Newcastle Emlyn surgery delivering vaccine across Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire

Meddygfa Emlyn, at Adpar, Newcastle Emlyn, has taken delivery of its first batch of 300 doses and started delivering the vaccine this afternoon to its most vulnerable patients.

GP Dr Laura Dimmick said: “We are one of the first surgeries locally to start vaccinating after receiving our first batch of the Oxford vaccine.

“We are excited to be working with Hywel Dda Health board to implement this vaccination programme and will be following all public health guidelines with regard to patient eligibility and prioritisation.

“We will be contacting all eligible patients by phone or letter and there will be enough to go round but it will take time as we are limited by the supply of the vaccine at the moment.”

The surgery has more than 9,000 patients on its list but is asking people NOT to ring in to the surgery to book a jab.

“We are getting many calls from people wanting to know when it will be their turn and trying to book a vaccine but we are asking everyone to be patient – we will get around to you,” said Dr Dimmick.

“We will call you, you don’t need to call us as it is important to keep our phone lines clear for us to deal with medical problems. Also, there is no need to register with other surgeries or pharmacies as all will be receiving their own supplies."

The Meddygfa Emlyn covers a huge geographical area across Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, spreading as far afield as Cynwyl Elfed, St Dogmaels and Plwmp.

The vaccine will be delivered by both the practice GPs and nurses, who have all undergone training and have themselves been vaccinated as frontline health workers.

The surgery is already well versed in delivering vaccines, with its annual flu vaccination programme well established.

“We should see supplies of the vaccine increasing over the next few weeks and we will look to step up the programme in an appropriate setting, with people also being offered the second dose by us in 12 weeks,” added Dr Dimmick.

“We will also be going into local care homes from tomorrow morning. The Public Health Wales rules regarding care homes have changed and we are now able to go in to administer the vaccine to any Covid negative patients.”

Public Health Wales says the vaccine will be offered to those who are most at risk first. Eventually every adult will be offered the vaccine.

The groups to be prioritised to receive a Covid-19 vaccine first, are decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) at a UK level. This is based on knowledge around who is most at risk from Covid-19.

This priority list is as follows:

• 1 Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
• 2 All those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
• 3 All those 75 years of age and over
• 4 All those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
• 5 All those 65 years of age and over
• 6 All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
• 7 All those 60 years of age and over
• 8 All those 55 years of age and over
• 9 All those 50 years of age and over