Coronavirus (COVID-19 ) programme rollout in Fife
NHS Fife is closely following guidelines by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) as well as Scottish and UK Governments regarding vaccination groups, starting with those whose lives are most at risk from the virus. NHS Fife is working with the national scheduling system and people are being contacted directly to invite them to attend for a vaccination.
The Board is operating a mixed model for vaccinations:
- Local GP Practices have offered vaccination to those aged over 80, and those who are housebound.
- Those who live or work in care homes have been offered their vaccination on site in care homes
- Long-stay hospital inpatients have been offered their vaccination in the hospital
- Everyone else has been, or will be, offered their vaccination in one of our community vaccination clinics. You can find out more information about the clinic sites below.
If you would like to know whether you are currently eligible for a vaccination, please visit NHS Inform. Unless you are over the age of 80, or you are housebound, your GP does not have details about when you will get your appointment letter, so please contact the national helpline.
Invitation letters and appointments
We have attached an example of the vaccine invitation letter that will inform people of their vaccination appointment.
- The letter will include an information leaflet about COVID-19 vaccinations and what to expect.
- This will also contain information on how to access your appointment online, if this needs to be rearranged. Alternatively, you can call the national Covid-19 helpline who can rearrange your appointment for you.
- There is a link on the back page to highlight access to alternative formats and languages.
At your coronavirus appointment
How the vaccine is given and how to prepare for your appointment.
Watch a video of a typical appointment here.
After your coronavirus vaccination appointment
What to consider after your coronavirus vaccination appointment.
Missing appointment details
What to do if you think you should have received a vaccination letter by now but have not. Please note that unless you are in the over 80s group you should not call your GP.
Who is being offered the coronavirus vaccine
Priority list for the roll our of vaccination programme in Scotland
How you will get the coronavirus vaccine
When and where you will attend for your first and second vaccinations and how you will be notified of you appointments
Rearrange or opt-out of your vaccination appointment
How to change your appointment if the date, time or location is unsuitable for you or you want to be removed from the vaccination process.
Vaccination Clinics for JCVI Cohorts 10 and above
NHS Fife is committed to ensuring everyone in Fife is offered a COVID-19 vaccine. The planning of the vaccination programme is a huge logistical challenge and therefore requires careful planning and is constantly monitored and reviewed to ensure best use of our available buildings, resources and to balance vaccine supply with appointment demand. For this reason the much larger and younger age groups in Cohort 10 and above (49 years and below) will, in most instances, vaccinated at one of our four new main vaccination venues to allow us to provide first dose vaccinations in parallel with those receiving their second dose at our smaller clinics. These larger venues will also help to ensure a greater volume of appointments at accessible locations across Fife.
The national scheduling tool allocates appointments at one of these four centres based on latest available appointment and then closest location to your home postcode. We encourage you to attend your appointment at the earliest date, even if this may involve travelling to one of our 4 venues rather than the venue closest to your home. If this is not possible you can reschedule for a later date and a venue closest to your home, by either following the instructions on your appointment letter, rearranging online or by calling the national helpline on: 0800 030 8013.
Large vaccination clinic sites
Carnegie Conference Centre *
Halbeath Road
Dunfermline
KY11 8DY
Directions
Dunfermline East Church
Nightingale Place
Dunfermline
KY11 8LW
Directions
Former M&S Building* Kirkcaldy
116 High Street
Kirkcaldy
KY1 1JP
Directions
Argos Glenrothes
The Kingdom Centre
19 Unicorn Way
Glenrothes
KY7 5NU
Directions
St Andrews Community Hospital
Largo Road
St Andrews
KY16 8AR
Directions
Savoy Centre
Methil
Levenmouth
KY8 3JQ
Directions
This is also a community testing centre.
Oakley Centre (Part time)
Station Road
Oakley
KY12 9QF
Directions
Directions and parking
For the Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline
Please note, to enter the Conference Centre, you need to take the Holiday Inn exit off the ASDA roundabout NOT the Carnegie College turn off.
For Kirkcaldy Centre (The Postings)
Those attending for vaccination will be asked to present their blue envelope appointment letter to gain access to free parking at the Kirkcaldy Centre Car Park, which can be accessed via Hunter Street.
