What to do when you attend your vaccination appointment

COVID-19 vaccines rollout

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 will be contacted directly to invite them to attend for a vaccination.    

The following cohorts and timescales are currently being planned for vaccination completion in line with other health boards following a directive from Scottish Government. Please note that you will receive a letter inviting you for your appointment. You should not attempt to contact us. 

• As of 1^st February, GP practices across Fife will proactively begin to contact their housebound patients to arrange vaccination by a member of the nursing team.
• The vast majority of care home residents and staff have been offered the vaccine. The team continue to visit care homes and will offer second doses in due course.
• Those aged 65 to 79, and the clinically extremely vulnerable, will be invited to attend for vaccination by mid-February. If you are in this group and haven't yet received a letter, please contact the national helpline.
• The next cohorts to be invited for vaccination will be those at high risk aged 16-64 and unpaid carers*

*This group also includes those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill.

Housebound patients vaccination programme

As of 1^st February, GP practices across Fife will proactively begin to contact their housebound patients to arrange vaccination by a member of the nursing team. We would kindly ask for people to be patient while GPs work through their patient lists. 

NHS Fife does not retain a list of housebound residents and this data is held at an individual GP practice level. Please be assured that all housebound people will have the opportunity to be vaccinated, but this will be done in order following guidelines issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) as well as Scottish and UK Government regarding prioritisation of vaccination cohorts, by starting with the over 80s.

Further information on NHS Inform 
Helpline:  National COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013
Available 8am – 8pm 7 days a week

Vaccine information leaflet for adults

Information in other accessible formats:

COVID-19 vaccine leaflets in translated and accessible formats are available on our Accessible Information page.

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.

Over 80s group

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

COVID-19 vaccine background

Vaccines have saved more lives than any other medicines, and the new COVID-19 vaccine will ensure that we can now protect the most vulnerable and through time help us all get back to normal.

COVID-19 vaccines are being made available to priority groups across Fife in phased approach, ensuring those at greatest risk from the virus are vaccinated first. This is being done in line with JCVI guidance. 

The first vaccine to be offered in Fife was the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine, this was approved by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and is being used to vaccinate frontline health and social care workers and those working in care homes and care home residents. The second vaccine to be approved was the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. This is being used in GP practices to vaccinate the over 80s and will be used, along with the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine, for vaccinations in Community Vaccination Centres across Fife. Regardless of which vaccine is used, people will receive the same product for both their doses.

It is vital that we do not become complacent and continue to adhere to local lockdown restrictions and follow the FACTS

NHS Inform

NHS Inform has created a useful online resource about the Covid-19 vaccine:

www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/immunisation/vaccines/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine

This site includes information on;

• Who will be offered the vaccine
• When and where the vaccine will be offered

This site also includes a range of COVID-19 vaccine leaflets about the vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccine leaflets in translated and accessible formats are available on our Accessible Infomation page.

How to rearrange or opt-out of your vaccination appointment

If you need to rearrange your COVID-19 vaccination appointment information on how to do so is available at this link. 

You can also phone the COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013 to rearrange your appointment.

Frontline workers

Healthcare workers

A leaflet about the coronavirus vaccination programme for frontline healthcare workers.

COVID-19 vaccine - Healthcare worker leaflet

Social care workers

A leaflet about the coronavirus vaccination programme for frontline social care workers.

COVID-19 vaccine - Social Care worker leaflet

What to expect

A leaflet explaining what to expect after your coronavirus vaccination.

COVID-19 vaccine - What to expect leaflet

Other groups

Pregnant women and women of child bearing age

The vaccine has not yet been assessed in pregnancy, for more coronavirus vaccine advice if you're pregnant, may get pregnant or are breastfeeding

Pregnant Women and women of child bearing age advice leaflet

Children and young people

Vaccinations for private practitioners

At this time, in line with the JCVI priorities guidance, we are inviting all frontline health and social care staff – including care at home staff - to book an appointment for vaccination. The Scottish Government has reached out to these independent staff groups with a letter providing information how staff can book an appointment. However, if they have not received the letter please advise the healthcare provider to contact the health board. 

Vaccinations for 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. 

Those aged over 80 in the community are being vaccinated by GP practices.

Vaccinations for long-stay inpatients

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 people on the shielding list

Vaccination invitations for those identified as clinical extremely vulnerable will be given by mid-February. The second dose of the vaccine will be given up to 12 weeks later. 

Making alternative arrangements for vaccination

If you require to make alternative arrangements for your vaccination or to rearrange your appointment, please call the COVID-19 Vaccinations Helpline on 0800 030 8013 . It is open every day between 8am and 8pm.

Getting to vaccination appointments

For those who do not have their own transport or support networks, we are advising that they contact the National Assistance Helpline on 0800 111 400 (Monday to Friday - office hours) to arrange transport to get to their vaccination appointment.

Any local transport arrangements will need to be COVID-safe for both the drivers and the people they are providing transport for. Where it is necessary to drive someone to their appointment, we advise:

• Using a car or vehicle that is as large as possible, preferably a minibus or vehicle that allows 2m physical distancing, or a car with a bulkhead or partition
• Occupants should sit as far apart as possible, ideally the passenger should sit diagonally opposite the driver.
• Windows in the car must be opened as far as possible taking account of weather conditions to maximise the ventilation in the space.
• Occupants in the car, including the driver, should wear a facemask
• Occupants should perform hand hygiene using an alcohol based hand rub before entering the vehicle and again on leaving the vehicle.
• Wiping down and cleaning the vehicle
• Making sure vehicles are equipped with cleaning product, waste disposal bags, and hand gel to wipe down and clean the vehicle
• Occupants should avoid eating in the vehicle
• Keep the volume of any music/radio being played to a minimum/ off to prevent the need to raise voices in the car

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.

Vaccine deployment plan

Plan setting out how the Scottish Government will roll out vaccinations in Scotland to vaccinate 4.5 million people.

View the Deployment Plan

Data on vaccinations in Scotland

The data for the numbers of people who have had the first dose of the vaccine will be published weekly and this will be broken down by; age group, NHS Board, sex, and eligibility criteria (whether the person receiving the vaccine was a Healthcare worker, a member of staff in a care home, a resident in a care home, social care worker).

This data will be updated every week and will be published within the Statistical report on a Wednesday at noon, on the Public Health Scotland website.

Community COVID-19 vaccination clinic locations

Our community vaccination clinics listed below will open on a phased basis, with the first site offering appointments on 01 February 2021. 

Please note that these clinics are run by appointment only. Please do not contact the venue direct. If you attend without an appointment you will be send home.

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