Winter flu jab and booster programme is live

The winter vaccination programme is now underway for all eligible patients in our local area. Free flu jabs are being offered alongside COVID boosters.

An individual has to be at least 182 days from their second COVID vaccination dose to be able to receive their COVID booster, which is a Pfizer vaccine. In practice, this means that those who will be called first are the individuals who had their second COVID vaccine much earlier in the year.

However, patients who are immunosuppressed or identified as being clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) will receive a priority invitation for a third COVID vaccination. They are being offered a third dose because they are less likely to have retained antibodies from their earlier vaccines.

If you are eligible because you are CEV, you will be contacted by your hospital consultant or GP and invited to book your vaccination appointment. You will then be called again in six months’ time for your COVID booster.

For all eligible others, the surgery will contact you when you are due – either via phone or by text message – to invite you to book an appointment. All the vaccination clinics will be held at Cathedral Medical Centre (Ely) or Staploe Medical Centre (Soham) on Saturdays and some weekday evenings.

Please DO NOT contact the surgery to book unless we have already been in touch with you.

The winter vaccine programme is being managed by the GP practices which form the Ely Primary Care Network. These are St George’s Medical Centre, Burwell Surgery, Cathedral Medical Centre, St Mary’s Surgery, Staploe Medical Centre and Haddenham Surgery.