Vaccination Update – September 6 2023
We are finalising plans to offer COVID-19 Autumn boosters and flu vaccines to more than 300,000 eligible people in North Wales, with the support of our colleagues and partners in primary care and community pharmacies.
We expect the first vaccines to be offered to the most vulnerable from September 11.
We are concerned at reports of new COVID-19 variants, and an increase in admissions to hospitals in Wales as a result of COVID-19 infections in recent weeks. This suggests a wider increase of transmission of the virus in the community. We are also concerned about reports of a severe flu season in Australia, which is often seen as an indicator of how the virus could affect the UK during the winter.
The health board urges everyone eligible for free COVID-19 Autumn booster and flu vaccines to get protected this winter. Your best protection against the viruses is to take up your invitation to receive the COVID-19 Autumn booster and flu vaccines.
Full details of eligible groups for the free COVID-19 Autumn booster and flu vaccine, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and Chief Medical Officer for Wales, are available on our website. Where possible, you may be offered the COVID-19 Autumn booster and flu vaccinations at the same time. In most cases, for practical delivery reasons you will be invited to receive the vaccines at two separate appointments.
COVID-19
From September 11, our COVID-19 vaccination teams will prioritise people living in care homes, followed by people who are housebound. We will then move onto other eligible groups, beginning with those at highest clinical risk. To help protect the front line staff who deliver essential health and care services, we will also begin vaccinating a number of NHS and social care staff early in our vaccination programme.
As in previous COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, we will contact everyone eligible for an Autumn booster vaccination with an appointment when it is their turn. Appointments will take place at a community vaccination centre or GP surgery near you. Full details, including date, time and location of your appointment, will be in included on your letter.
Please wait to receive an invitation for your vaccination appointment. There is no need to contact us. Our COVID-19 Autumn booster programme will once again see very large numbers of appointments being delivered every day, so please keep the appointment offered where possible. Anyone who has received an invitation and has any concerns, queries or needs to change the date or time can do so via our COVID-19 Vaccination Contact Centre on 03000 840 004. Telephone lines are open 8am-6pm Monday to Friday and 9am-2pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Flu
If you or your loved ones are eligible for a free flu vaccine, your GP surgery will usually contact you to offer an appointment at a flu vaccination clinic. You may be invited by letter, text message, phone call, or face to face when you are at your surgery for another appointment. Surgeries may also use social media or other messaging platforms to advertise flu vaccination clinics. GP surgeries usually invite the most vulnerable patients to get their flu vaccine first.
Some patients may be invited to attend a local community vaccination centre for their flu vaccination. These patients will be contacted directly with details of their appointment including date, time and location.
More than 100 community pharmacies in North Wales also offer free flu vaccines to eligible groups. Contact your local community pharmacy to find out about how to get your flu vaccine, or see the notices displayed in store. You may need to make an appointment.
Alternatively, your employer may have made arrangements for you to receive your flu vaccine at work.