Health bosses in North Yorkshire have said more covid vaccine appointments will be available for Harrogate residents amid concern over a lack of clinics.

Officials at NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board said three pharmacies in Harrogate have been holding appointments for those eligible for a spring booster vaccine.

However, residents have contacted the Stray Ferret over concerns that the NHS booking website only showed clinics in West Yorkshire.

Currently, those who are vulnerable and over-75 are eligible for an appointment.

Those who wish to book a vaccine have to do so through the NHS website or by calling 119.

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But, residents in Harrogate who have tried to book a booster vaccine have found appointments are only available in Bradford or Leeds.

NHS officials said much of the vaccine campaign has been focused on those in care homes or who are housebound.

However, they added more local appointments should become available “over the next two or three weeks” to those who are eligible and will mostly be in GPs and pharmacies.

In response to the concern over travel, a spokesperson for Humber and North Yorkshire ICB said:

“Three pharmacies in Harrogate have had appointments available through the NHS National Booking Service and have been actively delivering clinics.

“However, over the next two to three weeks, patients in Harrogate who are eligible for their COVID spring booster should have access to more local appointments when they visit the online NHS National Booking Service or contact NHS 119.

“With GP practices in the Harrogate district mainly concentrating their efforts on delivering vaccines to care home residents and patients who are housebound, clinics for over 75s and those who are immunosuppressed will mostly be delivered by community pharmacy teams, though some GP practices will be running clinics for their eligible patients and they will be contacted directly when it’s their turn.

“The Spring campaign commenced on 3 April for all care home residents, housebound and immunosuppressed patients in line with JCVI guidance. All other over 75s became eligible for vaccination w/c 17 April and we are confident everyone who’s eligible will be able to receive a vaccination prior to the end of June when this campaign ends.”

Those are eligible for a spring covid booster are advised to check the NHS booking service online or call 119, if travelling is an issue.

More information on covid vaccine appointments can be found on the NHS England website here.

Hospital officials in Harrogate said today they are concerned by a lack of take up for flu vaccines in children aged five to 11.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust runs the School Age Immunisation Service, which covers vaccinations for children across North Yorkshire and the North East.

However, officials are now urging parents to get their child vaccinated against the flu this winter to help prevent its spread.

Carly Dodsworth, from the School Age Immunisation Service at the trust, said: 

“Whilst flu often has mild symptoms it can also be extremely serious.

“We would encourage parents to have their children vaccinated at the earliest opportunity to protect them and anyone they meet who could be vulnerable to the flu.

“Parents who missed the chance to have their child vaccinated in school and who are still keen for them to have the vaccine, can take advantage of the additional clinics that we have organised over the next few weeks.”

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All primary school children are eligible for the free flu vaccination, which is usually a nasal spray that is given in school.

The School Age Immunisation Service is yet to visit all primary schools in the region and parents of children whose primary school has yet to be visited are being asked to look out for an email from their school with details of when flu vaccinations will be taking place.

Children who have missed their opportunity to have their vaccination at their school will be able to take advantage of additional drop-in clinics and appointment only clinics which are being held across the region in December.

You can find out more about drop-in and appointment clinics here.

North Yorkshire’s plateauing vaccination rates have been raised as a concern by health officials as all remaining covid legal restrictions come to an end today.

A meeting of the North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board today heard that while vaccine take up has been “pretty good” across the county, more than 41,000 people have yet to receive a first dose.

That represents around 10% of the population – and areas in Harrogate and Scarborough have been highlighted as lagging behind.

Sue Peckitt, chief nurse at the NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told today’s meeting:

“We continue to offer vaccines as an evergreen offer and have been running a number of pop-up sites across the locality including in Harrogate, Scarborough and other areas where we have had very little take up.

“We are now putting out a plea that if those people still want their vaccine, we have plenty available.

“We recently ran a pop-up clinic in Eastfield in Scarborough and had two people attend all day. And two weekends ago we ran another for two days in Harrogate and received 24 people for vaccination. We are just not having people come forward now.”

Ms Peckitt said vaccine take up was lowest amongst 18 to 29-year-olds, followed by 30 to 39-year-olds.

Her plea comes as Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground vaccination site prepares to shut in March. The site at Ripon Races closed last weekend.

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Vaccines are now being redirected to pharmacies and GP surgeries where an additional booster dose will be offered to all adults over-75 and the most vulnerable over-12s this spring.

An autumn booster programme, aimed at a wider group of people, is also planned later this year.

