Hailsham Covid Booster Campaign (Updated December 17th):
The Autumn (and now Winter) national Covid booster vaccine campaign is underway. Uptake was initially slower than it ideally should have been. I have had a number of questions from residents and so I wanted to write a brief update.
Those in line for a booster jab now includes everyone aged 18 and over, frontline health and social care workers, and those with an underlying health condition putting them at risk from the virus.
The qualifying time required to book a booster has now been reduced from at least 6 months (182 days) to at least 3 months from the date of your second vaccination. You can however access the National Bookings System at your 2 month point to arrange an appointment at the 3 month mark.
Once 3 months have elapsed since your second vaccination, you should be either contacted by your local GP led vaccination service to offer an appointment at that service, and/or by the national team to offer you the opportunity to book through the national booking service to a vaccination centre, service, or pharmacy led service. IF you do not hear from them, you can simply book online using the link below, or by dialling 119, or by attending a walk-in centre.
The percentage of eligible residents served by the Hailsham Primary Care Network area who had received a booster shot was around 65% as of the end of November. Subsequently, eligibility has been expanded to all those over 18 years of age. Latest available data from the Sussex NHS Commissioners suggests that there are 7,686 eligible local people still to receive a vaccine booster out of a current eligible total of 19,156. This latter number will change as more people reach the 3 month eligibility point, but it gives a good sense of progress and take-up.
It is essential in order to support resistance to Covid that anyone who has received an invite attend vaccination as soon as possible.
Hailsham
The local NHS strategy remains for Hailsham patients to attend the Sovereign Harbour (Crumbles) Community Centre Vaccination site in Eastbourne, with pop-ups in Hailsham at the weekend for those who are unable to travel. Vaccination capacity at Crumbles is in the process of being doubled to 10,000 appointments a week. The Eastbourne Beacon vaccination service is also working to increase its workforce to accommodate 8,000 vaccinations per week. Both of these services are on the National Booking System (NBS) website or can be booked via dialling 119, and are releasing appointments at these services every day through the NBS. The Sussex NHS continues to work on increased vaccination capacity.
The pop-ups are being hosted at Vicarage Fields surgery in Hailsham. They are by appointment weekend clinics. You can make an appointment to visit the pop-up clinic via your regular GP surgery.
The pop-up clinics are provided by Southdowns Healthcare and commenced on Saturday 6th November 2021. Future sessions, which will each have the capacity to deliver up to 450 vaccinations, will take place from 9am-4.20pm on the following days:
Sunday 28th November
Saturday 4th December
Saturday 11th December
Sunday 12th December
Saturday 18th December
Sunday 19th December
I will continue to monitor the vaccine booster rollout strategy with the assistance of the East Sussex County Council Public Health Team to satisfy myself that it is working and will feedback to our NHS partners if it falls short of local needs. I have already been in correspondence with them in order to resolve a number of issues
I will try to keep this post updated as the local vaccine booster rollout progresses.
Walk-in Centres
As all services across Sussex work to accelerate the booster programme, the Sussex NHS are now focussing primarily on booked sessions so they can guarantee the number of people they will vaccinate, manage demand throughout the sessions, while keeping people safe and avoiding them waiting too long.
The nearest daily walk-in centre for Hailsham residents is currently the Eastbourne Sovereign Harbour Community Centre (1st & 2nd doses only NOT boosters which are by appointment only currently) and the former Top Shop store in Brighton Churchill Square (Boosters, 1st & 2nd doses). There are other venues that offer walk-in vaccination on specific dates. Please check the website below though before attending as arrangements and availability are subject to change. Where walk-in services are paused, you need to make an appointment to attend vaccination either online or by dialling 119.
Details of local walk-in centres can be found on the local NHS link below.
You can also look for other walk-in vaccination sites by using the national NHS online finder below.
https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-walk-in-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-site
FREE TRANSPORT SCHEME
For those experiencing travel difficulties in attending a vaccination appointment, the Sussex NHS offer a Free Transport Scheme. Details of the scheme can be found via the following link:
