Flu Vaccinations at the Vale Medical Center

I got a flu vaccination at the Vale Medical Centre this morning, and it was an impressive and efficient operation. It felt very safe too.

All the surgeries (at least 6, maybe 7 or 8) were open and staffed with a Doctor/Nurse constantly giving vaccinations while front of house staff taking temperatures, checking people in and managing the socially distanced queue. A one-way system ensured people didn’t mix unnecessary, and all staff were masked & visored up.

The appointments were all pre-booked and I waited no more than a minute as the roll-call constantly flashed up the next person. It took all of 30 seconds to get the jab and be offered an advice leaflet.

Great organisation and co-ordination by the Vale Medical Centre and NHS staff there. This gives me great hope for the efficient roll-out of a Covid vaccination too.

Sounds similar to the set up that Woolstone Medical Centre had for their flu clinics on Saturday’s back in September.

I got mine there a few weeks ago. I’m sure I was in and out within 2 minutes.

Fantastic! I reckon the Vale alone must be setup to do upwards of about 4 people a minute which would be almost 2,000 people a day, assuming an 8 hour day.

Perry Vale ward had 15,618 people in the 2011 census, so along with the other Doctors surgeries they look to have a good setup.

Are they going to rename it to the ‘Village Medical Centre’?

But seriously, my family is registered there too and we live on the other side of the tracks so I’m guessing there are more than 15k - even if they manage 1k a day then you could easily assume 1-2 months to cover a Covid vaccination program. That would be great - if they start in Q1 next year then they really would be largely done by Easter.

Also there are multiple GPs (The Vale, Woolstone and I’ll claim The Jenner & Sydenham Green as they are just outside the ward boundary ) and the possibility of popup clinics or specialist services for things such as care homes.

I’m also not sure if the census data includes children, but kids are unlikely to be vaccinated in the first wave as the current clinical trials are on non-pregnant adults only.

Herd immunity for Covid is estimated to be reached when between 60 and 90% of the population are immune, depending on the effectiveness of the vaccine being deployed, so perhaps we could get there even faster - provided the vaccine is available and can be distributed.

I’m sure the mainstream media will make much of any problems or bumps along the way, but what I saw this morning was impressive and fills me with confidence in the NHS’s ability to get this done.

I phoned and cancelled my flu jab, as it seemed that the likliehood of flu was low for me, and the risk of catching Covid wasn’t worth the flu protection.

Hopefully the Covid vaccination roll-out will work well. I worry about having so many people in one place, even if they are there for just two minutes.

The flu vaccine at The Vale felt very safe, socially distanced and supervised, and was in and out with 100% mask compliance and temperature checks.

I would recommend you call them back and get a new appointment.