Vaccination Clinics for JCVI Cohorts 1-9
These 13 original clinics will continue to be used to administer second dose appointments to JCVI priority cohorts 1-9. The opening dates and times of these clinics will vary until all those who received their first vaccination in March have received their second dose. At this stage it is expected that these second doses should be complete by mid-June.
It is then anticipated that some of these venues will cease being used as vaccination clinics as they will be required to return to community use.
Additional Vaccination Clinic sites
| Cupar Corn Exchange ,St Catherine Street, Cupar, KY15 4BT Directions |
| Dunfermline East End Park Stadium Halbeath Road, Dunfermline, KY12 7RB Directions |
| East Neuk Centre Ladywalk, Anstruther,KY10 3EX Directions |
| The Larick Centre (Part time) Shanwell Road, Tayport, DD6 9EA Directions |
| Lochgelly Centre Bank Street, Lochgelly, KY5 9RD Directions |
| Parkgate Community Centre 23 Parkgate, Rosyth KY11 2JW Directions |
| Rothes Halls Rothes Square, Glenrothes, KY7 5NX Directions |
| Templehall Community Centre, Beauly Place, Kirkcaldy, KY2 6EX Directions |
Randolph Wemyss Memorial Hospital (Wellesley Unit) Wellesley Road, Buckhaven, KY8 1HU Directions |
| Tayside Institute (Part time) 90-92 High St, Newburgh, KY14 6DA Directions |
Second appointment dates
Letters confirming second appointment dates will be sent following attendance at the clinic for your first vaccine and well in advance of the second appointment date. The trigger for generation of the second appointment is your attendance at the clinic. Appointments are then arranged by the national scheduling team and are not made locally. Unless you are in the over 80's group (below), you should not call your GP or attempt to call your vaccination clinic.
For those awaiting second doses:
- People should only contact the Helpline about a second appointment if it has been 11 weeks or more since their first vaccination.
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If an interval longer than the recommended interval is left between doses, the second dose should still be given (preferably using the same vaccine as was given for the first dose if possible). The course does not need to be restarted
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People in these circumstances can call the helpline on call the National COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013 (daily, 8am – 8pm)
Other groups
| Pregnancy, breastfeeding and women of child-bearing age
|
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that all pregnant women should be offered the coronavirus vaccine at the same time as people of the same age or risk group. This means you could be invited to have the coronavirus vaccine at any stage of your pregnancy, depending on when you become eligible. The coronavirus vaccine can be given at any stage during pregnancy. The coronavirus Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are the preferred vaccines for pregnant women of any age. Those who are pregnant and elligible for the vaccination will be called forward in line with their cohort. Find out more information on NHS Inform. |
| Children and young people | It is important to note that children and young people (under 16s) are currently not eligible for the vaccine. |
| Vaccinations for the over 80s | Those aged over 80 who live in a care home have been vaccinated in that setting – in instances where an individual has not been vaccinated thus far, (for example if they were COVID positive or not in the care home at that time) our teams are continuing to visit care homes to ensure all are offered a vaccination. |
| Vaccinations for long-stay patients | Long-stay inpatients, are being vaccinated on site in hospitals across Fife, in line with JCVI guidance. Shorter stay inpatients, aged over 80 will be vaccinated by their GP after their discharge. Those aged under 80 will be vaccinated in the community in line with JCVI guidance after they are discharged. |
| Vaccinations for those on the shielding list | Vaccination invitations for those identified as clinical extremely vulnerable have been issued. If you have not received an appointment please refer to the missing appointments details above. |
Vaccination programme updates
Update for appointments for adults with learning disabilities
We are now pleased to confirm that appointment letters for adults with learning disabilities, who have not already been vaccinated are now being issued. Appointments will start from 10th May. If you require someone to consent on your behalf, please bring evidence that they are able to do this, such as an Adults with Incapacity Certificate.
Most individuals will be given an appointment at one of our community venues. If you cannot access a community venue, again you can speak to your GP who will be able to refer you to the Learning Disabilities pathway team to make a bespoke arrangement.
If you did not receive a letter and feel you should have, please let us know by completing the missing invitation form.
AstraZeneca vaccine
All vaccines are tested for effectiveness and safety by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they are approved for use. They are also regularly reviewed after approved to ensure the vaccine meets high standards of effectiveness and safety.
