NHS vaccinations

It's important to make sure that your child has all of their routine childhood vaccinations. It's the most effective way of keeping them protected against infectious diseases.

Ideally, children should have their vaccinations at the right age to protect them as early as possible and to minimise the risk of infection.

Your GP will be able to tell you what vaccinations children need. You can also find more information about children’s vaccinations and benefits on the Vaccinations page on the NHS website.

Seasonal flu is highly infectious illness that’s caused by a flu virus. The virus infects your lungs and upper airways, and can cause a high temperature, aches and pains. A flu vaccination can help limit your risk of getting the flu.

Our surgery offers flu vaccinations to patients. We offer two routine vaccinations – one for patients under 65 years and another vaccine for patient over 65 years.

You can contact the surgery to find out more about flu vaccinations or visit the Flu Influenza vaccine page on the NHS website.

We offer routine vaccinations and general advice to our patients travelling abroad who may need to be vaccinated.

We recommend booking an appointment to see your GP and help plan for your trip. It may take up to eight weeks for a full course of vaccinations, so please contact us well in advance to give yourself plenty of time if you're planning to go abroad where you're required to be vaccinated.

Some vaccinations are ordered on a private prescription and not on the NHS, which means that these will be charged for. Your GP will be able to tell you which vaccinations you need, when you need them and if you will need to pay for them.

You can book an appointment to see your GP using our online system. You can also find useful information about travel vaccinations on the Travel vaccinations page on the NHS website.

Those eligible will now be offered a flu and a Covid vaccine from 11 September, in line with the latest expert guidance on the new Covid variant.

The adult Covid and flu vaccination programmes had been due to start in October to maximise protection over the winter months, but now those most at risk including adult care home residents will be vaccinated from 11 September.

Residents of older adult care homes and those most at risk including those who are immunosuppressed will receive their Covid vaccine first.

Carers, pregnant women, and health and social care staff will all be among the groups to be offered a Covid vaccine this winter, as well as adults aged 65 and over.

Combe Down Surgery are offering clinics for:

• Children: on 23^rd September and 28^th October (both at Odd Down Branch surgery, but other ad hoc dates may be available – please telephone)
• Adults: on 30^th September, 7^th & 8^th and 14^th & 15^th of October (at both Combe Down and Odd Down surgeries).

We have already started to invite people in priority order of risk and are doing so by telephone and text message with online booking. If you have not heard from us and think you are eligible then please telephone us at Combe Down Surgery.

The NHS winter flu and COVID-19 vaccination programme provides vital protection to those eligible and their families over winter, keeping people from developing serious illnesses, and helping to minimise hospitalisations during busy winter months.

But it is important that those eligible this year come forward for their vaccinations as protection fades over time, and the virus that causes flu can change from year to year.

There will be no change to flu vaccinations for children which will be offered in schools (for those 4 and over as of 1^st September 2023), to prevent children from getting seriously ill from flu and ending up hospital, and to break the chain of transmission of the virus to the wider population.

The nasal flu vaccine is the most effective vaccine for children aged 2-17 years but if this is not suitable the GP or practice nurse may be able to offer a flu vaccine injection as an alternative.

Health and social care workers will be invited for their vaccines through their employer.

In line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, those eligible for a flu vaccine this year include:

— those aged 65 years and over
— those aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, chapter 19 (Influenza))
— pregnant women
— all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2023
— school-aged children (from Reception to Year 11)
— those in long-stay residential care homes
— carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
— close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
— frontline workers in a social care setting without an employer led occupational health scheme including those working for a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospice providers and those that are employed by those who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health budgets, such as Personal Assistants

Those eligible for an autumn Covid vaccine are:

— residents in a care home for older adults
— all adults aged 65 years and over
— persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group, as laid out in the Immunisation Green Book, COVID-19 chapter (Green Book)
— frontline health and social care workers
— persons aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts (as defined in the Green Book) of people with immunosuppression
— persons aged 16 to 64 years who are carers (as defined in the Green Book) and staff working in care homes for older adults.

Get further information on the flu vaccine from NHS.uk

Get information about COVID-19 vaccination, who can get it, and safety and side effects.