Questions answered on Covid-19 vaccinations in Rutland, Stamford and Bourne

With vaccinations being given across the area, we have put some of the questions readers are asking to health experts.

How will I know when it is time to have the vaccine?

You will receive an invitation to book an appointment.

For most this will be a letter, either from your GP or the national NHS. This will include all the information needed to book appointments, including your NHS number.

You should not contact the NHS or your GP to get an appointment until they contact you.

What happens on vaccination day?

You should attend no more than five minutes before the appointment time to avoid queuing with others and will be asked to complete a consent form, used to submit vaccination data.

You should wear a face covering at all times, adhere to social distancing guidelines and use the hand sanitiser available.

Expect to wait at the vaccination site for 15 minutes after your vaccination to ensure you feel fine and exhibit no immediate complications.

Where are vaccinations being carried out?

In Stamford, St Mary’s Medical Centre is being used for vaccinations. Council offices at Catmose in Oakham are also being used.

As the Oxford vaccine is rolled out, which doesn’t need ultra-cold refrigeration, more surgeries will be able to give vaccinations.

When will vaccinations be taking place?

Many GP surgeries are not revealing dates for vaccination sessions for security reasons, to prevent stocks of the vaccine becoming the target of thieves.

They also want to discourage people turning up uninvited in the hope they will be vaccinated, as has been seen in Stamford.

Which vaccinations are being used?

Both the Pfizer and the new Oxford vaccines will be given at St Mary’s Medical Centre in Stamford, and patients will always receive a second dose of the same vaccine which they received in their first dose.

If I am given a vaccine that needs a second dose, when will I be given this?

New national advice from the UK Chief Medical Officers is that the second dose of the vaccine remains effective when given up to 12 weeks after the first dose, and should be given towards the end of this 12-week period.

As a result, some patients that were given an appointment for their second dose two weeks after the first, before the guidance was changed, will be contacted to rearrange it.

When will I receive a vaccination?

It is difficult to say exactly when you are likely to receive a vaccination, but people are being visited in care homes or contacted to attend an appointment in the following order:

• Residents in care homes for older adults and their carers
• 80-year-olds and over and frontline health and social care workers
• 75-year-olds and over
• 70-year-olds and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
• 65-year-olds and over
• 16- to 64-year-olds with serious underlying health conditions
• 60-year-olds and over
• 55-year-olds and over
• 50-year-olds and over