As part of World Immunisation Week (WIW), 24–30 April 2024, we’d like to highlight the importance of making sure that your vaccines and those of your loved ones are up-to-date.
You can find out more about this on our local vaccination pages, or head over to NHS Inform for information on catching up on any vaccines you’re eligible for that you think you’ve missed, Vaccines - Immunisations in Scotland | NHS inform.
Many of us, when we think of vaccines, now think about COVID-19. There is a current COVID-19 Spring vaccination programme running currently. Here is a reminder of who is eligible for this vaccine.
The eligible spring COVID-19 vaccine groups are:
- All those aged 75 years and over
- Residents in care homes for older adults
- Individuals 6 months and over who have a weakened immune system
If eligible for a spring COVID-19 vaccination you’ll will be contacted by the NHS via letter, email or text message so please wait to be contacted.
Due to the fact that the COVID-19 programme has begun to transition from a pandemic response to that of routine immunisation, the eligible groups do differ between winter and spring. This means that carers and household contacts of the immunosuppressed are not included in the routine spring vaccine programme. The rationale for this is that the spring COVID-19 programme is focused on building immunity in those most at risk which are older age groups, those in care homes and those with particular clinical conditions that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19-related illnesses.
For information on how to receive your spring COVID-19 vaccine visit www.nhsinform.scot/springvaccine
To recognise the World Immunisation Week, Dr Sam Ghebrehewet, Head of Vaccination and Immunisation at Public Health Scotland, has written a blog where he reflects on this year’s WIW theme which is celebrating 50 years of the expanded programme of vaccination. In the blog he emphasises the importance of ensuring the successes of using vaccines to prevent disease continue.
You can read the blog below.
For general local information on immunisations, visit our Immunisation pages.
