Covid Vaccine Roll Out For The Forest Of Dean

The Forest of Dean Primary Care Network which is made up of all 11 GP Practices in the Forest of Dean is working at pace to implement plans to commence vaccinating the local population. Plans are moving quickly and we are asking patients not to contact us.

One Forest Hub is being established to deliver the Pzifer BioNTec Covid-19 vaccine from Tuesday 22nd December 2020 using the spare rooms vacated by the Practices at Cinderford Health Centre, Dockham Road (by large Cinderford Co-op). Patients will be contacted and invited in for the vaccine.

There remains some uncertainty about the vaccine delivery schedule so some patients may be called at short notice to attend in the afternoon of Monday 21 December – this is yet to be confirmed. The vaccine will be offered out in the groups approved by NHS England, for example, over 80’s first.

At this stage, patients will not be vaccinated here at Yorkley Health Centre; they must attend the clinic at Cinderford Health Centre (next to Co-op) at a pre-booked time/date. Patients will be invited to make two appointments 21 days apart and are urged to stick to these appointments (and must be at least 7 days after receiving the seasonal flu vaccine).

Due to the volume of people to immunise, we are asking that everyone:

  • Arrives on time, not early for their appointments
  • Park at Cinderford Rugby Club whenever possible and walk to the clinic
  • Follows social distancing when queuing and wears a face mask

The Clinic will be run by a Care Co-ordinator and a GP will be on site daily as well as the many volunteers to give the vaccines, provide admin support and navigate the car park with those arriving. We are working closely with Cinderford Co-op, Cinderford Rugby Club and assisted by the local police and fire service. All have been very supportive and we thank them and our volunteers for their co-operation.

All of the Forest’s GP Surgeries will continue to operate as they are now, open to patients and continuing to offer online, telephone, video and face to face appointments. Patients are urged to follow the current process in place for contacting their Surgery. Remember, if you have any Coronavirus symptoms then please cancel all appointments either here at the Surgery or for your Covid-19 vaccine. Please do not come into the Surgery or the Vaccine Clinic.

Thank you to all our patients for their support during this busy time; please keep an eye on our Surgery website or Facebook page for changing details and news updates in the Forester.