Following the weekend’s brilliant news that England and Wales had reached the significant milestone of offering a vaccine to everyone in the top four priority groups, I wanted to update residents on the rollout of the vaccine locally.
Based on the latest statistics I have received from the South East London Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), as of 10th February the NHS had administered first doses to:
- 88% of over 80s in Bromley;
- 89% of those aged between 75 and 79, and;
- 86% of those aged 70 to 74.
Nationally, as of yesterday, a total of 15,300,151 people had received their first dose, with 539,630 people having received both doses. We now move on to the second phase of the vaccination programme, meaning those aged 50 and over or in an at-risk group will begin to be contacted. If that includes you, please be patient and wait for our local NHS team to make contact to arrange an appointment.
If you are 65 and over, deemed clinically extremely vulnerable or a frontline health or social care worker, you can still book your vaccine appointment online or by calling 119:
You can also use this service if you are booking an appointment for someone else who falls within these categories.
In addition to our local vaccine hubs, over 25 GP practices across the Borough have been offering clinical satellite clinics and a new mass vaccination centre is due to open at the Bromley Civic Centre next month. This will be run by the PRUH and is expected to deliver around 1,040 vaccines a day initially, with that figure increasing as time goes by.
Over the last few weeks I have also held a series of constructive meetings with the CCG about setting up more localised sites in Chislehurst and Mottingham, following which I am pleased to say that St Edward’s Church has been accepted by the CCG and is going through the relevant accreditation process. I am grateful to the CCG, and in particular, to Dr Angela Bhan, for taking on board the concerns I and others had raised about local provision in the area, as well as to Rev Dr Catherine Shelley for offering up St Edward’s and working with the CCG on this. I will post more information on the site as soon as I am able to.
While there remains a long way to go, each dose administered takes us a step closer to normal life. The Prime Minister will be setting out on Monday the schedule and form our exit from the lockdown will likely take, and I will be looking at the Government’s plans closely once published. In the meantime, as always, if you have a query or concern you wish to raise with me, please do get in touch by email rather than by social media so I can ensure it is definitely picked up.
