Coronavirus / Spring Covid booster programme begins
THE 2023 spring Covid booster programme has now started.
The following groups of people are eligible to receive a booster vaccination:
- Anyone in care homes
- People aged 75 and over (by 30 June 2023)
- People who have a weakened immune system
The first two weeks of the programme will include visiting people in care homes and those who are housebound and eligible for the vaccine.
Anyone else aged 75 and older will be offered an appointment for a vaccine from 11 April onwards.
People aged under 75 identified as having a weakened immune system will be contacted and asked to make an appointment for their vaccine.
These appointments can be booked from 24 April onwards.
Some people will receive letters with an appointment time or information on how to book, either by phone or using the online booking portal, and some will be phoned by NHS Shetland’s local team and given an appointment.
This is a change to how appointments have been made locally previously.
The booking portal was used briefly in Shetland in a previous booster campaign but most appointments have been made on the phone or by email.
Any letters will come from NHS Scotland rather than from NHS Shetland.
There will be a national phone number included in the letters which people can call.
Folk can still also contact the local team direct on 01595 743319 or email shet.vaccination-team@nhs.scot.
People can call or email to make, cancel or change an appointment.
NHS Shetland’s director of public health Dr Susan Laidlaw said: “If you are aged 75 or over, or have a weakened immune system, please look out for a letter, or listen out for a phone call, inviting you for your next Covid vaccination booster.
“The effectiveness of the vaccine gradually reduces in these particular groups over time, and so booster doses are needed to help to continue to protect folk from serious illness due to Covid.
“We want to improve our processes for inviting people in for their vaccinations and make it easier for people to get their appointments.
“Therefore, we have reviewed the systems that we have been using to invite people since the Covid programme began and will be using some different methods this time to see what works best for different groups of people, but you can still phone the local number or email the local vaccination team with any queries.”
More information on the spring booster programme can be found here.
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