Medical practice in Stockbridge delighted to start vaccine roll out as they receive their first delivery early

The practice is expecting weekly deliveries every Tuesday of the AstraZeneca vaccine but received their first order on Wednesday this week, six days before they were expecting it.

The early delivery meant that they were able to start administering the vaccine yesterday, Thursday, January 7, to over 80’s in the community.

An administrator at the practice, Lara Clyde, shared the good news on Twitter and was blown away by the response.

The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, even retweeted it which Ms Clyde says is a huge boost to them as a practice.

Green practice has arranged for 20 patients to receive the vaccine this week and a further 80 to be vaccinated next week with their first order.

Ms Clyde told the Evening News: “The vaccine is such good news and we are so lucky to have our first doses early.

“It was a bit of a scramble to organise the clinics and the weather isn’t on our side. Asking elderly people to come in when it’s so icy is a concern.

“We actually have a patient coming in today to be vaccinated who is 99-years-old, I think his daughter is helping him and she is in her 70’s.”

While their first concern is for their patients, Ms Clyde said that it is absolutely vital that people don’t miss their appointments as the vaccine is in such limited supply.

Staff at the practice have spent the last two days phoning around all 257 of their patients eligible for the vaccine at the moment and Ms Clyde said that everyone has been delighted to get the call with the good news.

She added: “We are all so pleased, the news of the vaccine feels like we finally have a weapon against this virus.

“And it’s been especially nice for our nurses as well because they have missed seeing patients in person.

"The vaccination process gives them a chance to have a bit of a catch up with all of the elderly patients that have been isolating at home.”

The programme for vaccinating over 80’s isn’t officially meant to start until Monday but some doses have been going out early, like in the case of Green Practice.

NHS Lothian said yesterday that so far they have administered 20,000 doses of the vaccine which they said is the highest number in any health board across Scotland.

Dr Susan Martin, a GP at the practice said: "Primarily, of course we miss the direct face-to-face contact which is key to the work of any GP but on a positive note this has resulted in the development of new skill sets suited to our practice population, which will no doubt be of lasting benefit to healthcare.

“The arrival of the vaccine is a huge step forward for both patients and staff.

"It has raised morale at the surgery and has given us real hope and reinvigorated the whole team.”

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