Frome Medical Practice has today provided the following update on the continued roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination programme for their patients.

The key message remains - please do not call the practice regarding your COVID-19 vaccination. As soon as they have vaccine available for your priority group they will be in touch.

Practice Update

Please note that when we call you our number will show as withheld. We know that many of our patients understandably prefer not to answer withheld numbers but please consider that it could be one of our team trying to contact you.

Patients aged over 80 as of 31st March 2020 (not housebound)

Any outstanding patients aged over 80 (not including the housebound) are booked in for vaccinations this weekend (23rd January). If you fall into this priority group and have not received a phone call from us you will receive a letter instead, if you haven't already done so.

Patients aged 75 - 80

We have been booking appointments for patients in this age group, prioritizing the clinically extremely vulnerable* first. Most of our patients in this age group should by now have been booked in for their vaccine.

Patients aged 70 – 75

We are now starting to book appointments for our patients who are 70-75, again starting with the clinically extremely vulnerable*. Please wait for your phone call regarding your appointment rather than calling us to ask about this.

Remaining clinically extremely vulnerable* patients

This will be our next priority group once we have completed appointments for the over 70s. If you are in this group you can expect to hear from us soon – our aim is to have offered you your vaccination by mid February, subject to vaccine availability.

Patients aged 65 - 70

The government target is to vaccinate all our patients aged over 65 by mid February and we remain on track to do this, subject to vaccine availability. Please wait for your phone call regarding your appointment, rather than calling us to ask about this.

Care homes

We have completed our first dose vaccinations in all care homes in Frome.

Housebound patients (all ages)

This week we were able to start the vaccination programme for our housebound patients.

This process will take some time due to the number of patients involved and the resources we need to vaccinate housebound patients. Please be patient if you are in this group of patient (or you are concerned for a relative in this group) and we will be in touch as soon as we can.

Health care professionals

We continue to receive a high number of calls from health care professionals regarding their vaccinations but repeat our request that you do not call us.

Information for health care professionals is as follows:

We have been asked to vaccinate staff from pharmacies, dentists and optometrists. Each of these organisation types has a Somerset designated lead. We do not lead on this. The designated lead sends us lists of staff needing vaccinating. We cannot accept requests for vaccines outside this process.

All other health care professionals, including, but not exclusive to, health care agency staff, funeral directors, independent physiotherapists etc. will be offered vaccinations at the Mass Vaccination Centres which are opening up around the area. If you are in one of these groups your employer or professional body will contact you regarding your vaccination. Again, please do not call us if you are in one of these groups as we are unable to offer you a vaccine appointment.

Invitations to Mass Vaccination Centres

We know that some of our patients aged 70 and over have received letters inviting them to attend the Mass Vaccination Centre in Bristol. These are sent out nationally and so on occasion you might receive this letter before we are able to contact you to offer you an appointment at the practice.

If you receive a letter inviting you to make an appointment in Bristol but would prefer to wait for us to contact you then you are welcome to do this.

Practice updates

For ongoing updates regarding coronavirus vaccinations please check the Frome Medical Practice website or their social media https://www.fromemedicalpractice.co.uk/

• clinically extremely vulnerable as defined nationally – https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/people-at-higher-risk/whos-at-higher-risk-from-coronavirus/