15 million vaccinations now given across UK
Yesterday the Prime Minister announced that over 15 million Covid-19 vaccinations have now been given in the UK since December, which is an amazing achievement. In Surrey Heartlands we continue to make excellent progress and have succeeded in vaccinating the vast majority of people in the top four priority cohorts by today’s target date. This is a significant milestone and we’ll be reflecting this in our wider communications this week. As part of the build-up towards today, our vaccination service at The Heart shopping centre in Walton hosted a visit from Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab on Friday morning, with other local MPs Kwasi Kwarteng and Dr Ben Spencer dropping in ‘virtually’ to the Hythe Centre on Friday afternoon, all thanking staff and volunteers and chatting to patients. You can see some of the coverage herewith more coverage in our newsletter on Thursday. 
Next priority groups
The NHS is now starting to invite those aged 65-69 to book their vaccinations through the national booking service, offering appointments at larger vaccination sites such as Epsom Racecourse and community pharmacies (we have two in Guildford able to offer appointments).  Our local GP vaccination services are focused on completing any outstanding vaccinations for those 70 and over, those who are housebound and the clinically extremely vulnerable, and will shortly begin to invite those in the next priority group, including a wider group of people at higher clinical risk (those with certain long-term conditions), non-paid carers and younger adults in certain residential settings.  More detailed information will be published on those at risk groups shortly. 
A reminder to those waiting to have their vaccine ….
Our staff continue to do an incredible job to deliver what it is the largest vaccination programme in our history, at the same time as dealing with high levels of Covid-19 hospital patients, but we need the public to play their part too:unless you are over 70 or on the Shielded Patient List, please don’t contact the NHS to seek a vaccine, we will contact you when it is the right time;when we do contact you, please attend your booked appointments at exactly the time you’re asked to, so that we can avoid queues in this cold weather;and whether you have had your vaccine or not, please continue to follow all the guidance in place to control the virus and save lives.  
Fire at Emberbrook Health Centre
On Saturday afternoon a fire broke out in the roof at our vaccination centre at Emberbrook Community Health Centre in Thames Ditton. Luckily and most importantly, no-one was hurt and everyone was swiftly evacuated thanks to the efficient and quick-thinking actions from those on the ground, including the GPs and practice team and volunteers who were on site at the time. Surrey Fire and Rescue were on the scene within minutes, and were joined by the London fire service. It took six fire trucks to get things under control and was widely reported in local (and national media) some of which can be seen here.   The collaborative effort, both in the immediate aftermath and over the weekend was amazing. Thanks to everyone’s hard work, we’ve made significant progress in identifying an alternative location for the vaccination clinics due to run from Wednesday and we are hoping we will be able to open as planned, once arrangements have been confirmed. Giggs Hill Surgery (part of Glenlyn Medical Centre) which is also onsite, has not been affected and is operating normally.
Latest FAQs
You can find a comprehensive set of FAQs on the local programme on our website here.  In the meantime, we will regularly publish the answers to some of the most common/latest questions here. 
Are those working in the Early Years/nursery sector eligible to have the vaccine?
No, we’re sorry but those working in the early years sector are not currently eligible for a vaccine. The distinction is if you are working in health and social care but not in a patient facing role then you are not yet eligible.To make sure those most at risk such as older residents and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable get jabbed first, we are only able to vaccinate people in the priority groups as set by the JCVI (Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation). More information on priority groups is given on the gov.uk website.If you’re not in a priority group – even if you’ve mistakenly been able to book an appointment – we won’t be able to vaccinate you and you will be turned away.