Covid Vaccination clinics for patients registered with a GP on the Orkney Mainland including South Ronaldsay and Burray
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Q What clinics are now being held and when do patients attend for their vaccine.
A Patients aged 75 and over and patients who are government shielded please phone and book an appointment for their vaccine on 0300 303 5313. You will be updated when making your appointment where to attend for your vaccination. Any patients who are government shielded and registered with Stromness Surgery will be contacted directly by the practice.
Patients aged 70-74 we are holding a Mass Vaccination Clinic at the new Balfour on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th February. Patients will receive a letter and details have been released on social media and in the local press. You do not need to make an appointment. Please turn up at the time allocated based on the alphabetical letter of your Surname.
Patients aged 65 – 69 we are holding a Mass Vaccination Clinic at the new Balfour on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14h February. Patients will receive a letter in the next few days. You do not need to make an appointment. Please turn up at the time allocated in the letter based on the alphabetical letter of your Surname.
If your partner has a different surname to you, please turn up at your own scheduled slot time based on your surname as we have based our timings on the number of patients within each surname group This will allow us to ensure social distancing is in place.
Q Why do some patients need to make an appointment and others can come along to mass vaccination centres.
A This relates to the number of vaccines that are distributed to us. In the last few days, we have been informed that we could receive a large allocation of vaccines if we had the ability to vaccinate patients at a quick pace. We therefore took this opportunity and are offering the mass vaccinations to allow us to offer and deliver to our patients aged 65 and over by 15th February. We may be able to offer further clinics in this way, but it will depend on vaccine availability. If we don’t have enough, we need to appoint patients by only offering enough appointments that takes into account the number of vaccines we have in supply.
Q I am not registered with a Practice in Orkney but living up here at the moment and fall into these age groups. Can I phone and get a vaccine?
A Yes you can. As you are not registered you cannot turn up at the Mass Vaccination Clinics as we need to register your details beforehand. Please contact us at the Covid Vaccination Centre on 0300 303 5313 and we will arrange an appointment for you.
Q When will I get my second dose?
A We will arrange for your second dose to be given approximately 12 weeks after your first vaccine. For those patients attending the Mass Vaccination Clinics our plan will be to hold similar sessions in mid-April and further clinics dates will be sent to you.
Q How will I know where to go when I arrive for my appointment?
A We have teams of helpful administrators and Marshalls at every vaccination clinic. They will ensure you know where to go and what to do. Please don’t feel anxious, we are all here to help you.
Q Who will be the next cohort of patients who will be called for a vaccine?
A We don’t have this information yet about the next vaccine delivery but the next group to be called in will be patients aged 65 and under who have a clinical risk condition (same as flu) followed by unpaid carers. We will advise when we have more information about this but are working on the assumption that this may happen during February.
Q I have struggled to get through on the Covid Vaccination phone line.
A We apologise it is very busy when we advertise, we are opening new appointment times and are trying different methods to see if we can streamline how this works. We do have 4 admin on the phone lines and once the additional rush of the first 2-3 days, the lines do become much quieter and easier to get through on. We appreciate this may feel frustrating, but we are answering as quickly as we can. Where possible we will try going forward to vaccinate based on a mass vaccination invite list based on surname as we acknowledge this is easier for people, but this may not always be possible.
Q I would like to speak to someone to get reassurance about timings or where to go.
A Please phone the Covid Vaccination phone line 0300 303 5313. Please do not phone your GP Practice.
Q I live on the Outer Isles how will I get my vaccination?
A We send out supplies of the vaccine to each island and your local surgery will arrange for you to come in and get your vaccination.