Community Vaccination Clinics Revised Operating Arrangements 

As NHS Fife moves into the final phases of vaccinating priority cohorts 1-9, we will be consolidating the number and opening hours of our community clinics. This temporary change is due to the completion of cohorts 1-9 and the widely reported reduction in national vaccine supply during April.

This temporary reduction in community clinic activity will also provide us with the opportunity to reconfigure our clinics in advance of starting to schedule the larger priority cohort 10 (those aged 40-49). 

Coronavirus (COVID-19 ) programme rollout in Fife

NHS Fife are 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. A robust booking system is in place 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 are offering vaccination to those aged over 80, and those who are housebound.
• Those who live or work in care homes are being offered their vaccination on site in care homes
• Long-stay hospital inpatients are being offered their vaccination in the hospital
• Everyone else is has been, or will be, offered their vaccination in one of our thirteen community vaccination clinics

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

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.  

Over 80s group

Note that the over 80s group follow a different process due to their vaccinations taking place in GP Practices. 

Other groups

Over 65s and clinically extremely vulnerable - vaccination letters 

We are aware there are a small number of people in eligible cohorts who are yet to receive their letter. This has happened for a variety of reasons, including the date they were added to a cohort, recent temporary residency, or a simple lost letter.

Anyone within these categories who has not received a letter, or who has lost their letter, can arrange an appointment by providing some details.

Cohorts 

More information about who is included in Cohort Group 4 and Cohort Group 6.  

Appointments for temporary residents

We appreciate that the public are keen to be vaccinated as soon as possible. The appointments for temporary residents is progressing currently. The Board has been provided with a list of those registered temporarily with GP Practices and is working to reconcile this and to issue appointments. Those appointments will be issued in line with JCVI cohorts, those aged 75-79 will be appointed first. The team would ask for the understanding of the public as they undertake this work and we are assured that appointments will be issued in the coming weeks. We apologise for the delay, however the team are working very hard to ensure people get their appointments as soon as possible.

Covid-19 vaccination appointments for Adults with learning disabilities

The national vaccination appointment scheduling system is currently in the process of identifying adults with learning disabilities as part of the next phase of the national vaccination programme.  At this point, most individuals will be appointed to one of our community vaccination clinics. For those that require bespoke appointments, or additional support we will work with individuals to arrange this. For those individuals in residential care settings outreach visits will be put in place to ensure that they also receive their vaccine.

Unpaid carers should continue to register via the existing pathway for unpaid carers.
An easy read version of patient information is available should this be needed. 

If you feel you should have received an appointment but have not, you can use the missing invitation contact form.

However we ask that you remain patient as it may take until middle of April for this adults in this specific cohort to be allocated their first dose appointments.

AstraZeneca vaccine safety concerns

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. 

Community COVID-19 vaccination clinic locations

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.

Read the COVID19 Vaccination Programme EQIA 

Useful contacts and background information