Covid Vaccination

Essex House Surgery has been approved as the vaccination centre for Barnes, Sheen and half of Kew.

Patients from Dr Johnson & Partners are inviting our own patients to attend Essex House for vaccination, under guidance from Public Health England and NHS England.

Please do not contact the surgery regarding the Covid-19 vaccination.

You will be invited when it is your turn to be vaccinated.

The Practice staff do not have the ability to prioritise individual patients and will be guided by NHS England on who we can invite and when.

This priority list is as follows:

• residents in a care home for older adults and their carers (this will be arranged by PHE, not the Surgery)
• all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
• all those 75 years of age and over
• all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
• all those 65 years of age and over
• all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
• all those 60 years of age and over
• all those 55 years of age and over
• all those 50 years of age and over

Appointments are by INVITATION only.

Please ensure your contact details are up to date with the Practice.

What to expect when you attend Essex House for the Covid-19 vaccination

Patients will be invited to make an appointment when they are eligible to receive the vaccination. Until you have been invited, please do not contact the Surgery.

Please wear a face covering when attending for the Covid-19 vaccination.

When you arrive, you will be asked to join the queue down the ramp at the front of the building.

When you reach the front door, your name will be taken and you will be shown inside to a nurse vaccination station.

A nurse or clinical volunteer will take your name and date of birth again. You will receive your vaccination. You will be asked to leave the building via the one-way system.

Please do not attend if:

• You currently have Covid-19
• You have had a fever for any reason in the previous 48 hours.

For more information on what to expect following receiving the vaccination please read the PHE Information sheet.

Please read this information prior to attending. The vaccination team will not have time to go through this with you.

Side effects

What are the side effects?

Like all medicines, vaccines can cause side effects. Most of these are mild and short term, and not everyone gets them. Even if you do have symptoms after the first dose, you still need to have the second dose.

Although you may get some protection from the first dose, having the second dose will give you the best protection against the virus.

Very common side effects include:

• having a painful, heavy feeling and tenderness in the arm where you had your injection. This tends to be worst around 1-2 days after the vaccine.
• feeling tired
• headache
• general aches, or mild flu-like symptoms

Although feeling feverish is not uncommon for two to three days, a high temperature is unusual and may indicate you have COVID-19 or another infection.

An uncommon side effect is swelling of the glands. You can rest and take the normal dose of paracetamol (follow the advice in the packaging) to help make you feel better.

These symptoms normally last less than a week. If your symptoms seem to get worse or if you are concerned, contact the Surgery. If you do seek advice from a doctor or nurse, make sure you tell them about your vaccination so that they can assess you properly.

You can also report suspected side effects of vaccines and medicines through the Yellow Card scheme.

You can do this online by visiting the Coronavirus Yellow Card or by downloading the Yellow Card app.