HEALTH, SOCIAL CARE AND FUNERAL STAFF COVID & FLU VACCINATION

28 September 2021 at 10:55:35

COVID BOOSTER & FLU 

COVID booster vaccinations are available to eligible health, social care and funeral staff from this week. 

Clinics are scheduled as Flu/COVID Booster clinics, meaning that individuals can attend for either vaccination, or both together (depending on eligibility).

Reminder: you do not need to use the national portal to book an appointment. You should phone 0808 196 8383 or email wi.covidvax@nhs.scot to book an appointment on one of the scheduled clinics. 

The following are currently eligible for COVID-19 booster vaccination (16+ years of age): 

• Healthcare staff and social care workers providing direct care and treatment - those who have face-to-face contact and provide physical care or treatment 
• Non-clinical healthcare staff - those who come into contact with the personal belongings, physical tissue or body fluids of patients, residents or clients. This includes domestic staff, porters, catering, laundry and receptionists or ward clerks. 
• Healthcare laboratory and pathology staff - those who frequently handle SARS-CoV-2 or potentially infected items, for example laboratory staff and those that handle items coming to the lab such as porters and lab receptionists. 
• Social care staff in long-stay care facilities - those who work in long-stay (over 8 weeks) residential and nursing care homes, for example domestic staff, porters, catering, laundry and receptionists. 
• Frontline funeral operatives are also eligible for the COVID-19 booster vaccination (16+ years of age). 
• This includes mortuary technicians and embalmers, and funeral director staff who: 
• 1. handle, assist in the removal of, or have direct contact with the deceased's remains or personal belongings 
  2. may routinely have close contact with the deceased within the funeral home setting 
  3. routinely clean areas that come into direct contact with the deceased (for example surfaces where the deceased have been stored or otherwise handled), or private ambulances or similar vehicles used to transport the deceased 
      
• For the COVID booster, six months must have passed since you received your second dose of vaccine. 
• If you have tested positive for COVID-19, there must be at least 28 days since your positive test. 
• The booster will be Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (regardless of the vaccine you had for first and second dose), unless there is a medical reason that you cannot have Pfizer (in that case you will be given AstraZeneca for your booster dose). 
• You may have your COVID booster dose at the same time as your flu vaccination if they are both due at the same time. Alternatively you can have the vaccinations separately.  
  
  A full information leaflet on the booster is available at: PHS Covid-19 vaccine, priority groups leaflet (healthscotland.com) 
  
  Why should I get the booster? 
  
  Like some other vaccines, levels of protection may begin to reduce over time. The booster dose will help extend the protection you gained from your first two doses and give you longer-term protection. The booster dose will help reduce the risk of serious illness due to COVID-19 this winter.