So far the national Vaccination programme can only be regarded as a success, particularly across our area here – the combined Bath & North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire area – where there have been almost 1 million doses given already.
Department of Health data tells us that 39 million of the UK population have received a first vaccine dose of whom 25 million have already received a second.
The target date for all – including the younger members of the population to receive their first shot is by 31 July.
But in the KAMP area of Marlborough, along with many other similar towns with GP-led vaccine services anyone who hasn’t received a first, second or both shots of the vaccine will have to apply to the national NHS online site to make their arrangements as KAMP will be ceasing first vaccinations now and second vaccinations at the end of June – one month before the national target deadline.
Their reasons for this cut-off is that they want to return to a ‘Business As Usual’ procedure, providing the contracted NHS services.
Their FaceBook pronouncement states that ‘our staff are becoming increasingly fatigued with having worked so many extra hours in Covid Vaccination Clinics’, adding: ‘we do not believe we can continue safely to provide both clinics and BAU (‘Business As Usual’) at the same time.
Further, the statement added: ‘We have therefore decided that now is the right time to focus back on providing a full NHS service to our whole patient demographic and cease providing FIRST (sic) vaccinations for the future cohorts’.
We understand this to mean that anyone, of any age who hasn’t yet been given a first shot will have to make their own arrangements via the NHS service (click link above), and anyone with no second shot before the end of June will have to do the same.
Their statement notes that ‘We feel incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the past few months and we are ready to make this next move to returning some sort of normality within our Practice Team.’
There is talk that more pharmacy-based vaccine services will be introduced, and hopefully there will be one such centre in Marlborough but that hasn’t as yet been confirmed. As soon as we receive confirmation we will publish.