Urgent plea goes out from Horsham doctor: 'Get your Covid jabs now'

Horsham GP Dr Matt Greenwood says only around a third of people in the Horsham area who are eligible for a Covid booster have had their vaccination.

He said there are currently 1,500 empty appointments at Christ’s Hospital vaccination centre tomorrow (Thursday October 19) and Friday October 20 – and more than 1,000 on Sunday October 29. New appointment dates for November will be announced once the current appointments are full.Around 10,000 vaccinations have been given at Christ’s Hospital Bluecoat Sports Health and Fitness Club since the start of the autumn booster programme “by the wonderful staff and volunteers,” said Dr Greenwood. But many more are available and he stressed the importance of the jabs.

"The new vaccine protects people from the new variant of concern that was picked up in the summer that is the cause of increasing rates of Covid and hospital admissions.

“Winter is especially important for Covid and flu vaccination as these infections peak during the winter months putting pressure on the hospital and general practice services.”

Appointments can be accessed by the national booking site: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/covid-19-services/covid-19-vaccination-services/book-covid-19-vaccination/(To be able to see Bluecoats you will need to select ‘Covid only’ when given the option in the booking service)Dr Greenwood said support from Christ’s Hospital School meant Horsham had “one of the best sites offering close convenient car parking and also a service to support people with mobility problems by offering them their vaccination in the car, without even needing to get out. So if you can make it to a hospital appointment, you can definitely get your vaccine at Christ’s Hospital Bluecoats.”

People currently eligible for a Covid booster are those aged over 65, frontline health and social care workers, people in ‘clinical risk’ groups and care home residents.