Vaccinations to begin in Selsey next week

The first vaccination clinics will be held at The Selsey Centre, Manor Road, Selsey, in the week commencing January 11, with appointments ‘most likely starting midweek’, according to an update posted yesterday by Parklands Surgery on its website.

However this is subject to final site approval and the delivery of the vaccine to the site.

Patients from all eight practices belonging to the Chichester Alliance of Medical Practices (ChAMP) will be invited to appointments.

These include Cathedral Medical Group, Langley House, Lavant Road, Parklands, Selsey, Southbourne Tangmere and Witterings.

The statement read: “We hope to provide vaccinations from a second, more central, site in the next few weeks.

“We realise that the Selsey location is not ideal for all patients but there were few options available that could accommodate the complex arrangements for the delivery of these vaccines; at least at this early stage, the ChAMP GP surgeries are not suitable.

“The vaccination sites will be staffed by a mixture of local GP Practice staff, hospital staff and members of the public who have volunteered from the local community.”

Patients will be invited for their appointments by a central organisation and should not contact their GP surgery to enquire about vaccinations.

Initially priority 2 patients – all those 80 years of age and over, as well as frontline health and social care workers – will be invited for vaccinations.

Separate arrangements have been made for priority 1 patients – residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults.

It comes after concerns were raised about the speed of the vaccination roll-out in the area.

The Mayor of Chichester, Richard Plowman, said: “The people of Chichester are angry, disappointed and neglected by the delay in rolling out the vaccine here.

“They feel they are being almost punished for faithfully following the rules.”

He added: “They are quite bewildered why their friends in surrounding areas such as Hampshire had their injections almost three weeks ago.” – read more here.

Vaccinations began in nearby Angmering on December 14, while jabs are due to start in Bognor tomorrow.

The Government has set the target to vaccinate all the over-70s, the most clinically vulnerable and front-line health and care workers by mid-February – around 13 million people.

Covid vaccine deployment minister Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he was ‘confident’ the Government would meet this ‘ambitious’ target,