccination programmes forward and we will be working quickly to ensure as many eligible people as possible are vaccinated by the end of October.

Our aim is to enable those who need it most to get vital protection from both flu and Covid over the winter months, to stop them developing serious illnesses and helping to minimise hospitalisations. Remember, if you’re aged 65 and over or you will turn 65 on or before March 31, 2024, aged six months and above and clinically vulnerable, a frontline health and social care worker or a carer, you are eligible for both a Covid and a flu vaccination this winter.

We have already started vaccinating residents of care homes and housebound people, and from Monday, September 18, we started to vaccinate those most at risk. A full list of who is eligible is available online.

Julie Humphreys, of Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust.

Eligible people may receive an invite from their local GP practice or can make an appointment for their Covid vaccination online using the national booking service or by calling 119. Frontline health and social care workers will be invited for their vaccines through their employer.

As well as most GP practices being involved in the Covid vaccination programme, community pharmacies will also be offering appointments for Covid and flu vaccinations that can be booked via the National Booking Service. In addition, there will also be a vaccination team offering Covid vaccinations at the Weighing Rooms in Lincoln.

There are a small number of GP practices not offering Covid vaccinations this autumn (Old Leake Medical Centre, Merton Lodge Surgery, Stickney Surgery and Spilsby Surgery). Patients at these practices will be able to book an appointment in a local outreach vaccination clinic by calling 01522 301940. If you have already booked an appointment for your flu vaccination with your GP practice, that’s fine and this appointment will go ahead as scheduled.

While we will be encouraging people to have both a Covid and a flu vaccination at the same time to maximise protection during what is likely to be a very challenging winter, we understand that some people will prefer to have their vaccinations separately and this is fine. The important thing is to have both if you are eligible and to come forward as soon as possible.