Coronavirus information

The Government has confirmed that the vast majority of Covid-19 vaccinations administered by hospital hubs and local vaccination services in the initial phase will be prioritised for those 80 years of age and over, frontline health and social care workers.

Please be assured that everyone who should have the vaccine will be able to, but as you will appreciate a vaccination programme of this scale will take time to be rolled out. The NHS has also worked through distribution mechanisms to ensure that care home residents can now safely be offered a vaccination across the country.

Following the priority groups outlined above, the next phase will include:

• all those 75 years of age and over
• all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
• all those 65 years of age and over
• all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality, and carers
• all those 60 years of age and over
• all those 55 years of age and over
• all those 50 years of age and over

It is estimated that taken together, these groups represent around 99% of preventable deaths from Covid-19. Details of the national advice on priority groups for the vaccine is available on the Government website.

When it is the right time people will receive an invitation to come forward. For most people this will be a letter or a phone call, either from their GP or the NHS. This letter will include all the information a person will need to book appointments. Some services are currently also phoning and texting patients to invite them in.

The NHS is working hard to make sure those at greatest risk are offered the vaccine first. We know lots of people will be eager to get protected but we would ask people not to contact the NHS to get an appointment until they are contacted, unless you have been given specific instruction to do so

Some people who have been vaccinated by their GP may still get an invitation to a vaccination centre like the Centre for Life. This letter can be disregarded if you have already had your vaccine, or an appointment to have your vaccine, from your GP at one of our centres. This letter is not an invitation for a second dose of your vaccine and remember you can wait for an invitation from your GP if you would prefer to be vaccinated there rather than at a mass vaccination centre.

Independent analysis suggests that one life is saved for every 20 vaccines given to care home residents. For other over-80s, 160 vaccines have to be given to save a life. The numbers needed to vaccinate per life saved go up as we move down the priority groups. These figures come from actuarial analysis of the pandemic so far, and are completely independent. Getting our most vulnerable vaccinated as quickly as we can while transmission rates are high will undoubtedly save lives.

The NHS has opened a number of large-scale vaccination centres including one at the Centre for Life in Newcastle. Invitations to book an appointment are being sent to people aged 80 or over who have not yet been vaccinated and live up to 45 minutes’ drive from a centre. You don’t have to attend the Centre for Life.  You are able to have the vaccine at the local site for your area in County Durham

Vaccination of patient-facing health and social care workers will be co-ordinated through your employer. You will receive an invitation to attend for your vaccine as soon as possible and in line with national guidance on priority groups.

We are working hard to provide the vaccine to housebound patients.

Community nurses will contact housebound patients directly about their planned visit.

The local nursing team will contact housebound patients directly to let them know when they will be visiting them to give them the vaccine.

Both the Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are now available. All vaccines have been shown to be safe and offer high levels of protection, and have been given regulatory approval by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

No. Any vaccines that the NHS provide will have been approved because they pass the MHRA’s tests on safety and efficacy. People should be assured that whatever Covid-19 vaccine they get will be effective.

Yes. The NHS would not offer any Covid-19 vaccinations to the public until independent experts have signed off that it was safe to do so.

The vaccines approved for use in the UK have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Any coronavirus vaccine that is approved must go through all the clinical trials and safety checks all other licensed medicines go through. The MHRA follows international standards of safety.

Thousands of people have been given a Covid-19 vaccine and reports of serious side effects, such as allergic reactions, have been very rare. No long-term complications have been reported.

Read about the approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19 by MHRA on GOV.UK

Read about the approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19 by MHRA on GOV.UK

Read about the approved Moderna vaccine for Covid-19

The MHRA –  Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency  is the authorisation that all clinicians in the UK operate under. The decision to approve the supply covid vaccinations was taken under Regulation 174 of the Human Medicine Regulations 2012, which enables rapid temporary regulatory approvals to address significant public health issues such as a pandemic. Further information on the safety of the vaccines is also available on our local authority website

The MHRA have advised that getting vaccinated is just as important for those who have already had Covid-19. It is advised that if you have had Covid you need to wait four weeks before you can be vaccinated.