We would like to offer assurance that all COVID-19 vaccines used in the UK are safe and effective for use. NHS Fife is closely following MHRA and Scottish Government guidance and encourages all residents to accept the vaccine when they are eligible.
We will offer people a vaccine product in line with MHRA and Scottish Government direction. For more information on the clinical recommendations, please visit NHS Inform.
The JCVI has made clear that the advice to use of the Pfizer product for the 30-39 age group is based on the current low prevalence of the virus and the availability of alternatives to the Astra-Zeneca vaccine. If the situation changes the advice is that vaccination of adults aged 30-39 years with any of the UK authorised vaccines is always better than no vaccination, except where there are specific contraindications. The Scottish Government will continue to follow the advice from the JCVI and make full use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for all adults aged 30-39, without underlying health conditions, while continuing to use Oxford/AstraZeneca when it is appropriate to do so.
It remains crucial that everyone who is offered a vaccination takes up the offer. Everyone who has received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine safely should receive their second dose as this gives greater and longer lasting protection against the virus.
The clear scientific evidence and advice continues to be that the benefits of receiving the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine far outweigh the risks for most age groups because it provides protection against the harm from COVID-19.
Fertility reassurance
We are committed to offering a COVID-19 vaccine to everyone who is eligible. We also recognise that this can be a daunting prospect for people, and even more so for those who are trying for a family, or who are considering this in the near future These concerns are not unique to the COVID-19 vaccine and it is therefore important that people get accurate, clinical information:
- There is no evidence to suggest COVID-19 vaccines affect fertility in women or men.
- The JCVI recommend women who are trying to become pregnant do not need to avoid pregnancy after vaccination.
- The evidence remains that the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks.
- You can get seriously ill from the virus or its serious side-effects at any age and the vaccine offers the best protection against this.
- Understanding the benefits and risk is the best way to make an informed choice and you should seek fertility advice from your local Health Care professionals for accurate information and guidance.
- The latest evidence shows that the vaccine is safe for those undergoing fertility treatment, although timing around both treatments should be considered and discussed with fertility experts to make sure that you get the treatment and support that is right for you.
- There is no need to delay fertility treatment after having the COVID-19 vaccine.
Further information can be found here.
Unpaid carers vaccination programme
Following changes to the JCVI advice on the use of alternative vaccines for the under 30s population, from Monday 26th April 2021, eligible unpaid carers (those who provide regular face-to-face care for another person), will now need to self register via the national helpline on 0800 030 8013 to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations. Please note that if you have already registered with the service, received your vaccination or a letter of appointment, there is no further action to take, and no need to call the helpline.
Appointments for temporary residents
We appreciate that the public are keen to be vaccinated as soon as possible. The Board has been provided with a list of those registered temporarily with GP Practices and has issued appointments to those currently eligible in line with JCVI cohorts.
Equality Impact Assessment
NHS Fife has a legal duty to advance equality as set out it the Equality Act 2010; the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) helps us to do this. The EQIA is a toolkit to help us work through this process. Staff members are required to consider positive or negative impact of all strategies and policies. The legislation also requires that NHS Fife report on the EQIA findings. You can find our EQIAs on our Equality Impact Assessment page.
Useful links
| Coronavirus vaccine helpline | If you have any enquiries about the COVID-19 vaccine, you can contact the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013 (available 8am - 8pm all week). |
| Latest available figures on Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland | Latest available figures on Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland |
| National Assistance Helpline | 0800 111 400 (Monday to Friday - office hours) To arrange transport to get to their vaccination appointment. |
| Adult vaccine leaflet | Adult vaccine leaflet |
| Health care worker leaflet | Healthcare worker leaflet |
| Social care worker leaflet | Social care worker leaflet |
| Pregnant women and those of childbearing age leaflet | Pregnant Women and women of child bearing age advice leaflet |
| Data on vaccinations in Scotland | This data will be updated weekly and will be published within the Statistical report on a Friday, on the Public Health Scotland website. |
| Local carers centres | http://www.careinfoscotland.scot/topics/support-for-carers/carer-centres |
| Vaccine deployment plan | This is the plan setting out how the Scottish Government will roll out vaccinations in Scotland to vaccinate 4.5 million people. https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-deployment-plan-2021/ |