Flu Immunisation
You may be invited for a flu jab if you are:
- over 65 years of age
- pregnant
or have:
- a serious heart or chest complaint, including asthma
- serious kidney disease
- diabetes
- lowered immunity due to disease or treatment such as steroid medication or cancer treatment
- if you have ever had a stroke
We will contact you directly if you are eligible.
RSV Vaccination
Maternal vaccine agains respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for infant protection
Following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) set out next steps for the delivery of a new, year-round maternal RSV vaccination programme to protect newborns from Sunday 1 September 2024.
RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms during the winter months. Babies under 1 year of age and older adults are at the greatest risk of hospitalisation with respiratory disease.
All women who are at least 28 weeks pregnant on 1 September 2024 will be offered a single dose of the RSV vaccine through commissioned services. From this time, pregnant women will become eligible as they reach 28 weeks gestation and will remain eligible up to birth.
New vaccination known as RSV offered by the Practice this winter for patinets 75-80 years old
To patients aged 75 years old from 1st Sept 2024 and given until the day before a patients 80th Birthday.
This vaccine is a vaccine to prevent the very severe symptoms of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), or the common cold, which to those patients aged 75 and over can make you very unwell, breathless and develop into pneumonia.
This illness also causes bronchiolitis, which can make small babies very unwell. This vaccine is also offered to pregnant women by their midwives. If your midwife cannot arrange it for you she will refer you back to the surgery but we should not vaccinate without the midwife screening you first.
You will receive an invitation to have the vaccination via a link/text or a call from the surgery.
The vaccine cannot be given the same time as other vaccines -so you would need to wait 14 days before having a Flu or COVID vaccine. Please find more information on the link below:
Pneumococcal Vaccine
The pneumococcal vaccine (or ‘pneumo jab’ or pneumonia vaccine as it’s also known)
protects against pneumococcal infections.
Pneumococcal infections are caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae and can lead to pneumonia, septicaemia (a kind of blood poisoning) and meningitis. Read more about why the pneumococcal vaccination is needed.
Who should have the pneumococcal vaccine?
A pneumococcal infection can affect anyone. However, some people need the pneumococcal vaccination because they are at higher risk of complications. These include:
- all children under the age of two
- adults aged 65 or over
- children and adults with certain long-term health conditions, such as a serious heart or kidney condition
Read more about who should have the pneumo jab.
How often is the pneumococcal vaccine given?
Babies receive the pneumococcal vaccine as three separate injections, at 2 months, 4 months and 12-13 months. People over-65 only need a single pneumococcal vaccination which will protect for life. It is not given annually like the flu jab.
People with a long term health condition may need just a single one-off pneumococcal vaccination or five-yearly vaccination depending on their underlying health problem.
Childhood Immunisations
Please contact the surgery to make an appointment.
One of the most important things that a parent can do for their child is to make sure that they have all their routine childhood vaccinations. It’s the most effective way of keeping them protected against infectious diseases.
Ideally, children should have their jabs at the right age to protect them as early as possible and minimise the risk of infection.
Find out which jabs your child needs, when they need them, and what the benefits of each jab are.
Please call the surgery to make an appointment.
For more information please visit the websites below:
Useful links
Monkeypox or Mpox vaccine
Monkeypox is a rare infection most commonly found in west or central Africa. There has recently been an increase in cases in the UK, but the risk of catching it is low. Information about the virus and arranging a vaccination against it can be found on here.
Polio vaccines
You may have read in the news that children under 9 will/maybe be offered a Polio vaccine booster
We are waiting for details from NHS England about what vaccines to give, who to and when the vaccines will be delivered to the surgery. We will contact all those affected as soon as we have the information.
Useful information regarding Vaccinations:
• Why vaccines are safe and effective Why vaccination is safe and important – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
• Oxford vaccine project Vaccine Knowledge | (ox.ac.uk ) (translations available)
• Polio, flu and MMR resources – publications website Search Publications – Health Publications
• Immunisation information for migrants (translations available) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immunisation-information-for-migrants