Patients in early thirties now being given vaccine

PATIENTS in Henley in their early thirties are starting to receive their first coronavirus vaccination.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has reduced the recommended interval between the first and second dose from 12 to eight weeks for people in the priority groups of 1 to 9.

The Bell and Hart surgeries, both off York Road, have continued to make good progress with the programme.

The former has given nearly 5,500 first doses, representing about 60 per cent of all patients.

More than 3,000 second doses have been administered, with 40 per cent of adults using the surgery having had both jabs.

At the Hart Surgery, 60 per cent of all patients have had at least one dose, while 34 per cent are fully vaccinated. Practice manager Sarah Moberley said: “The rules have changed, so the recommended gap is now eight weeks between doses.

“Our vaccine deliveries are not quite in line with that but should be by next week.”

Sonning Common Health Centre, which is part of the same primary care network, has given 6,293 first doses, representing 65 per cent of all patients. A further 3,645 second doses have been given, which means 37 per cent have had both.

Practice manager John Lisiewicz said: “It has been a very busy month, as it has been for the other surgeries.

“It has been our biggest month and we’ve done well over 1,800 doses, with a couple more days still to go. It is challenging and it is a big workload but we all want to get to a point where there is some sort of normality.”

Goring and Woodcote’s joint medical practice has administered more than 9,000 vaccinations.

A clinic for patients aged 25 and 29 was held at Wallingford Community Hospital on Wednesday, while a clinic for more second doses was held at the surgery in Goring yesterday (Thursday).

There were five covid-19 cases in South Oxfordshire in the last seven days, which is down by seven compared with the previous week.

The infection rate is now 3.5 per 100,000 of the population, a drop from 8.4 last week. The number of deaths remains at 163.