Professor Mike Holmes, who coordinates York's mass vaccination centre at Askham Bar, ir urging everyone eligible to come forward for their jab - although a few may not be eligible to get vaccinated.

 

"As everyone begins the festive count down, here at Nimbuscare our teams are pulling out all the stops to make sure as many people as possible get their important Covid and Flu vaccinations before the year is out.

The Autumn Covid booster vaccination programme is currently scheduled to end in December and there are still people who need their jabs.

I would urge those who haven’t yet booked in, to grasp the opportunity. Just go to nhs.uk and book a slot before the end of the programme.

Any York patient who is eligible can also get their flu jab at the same time. We’re open seven days a week and our clinicians will be happy to discuss any concerns you have if you are undecided.

We have recently seen a few people who haven’t been able to receive their vaccine, despite receiving an invitation.

A small number of patients have, following their clinical consultation, been told they cannot be vaccinated. Our vaccinators are following strict clinical guidance for eligibility.

It appears that, on a few occasions, patients have been invited incorrectly. These invitations are sent out centrally and this is beyond our control – we are feeding back our experiences to help refine the process.

Please be reassured that our teams are following strict guidance issued by the JCVI.

We are seeing Covid levels begin to reduce, however, flu infection levels continue to rise, so it’s important people get their flu jab this year.

The NHS has administered 13.2 million flu vaccinations since September and Nimbuscare has delivered more than 112,000.

At our Acomb Garth Community Care Centre we continue to expand the range of services on offer. These centres are being developed in the wake of the successful vaccination programme and we’re determined to bring health and care to local people, close to their homes.

Last week we welcomed the community midwifery team who will be providing ante natal and postnatal check-ups for local patients there.

We’re also soon to be setting up York’s first Community Women’s Health service which will include menopause care and specialist women’s health care and advice.

With the Women’s Health Strategy due to be published this year and an acknowledged gender gap in health services, we believe it is the perfect time to develop a locality-based community service to improve the provision of this type of care and advice.

Here in York we have some very knowledgeable and well qualified GPs in this field and It feels positive to be working closely with them as we develop and launch these services.

As we work on the detail of this service, we will ensure everyone is kept up to date as we anticipate there will be a huge demand."