St George's Hospital one of 50 hubs in country to start Covid-19 vaccination programme

St George's is one of 50 hubs in the first wave of hospitals which will start Covid-19 vaccinating over the coming weeks and months.

People aged 80 and over as well as care home workers will be the first to receive the jab at St George's, along with NHS staff who are at higher risk.

St George's Hospital staff are among many across the country who are working throughout the weekend to prepare for the launch of the programme, with the first vaccinations happening from Tuesday.

Patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient, and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay, will be among the first to receive the life-saving jab.

Like all Trusts, St George's will begin inviting over 80s in for a vaccination, and work with care home providers to book their staff in to vaccination clinics.

The hospital has urged patients to not contact or visit the hospital to seek a vaccine before being contacted first.

GPs and other primary care staff are also being put on standby to start delivering the vaccine.

A small number of GP-led primary care networks will begin doing so during the following week (week beginning 14 December) with more practices in more parts of the country joining in on a phased basis during December and in the coming months.

Vaccination centres treating large numbers of patients in sporting venues and conference centres will subsequently stand up when further supplies of vaccine come on stream.

Jacqueline Totterdell, Chief Executive at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:

"We are excited to be supporting the Covid-19 vaccination programme, and I would like to thank St George's staff, who have worked around the clock to ensure we ready to run clinics this week."

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS National Medical Director, said:

"Despite the huge complexities, hospitals will kickstart the first phase of the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country's history from Tuesday. The first tranche of vaccine deliveries will be landing at hospitals by Monday in readiness.

"The NHS has a strong record of delivering large scale vaccination programmes – from the flu jab, HPV vaccine and lifesaving MMR jabs – hardworking staff will once again rise to the challenge to protect the most vulnerable people from this awful disease."

The vaccine is typically delivered by a simple injection in the shoulder but there is a complex and difficult logistical challenge to deliver from the manufacturers Pfizer to patients. It needs to be stored at -70C before being thawed out and can only be moved four times within that cold chain before being used.

St George's and NHS staff across the country have been working over the weekend to prepare the sites and accept deliveries.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:

"This coming week will be an historic moment as we begin vaccination against COVID-19.

"We are prioritising the most vulnerable first and over-80s, care home staff and NHS colleagues will all be among the first to receive the vaccines.

"We are doing everything we can to make sure we can overcome significant challenges to vaccinate care home residents as soon as possible too.

"I urge everybody to play their part to suppress this virus and follow the local restrictions to protect the NHS while they carry out this crucial work."

Important information for patients

• You will be contacted when it's the right time to come forward, so don't contact or visit the hospital to seek a vaccine before then.

• The hospital urges patients to act on the invite when it comes, and make sure you attend your appointments when you arrange them.

• When visiting hospitals, continue to wear a face covering, and abide by social distancing and hand hygiene.

Further information is due to be shared with all St George's staff on Monday morning.

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