Trafford to start community rollout of Coronavirus vaccine from tomorrow

Trafford’s first patients in the community will be vaccinated against COVID-19 from as soon as Wednesday morning.

Author: Victoria GloverPublished 15th Dec 2020

It’s been confirmed that patients over the age of 80 at GPs in Altrincham will be the first in Trafford to receive the new COVID-19 vaccine across the borough from as soon as tomorrow morning.

GPs based at the Altrincham Healthcare Alliance Primary Care Network – which includes Altrincham Medical Practice, Park Medical Practice, Shay Lane Medical Centre (Drs Kelman, Cranston, Naylor, Pathak and Haslam), St Johns Medical Centre and West Timperley Medical Centre – will be the first GPs to deliver the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in Trafford.

GP practices will begin vaccinating patients against coronavirus from the morning of Wednesday 16th December.

People aged 80 and over will be vaccinated at Altrincham Health and Wellbeing Centre. The venue was selected as the first Trafford site due to the Altrincham area having a high proportion of people aged 80 and over, and having a well-equipped clinical building to begin vaccinations at short notice.

Eligible patients have already been contacted to book a slot and the vaccinations will begin on Wednesday from 9am. Practices throughout the rest of Trafford will join in on a phased basis during December with details to be confirmed.

Dr Maz Sangha, GP Partner at St Johns Medical Centre and Clinical Director for Altrincham Healthcare Alliance, said: “We’re delighted to be first to offer the vaccine to our patients. The COVID-19 vaccination programme is the largest immunisation programme in NHS history and we’re thrilled that we have been chosen to lead the way in Trafford.”

Hosted at St Johns Medical Centre in the Altrincham Health and Wellbeing Centre, the borough’s first cohort will be vaccinated in clinics running from 9am to 6pm on Wednesday and Thursday December 17.

Dr Sangha added: “This has been a huge undertaking with all five practices have been working together to make this happen. Our patients have been contacted, appointment slots have been booked and we’re looking forward to welcoming the first patients on Wednesday morning.”

Dr Mark Jarvis, Medical Director at NHS Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “This is a huge challenge for our doctors and clinicians across Trafford and I am incredibly proud of how they have stepped up to play their part in this ambitious immunisation programme.

“We are now preparing to contact patients aged 80 and over across the rest of Trafford about how they can receive the vaccine.”

Practices in more than 100 parts of the country are taking delivery of the vaccine early this week, with some having kicked off their clinics on Monday and today (Tuesday December 15th).

More information on this national rollout can be found on NHS England’s website.