The first site in North Tyneside to deliver the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination is being prepared to begin vaccinations for over 80 year olds next week.

TyneHealth NHS GP Federation, working in partnership with member GP Practices, Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and the North Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), will deliver the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, starting with those over 80 years old who are registered with GPs in the North West of the borough, from Tuesday 15th December.

The first site in North Tyneside to be stood up to receive the vaccine by NHS England will be going live next week. Our dedicated team of NHS health professionals, aided by volunteers from across North Tyneside, will all be working together to deliver the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine to the most vulnerable groups (> 80 year olds first) in this initial community phase of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme rollout. 

Residents aged over 80 years old who are registered with GP Practices in the North West locality of North Tyneside, who are able to visit the vaccination centre, will be the first contacted by their GPs to be invited for vaccination. This process will be repeated across the borough as further sites are stood up in the coming weeks and more vaccines are released and approved by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA.)  

The logistics of delivering the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine present unique challenges for community teams due to the need for extremely low temperature storage and the short period of time (3.5 days) the vaccine is usable once defrosted and diluted. 

We urge residents of North Tyneside not to contact their GP regarding the vaccine at this time, and to remain patient as the most vulnerable groups are contacted and invited for vaccination first, in a phased approach, as more sites become operational in the coming weeks across the borough.

As more COVID-19 vaccines are approved by MHRA, this process will be sped up as logistics allow, with vaccination by GP invitation and appointment only, moving down through the priority groups outlined by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). 

Care Home residents and staff remain the in the highest priority group and when a solution is found for safe storage and distribution of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine within care homes, or a more stable vaccine is approved, this group will be prioritised alongside over 80 year olds and frontline NHS and social care staff in high risk groups. 

COVID-19 Vaccine Volunteers – Your NHS Needs You

TyneHealth need volunteers who currently work in the NHS, or who have recently retired, to give their time and expertise to be involved in the delivery of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme (CVP) across North Tyneside, starting next week when the first site in the borough to be stood up by NHS England goes live.

You can contact the TyneHealth Vaccination Team by filling out the following form on our website with your contact details and information about your experience and availability.

Volunteers are also needed who do not work in the NHS or have previous medical experience, but wish to give their time to help support health professionals in non-clinical roles across our vaccination sites in North Tyneside. These volunteers are being coordinated by VODA in North Tyneside and volunteers can apply here.

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