No, the COVID-19 vaccine will not protect you against the flu.

People with history of a severe allergy to the ingredients of the vaccines should not be vaccinated. People who have ever had a severe allergy (anaphylaxis) where the cause was not identified should not have the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine but can have the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine.

The MHRA has updated its guidance to say that pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding can have the vaccine. Pregnant women can discuss it with a clinician to ensure that the benefits outweigh any potential risks should they wish. Similarly, advice for women planning a pregnancy has also been updated and there is no need for women to delay pregnancy after having the vaccination.

This claim has been debunked by Full Fact, which found no evidence that the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine causes fertility problems in women. You can read more about this here.

People currently unwell and experiencing Covid-19 symptoms should not receive the vaccine until they have recovered. The guidance says this should be at least four weeks (28 days) after the start of symptoms or from the date of a positive Covid-19 test.

The NHS is offering vaccinations to those at greatest risk from Covid-19 first, in line with recommendations from the Joint Committee for Vaccinations & Immunisations (JCVI).

Informed consent is addressed in person when patients or members of the public attend for vaccination at either a local vaccination site or a mass vaccination site.  Before being vaccinated, patients have a wide range of questions which they ask the responsible clinician at the sites and then make an informed decision on whether they wish to be vaccinated.  When patients are contacted to book an appointment for their vaccine it will be by an administrator in the practice and they are not clinically trained to have these discussions with patients.  There have been cases where patients have requested the administrator make a telephone conversation with a clinician to discuss their concerns further before booking or attending a vaccination appointment.  All of our local vaccination sites follow the national Standard Operating Procedure available for booking patients and patients attending at the site for informed consent.

The UK Chief Medical Officers agreed a longer timeframe between first and second doses so that more people could get their first dose quickly, and because the evidence showed that one dose still offered a high level of protection. This decision allowed the maximum benefit for the most people in the shortest possible time and helped save lives.

Getting both doses remains important so we would urge people to return for it at the right time which will 8 weeks from the first dose for over 18s and 12 weeks for age 12 to 17.

The science suggests that protection comes 10-14 days after the first dose. Trials show that at three weeks, the Pfizer vaccine is 89% effective and the Astra Zeneca vaccine is 73% effective.

In the Astra Zeneca vaccine trial, second doses were given after varying time periods, with no suggestion that a delayed second dose gave inferior protection.

There is no reason to think that a second dose at 8 weeks will give inferior long term protection, and lots of science to suggest this may actually give better long term protection.

For most vaccines, the best time for a booster dose is well beyond three weeks after the primary dose. In fact, a second dose too close to the first dose often means there is a lesser immune response in the long run.

There is no evidence that people in clinically vulnerable groups get any lesser protection from the first dose of vaccine than the general population. Giving people in these groups a second vaccine would delay the first dose for other vulnerable people. We do not have the option of making exceptions.

The COVID-19 booster programme is the roll out of an additional vaccine dose to people who have previously received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to ensure continued protection for those most at risk from COVID-19.

We want to provide the people that are most likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19 and those who care for them with the best possible protection for this winter. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has reviewed available data and provided advice that COVID-19 boosters are first offered to the most vulnerable in order to provide maximum protection during the Winter months.

The flu vaccination programme is now running which protects people from serious complications from getting flu, so we would also encourage people that are eligible for a COVID-19 booster to also get their flu vaccination. More information on the flu vaccination is at www.nhs.uk/flujab

Independent experts, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), have said that for the 2021 COVID-19 vaccination programme, the following people who received vaccination in Phase 1 of the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be offered a third dose COVID-19 booster vaccine.

The following people should be offered a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the same order as the first part of the vaccination programme.

• all people aged 16 years or over

The JCVI advises that the booster vaccine dose should be offered no earlier than three months after completion of the first course of vaccination.