Pharmacies and GP surgeries will also be used to vaccinate children aged five to 11 from April.

This extension of the rollout comes after months of deliberation over the benefits and risks before official scientific advice concluded the move would help protect the “very small” number of children who become seriously ill with covid.

No legal requirement to self-isolate

As of today, all remaining legal covid restrictions in England have been removed as part of the prime minister’s Living with Covid plan.

It means people who test positive are no longer legally required to self-isolate, although they are still advised to do so.

The decision has come as a surprise to some health officials who have questioned what the changes will do to the spread of the virus.

North Yorkshire’s weekly infection rate is currently at 412 cases per 100,000 people – its lowest level since mid-December.

Dr Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, described this as a “much improved” picture at today’s North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board meeting.

She also said although many people will have some immunity from vaccines or previous infection, people should still be cautious about the virus now all restrictions have ended.

Dr Turner said: 

“There is a very high proportion of the population that will have a degree of immunity, whether through vaccination, direct exposure to the virus or both.

“What that doesn’t mean though is you are therefore immune from getting the virus again.”

Upwards of 1,500 New Year’s eve revellers were on Ripon’s Market Square as the hands on the town hall clock reached midnight.

The only major public gathering to be held in the Harrogate district, went ahead  last night, in spite of a couple of eleventh-hour issues.

While other events across the UK and the world, from Edinburgh to New York, were cancelled because of coronavirus concerns, the city’s residents came out in force to let their hair down at the end of a covid-restricted year.

Because of circumstances beyond the city council’s control, the planned fireworks finale was called off and there was also a late change to the concert performers, with the Movie Night Show singing duo (pictured below) taking over from the Big Boyband Reunion.

Oasis tribute act Definitely Mightbe  (Pictured below) were the headline act on a night of free music, which saw crowd numbers steadily climb as people headed to Market Square after dining or drinking in Ripon’s restaurants and pubs.

Concerns raised on Thursday about the level of emergency medical cover for the event were overcome and two ambulance crews were on duty throughout the night.

A team of six from the OSR Medical Ambulance Service (pictured below) which works in partnership with the NHS to cover large public events, was on hand to deal with any incidents or injuries and reported just one – a young woman who cut her foot on broken glass.

In his New Year address from the town hall balcony, the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, had special praise for volunteers, who have been involved in the roll out of the covid vaccination programme throughout 2021.

He said:

“It has been a challenging 12 months and I, as mayor of this great city, would like to pay thanks to the many volunteers who have worked incredibly hard this year at the vaccination site.

“I also thank those who have helped the vulnerable, neighbours and elderly in these difficult times”

Cllr Parkin, pictured below with the Bishop of Ripon The Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley – who gave the final blessing, added:

“The city council is also indebted to the many people, from doctors and nurses, to delivery drivers and retail staff, who have worked so tirelessly to support all of us over the past year.”

Prior to his address and the bishop’s blessing, the mayor and Dean of Ripon The Very Revd. John Dobson led a candle-lit procession (pictured below) from Ripon Cathedral to Market Square.

The procession, symbolising the bringing of light and hope to the New Year, followed an end of year service of carols and prayers at the cathedral.

Three hours before the clocks struck midnight, the evening of entertainment began in traditional style, as Richard Midgley (pictured below) one of Ripon’s four hornblowers carried out the setting of the watch ceremony at the four corners of the obelisk.

From March 2020 until the lifting of lockdown on 19 July 2021, covid regulations saw Richard and his colleagues confined to performing the 9pm nightly ceremony behind closed doors at their own homes.

The tradition dating back to 886 AD and the much newer New Year’s Eve celebration, which has been in place since 1986, are part of the fabric of a proud and ancient city.

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Vaccination centres in the Harrogate district could open on Christmas Day and Boxing Day as part of the government drive to offer all adults a booster by the end of the year.

Firefighters are delivering vaccines in another bid to speed up the programme, public health officials in North Yorkshire revealed at a press conference today.

The officials said things were changing “very rapidly” across the country and although there were still no confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in the Harrogate district, they added it was likely to be present and spreading fast.

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Amanda Bloor, the accountable officer for the North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told the press conference:

“The NHS is already experiencing high demand from patients. I would continue to ask people to be patient and respectful.

“We are expecting that a number of staff leave will be cancelled to mitigate the continued pressures. They are going to be working longer hours to get everyone through.

