Following concerns raised by local health leaders, Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore has urged residents to wait to be contacted by the NHS over when they will receive the Covid vaccine.
The call comes following concerns raised by local health leaders after GPs’ surgeries and local health centres have been inundated with telephone calls from residents enquiring about when they will receive the vaccine.
The first approved vaccine, which has been developed by the pharmaceutical company Pzeifer, is now in circulation and has been administered to over 350,000 people nationwide, including many elderly and vulnerable residents across Keighley and Ilkley. The NHS is working through a list of priority patients and the NHS will contact residents when it is their turn to receive the vaccine. However local health leaders have flagged an unprecedented rise in the number of people contacting health centres and GPs’ surgeries enquiring about when they will receive the vaccine. This in turn in adding more pressure to GPs’ surgeries and health centres.
Commenting Robbie Moore said: “The NHS has acted with absolute dedication and professionalism through this pandemic. The NHS has been there for everybody, no matter who they are or where they come from and I want to thank everybody who works in the NHS for delivering this service through the most testing of times. The NHS will contact residents when it is there turn to receive the vaccine. I appreciate that many elderly and vulnerable people want the vaccine as soon as possible however it is important that the NHS follows the plan put in place to ensure that the vaccine can be delivered quickly to those who need it first.
“Therefore please do not contact your local GPs’ surgery or health centre about when you are going to receive your vaccination. Please wait to be contacted by the NHS. Our GPs’ surgeries and health centres are already overwhelmed due to the virus, adding more pressure by unnecessarily contacting them will only lead to potential delays with the rollout of the vaccine.”