JCVI have advised that individual who are severely immunosuppressed get an additional third dose of vaccine as part of their primary course of immunisation.  This offer is separate to the booster programme. More information is available here: JCVI issues advice on third dose vaccination for severely immunosuppressed – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

There are very few people in the eligible groups who should not have a booster.  If you have had a severe reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine you should discuss this with your doctor.

The NHS will let eligible people know to have their booster vaccine when it is their turn.

The JCVI advises that the booster vaccine dose should be offered no earlier than three months after having the second dose of the vaccination. Like your previous doses, the vaccine will be given in your upper arm.

People will be offered the vaccine through a range of services. Primary care teams will vaccinate care home staff and residents. Health and social care staff will be directed to book their appointments through employers and members of the public will be invited to get their booster through a GP-led service and/or be contacted by the NHS to book through the national COVID-19 vaccination booking service to get their vaccination in a designated pharmacy, vaccination centre or GP-led service.

As most younger adults will only have received their second COVID-19 vaccine dose in late summer or early autumn, the benefits of booster vaccination in this group will be considered at a later time when more information is available. In general, younger, healthy individuals may be expected to generate stronger vaccine-induced immune responses from primary course vaccination compared to older individuals.

After reviewing data on booster responses from different combinations of COVID-19 vaccines, JCVI advises a preference for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna (vaccines to be offered as the booster dose irrespective of which type of vaccine was used in the primary schedule). There is good evidence that both vaccines are well tolerated as a booster dose and will provide a strong booster response.

Where mRNA vaccines cannot be offered e.g. due to contraindication, vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine may be considered for those who received AstraZeneca vaccine in the primary course. More detail is available in the green book

As with your previous dose the common side effects are the same for all COVID-19 vaccines used in the UK, and include:

• having a painful, heavy feeling and tenderness in the arm where you had your injection. This tends to be worst around 1 to 2 days after the vaccine
• feeling tired
• headache
• general aches, or mild flu like symptoms

You can rest and take paracetamol (follow the dose advice in the packaging) to help make you feel better. Although feeling feverish is not uncommon for 2 to 3 days, a high temperature is unusual and may indicate you have COVID-19 or another infection.

Although a fever can occur within a day or 2 of vaccination, if you have any other COVID-19 symptoms or your fever lasts longer, stay at home and arrange to have a test. Symptoms following vaccination normally last less than a week. If your symptoms seem to get worse or if you are concerned, you can call NHS 111.

If you had serious side effects after any previous dose you may be advised to avoid or delay further vaccination. You should discuss this with your doctor or specialist.

Yes. Public Health England advises that there are no safety concerns and that COVID-19 vaccines can be given at the same time as other vaccines, including the nasal flu vaccine. It is standard practice for different vaccines to be given at the same time as each other.  This happens frequently with routine childhood vaccinations in the UK and other countries.

The COVID-19 vaccination will reduce the chance of you suffering from COVID-19 disease. It may take a few days for your body to build up some protection from the booster.

Like all medicines, no vaccine is completely effective – some people may still get COVID-19 despite having a vaccination, but this should be less severe.

No, you need to finish the first course of your vaccination.

The COVID-19 booster and the flu vaccine can be given on the same day and for people that are eligible for both, there may be opportunities to have both together. We would encourage you to get your vaccinations as soon as possible and get fully protected rather than waiting as it may not always be possible to get them together.

Everyone that is eligible that hasn’t already had their first or second COVID-19 vaccination will still be able to get vaccinated, even when the COVID-19 booster programme begins. This may be through a GP-led service or by booking through the NHS COVID-19 Vaccination national booking service.

Everyone aged 12 and over can book their initial COVID-19 vaccination through the NHS booking service (call 119 free of charge, anytime between 7am and 11pm seven days a week). 

If you are pregnant and in one of the groups that the JCVI has recommended for the boosters, you are eligible to receive a booster, no earlier than six months after completion of the first course of vaccination. The NHS will contact you when it is your turn.