“In terms of the booster programme. This is the most complex phase yet, we are now moving with pace. We are looking at how best to increase capacity.

“All sites are increasing capacity on a daily basis. You can now access a vaccine very early in the morning to very late at night.

“We anticipate sites being open across the county every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day but if we need to look at demand on those days we will do so.”

We have compiled a list of the sites in the Harrogate district where you can get a vaccine. You can see it by clicking or tapping here.

Harrogate District Hospital is set to open a vaccine centre tomorrow, which will only have capacity for booked appointments.

It is unclear how many vaccinations the hospital will administer a day or what times it will be open.

More than 80,000 booster and third vaccines have been administered in the Harrogate district, according to the latest government figures.

Across the district, 2,380 booster jabs were given yesterday, as the vaccination programme is accelerated.

Today, staff at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground confirmed it has expanded its capacity to 2,000 jabs a day.

UK Health Security Agency figures show that a total of 81,463 booster and third vaccines have been given in the district so far.

Meanwhile, the Harrogate district has reported a further 87 covid cases, according to today’s government figures.

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The Harrogate district’s covid rate has fallen to 378 infections per 100,000 people.

Across the county, the average stands at 368 and the England rate is 536.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to NHS England.

Latest available figures show nine covid patients are being treated at Harrogate District Hospital.

Harrogate’s vaccination centre at the Great Yorkshire Showground has expanded to accommodate more vaccinators as part of a push to meet the government’s ambitious booster target.

Overnight the team has increased the number of clinical pods to cater for four more vaccinators and five more administration staff.

It means that rather than administering 1,700 jabs in a day, the team will be able to give 2,000 jabs.

There is now also room for more walk-ins to wait inside in anticipation of the colder weather to come.

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Tim Yarrow, operations manager at Yorkshire Health Network, a federation of the 17 GP practices in the Harrogate and district that operates the showground vaccination site, told the Stray Ferret:

“Firstly, I would urge anyone over 30 to book an appointment and for all walk-ins to bring their NHS number. It saves the team so much time.

“I have been trying to manage the staff the best I can so they can cope and it’s safe. We have had an extremely busy four days, it was like a tidal wave at the weekend.”

Walk-ins are available between 9am and 4pm every day and not outside those times.

Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground is to accept walk-ins this afternoon to help with the roll-out of the covid booster programme.

Those eligible for a booster can just turn-up between 1.30pm and 4pm at the showground. Currently, there are no other walk-in sessions scheduled for the site, which re-opened this week.

To qualify, people need to be aged 40 and above. At least six months must have passed since their second dose and they must have no coronavirus symptoms.

The showground was due to close on December 22 but it now looks set to continue until March, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Non walk-in appointments can be booked on the NHS booking site here.

Health officials say they are unable to open any walk-in covid vaccination centres in Harrogate because clinics are already running at capacity.

The announcement on Monday that booster jabs were being made available without appointments caused some confusion as no Harrogate district sites appeared on the NHS online walk-in finder.

Those eligible for their third jabs were being sent to the nearest sites in Leeds or Middlesbrough, although a centre in Pateley Bridge has since appeared online.

NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group has now explained that it is unable to open any more walk-in sites in the area due to capacity and supply issues.

A CCG spokesperson said:

“All clinics are running at capacity and we will open walk-ins in a planned way as soon as we are able to.

“If we open walk-ins now it is likely we would exceed our vaccine allocation and there would be some disappointed people and negative feedback, which we are trying to avoid.”

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Appointment-based vaccines for over-50s and those with underlying health conditions are still available to book at local clinics via the national booking system.

Dedicated slots for 12 to 15-year-olds are also available at the Homecare Pharmacy site in Knaresborough.

These jabs for 12 to 15-year-olds are also being offered at schools and outside the district at the Askham Bar site in York, Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium, the Northern Echo Arena in Darlington and Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium.

New sites ‘as soon as possible’

The CCG said it was looking to add additional sites across North Yorkshire “as soon as possible”.

It was announced last week that Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground will reopen as a vaccine centre for an expected busy period of booster jabs in December.

The venue – which was used as a vaccine site for most of the year before closing in August – will reopen for two weeks at the start of the month.

Public Health England figures show a total of 130,898 people in the Harrogate district have received their first vaccine dose and 122,140 people their second.

No figures are available for booster jabs.

Vaccine take up is lowest among 12 to 15-year-olds with just 18% receiving their single dose.

The CCG said everyone in this age group will be offered their vaccine by the end of November.