COVID-19 Vaccination

Last updated 21 January 2021

COVID-19 vaccination: what should I do?

Please wait to be invited for your vaccination. Vaccination is available by appointment only.

Invitations are currently being issued based on the national priority list. This began with invitations to people aged 80 and over, and now invitations are also beginning for people aged 75-79 and also some invitations to people aged 70-74.

Letters to everyone aged 80 and over registered with a Powys GP have now been sent, inviting them to a COVID-19 vaccination appointment. If you are aged 80 or over and registered with a Powys GP and have NOT received your letter you can use this form to let us know.

Patients will be invited based on where you are registered with a GP.
Frontline health and care workers will be invited via your employer based on where you work.

Please don’t contact your GP, pharmacy, health board, hospital or local authority about an appointment (unless and you are invited to do so).

If you are invited to attend a Mass Vaccination Centre and CAN attend then please DO attend as this will help us vaccinate as many as possible as quickly as possible.

 

Is COVID-19 vaccination taking place in Powys?

Yes.

COVID-19 vaccination is currently taking place for the first national priority groups:

  • residents of care homes for older adults
  • frontline health and care workers
  • people aged 80 and over
  • some people aged 75-79 and people aged 70-74 are also beginning to receive invitations

Vaccination is currently taking place in three appointment-only mass vaccination centres in Newtown, Bronllys, and Builth Wells as well as in care homes and hospital wards.

Vaccination starts w/b 25 January in all 16 GP practices in Powys. This has included a pathfinder clinic for people aged 80 and over registered with Presteigne Medical Centre. Plans are also being put in place for people who are clinically housebound.

As at 20 January 2021, nearly 10000 people had received their first dose vaccination through the Powys vaccination programme. Weekly updates on vaccination figures at health board level (and daily updates on figures at an all-Wales level) are published by Public Health Wales.

 

What COVID-19 vaccines are currently available?

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) has now approved both the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. We know that we now have two safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines which can be used in Wales.

Both vaccines are being used in Powys, but we have greater quantities of guaranteed supplies of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which we can only deliver from our mass vaccination centres.

The Moderna vaccine has also been approved by the MHRA, with UK supplies expected in the spring.

 

Who are the priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination?

Delivery of the vaccination programme in Powys is following guidance from Welsh Government and from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation:

This means that our current priority groups are:

  • Priority group 1: residents of care homes for older adults (c. 1000 people in Powys)
  • Priority group 2: people aged 80 and over (c. 10,000 people in Powys including those living in care homes) and frontline health and care workers

Once vaccination of people in these three groups is completed, invitations will be sent to people in the next priority groups. The next priority groups identified by the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation are currently:

It is estimated that taken together, these groups represent around 99% of preventable mortality from COVID-19.

The Committee will also be considering the priorities for the next phase of vaccination once these priority groups have been offered vaccination.

You will be invited based on where you are registered with a GP. For example, Powys residents who are registered with a GP in England will be invited via the vaccination programme in England. The main exception is frontline health and care workers who will be invited via their employer based on where they work.

Everyone in priority groups 1-4 will receive their invitation by mid February. Everyone in priority groups 1-9 will receive their invitation by the spring.

*Underlying health conditions:

  • Chronic respiratory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis and severe asthma
  • Chronic heart disease (and vascular disease)
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Chronic liver disease
  • Chronic neurological disease including epilepsy
  • Down’s syndrome
  • Severe and profound learning disability
  • Diabetes
  • Solid organ, bone marrow and stem cell transplant recipients
  • People with specific cancers
  • Immunosuppression due to disease or treatment
  • Asplenia and splenic dysfunction
  • Morbid obesity
  • Severe mental illness

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation guidance  states that: “those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill, should also be offered vaccination alongside these groups.”

We expect further guidance in future from the JCVI on vaccination of the rest of the adult population. 

 

How are people aged 80 and over being contacted for COVID-19 vaccination?

You will receive an invitation when the vaccination programme reaches your priority group. Please don’t contact your GP, pharmacy, health board, hospital or local authority about an appointment.

Invitations are currently being sent to people aged 80 and over during January 2021. With nearly 10,000 people aged 80 and over in Powys it will take some time to arrange all COVID-19 vaccination appointments. Everyone aged 80 and over registered with a Powys GP should expect an invitation letter by 22 January 2021.

Please use this form if you are aged 80 or over and registered with a Powys GP and have NOT yet received a letter.

You may hear of friends or neighbours who receive their invitation letter before you, but please be assured that your invitation is coming. We need to issue invitations in batches so that all vaccination appointments can be offered in a way that keeps you safe and keeps our staff safe. Thank you for your patience until your invitation letter arrives.

Please accept our apologies that our phone lines have been very busy due to high demand for COVID-19 vaccination. Thank you for your patience and please do keep trying. We are also working hard to expanding our booking and appointment service to make it easier for you to contact us.

We have greater quantities and guaranteed supplies of the Pfizer/BioNTech which we can only use in our mass vaccination centres. If you are able to attend an appointment at a Mass Vaccination Centre we encourage you to take up the invitation. We recognise that travel & transport can be challenging in a large rural county like Powys so please contact us if you need alternative arrangements.

Everyone in priority groups 1-4 will receive their invitation by mid February. Everyone in priority groups 1-9 will receive their invitation by the spring.

We are working very hard to ensure that all those eligible receive their vaccine in turn as supplies are provided to us.

 

When will people aged 75 and over be contacted for COVID-19 vaccination?

Some invitations to people aged 75-79 are now beginning, and most people in this group will receive their invitation from their GP practice.

Invitations will then be sent to the next priority group, and so on.

Everyone in priority groups 1-4 will receive their invitation by mid February. Everyone in priority groups 1-9 will receive their invitation by the spring.

As more information becomes available to us about vaccine delivery and supplies, we will be able to provide more details of the timetable for inviting other priority groups.

You will receive an invitation letter when the vaccination programme reaches your priority group. Please don’t contact your GP, pharmacy, health board, hospital or local authority about an appointment until you have received your invitation.

 

More information about the national COVID-19 Vaccination Programme in Wales:

Understandably, there will be a lot of questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.

 

More information about how we are delivering the national COVID-19 Vaccination Programme in Powys:

  • Frontline health and care employees in Powys:
    Please contact your employer in the first instance. 
    Vaccination for frontline health and care employees in Powys is being offered via employers. We have been contacting employing organisations to provide information to share with their employees.
    We want to make sure that no vaccine goes to waste, and so we have asked other health and care staff in service-critical support roles to be on a reserve list. This allows us to call people in quickly at short notice if a frontline worker is unable to attend their appointment.
  • Residents of Care Home for Older Adults:
    We are visiting care homes to provide COVID-19 vaccination to residents. Vaccination for care home residents began in early January and nearly every resident of a care home for older adults in Powys has received their vaccination.
  • People aged 80 and over:
    People aged 80 and over are being contacted by letter to invite them to book an appointment. Letters are being sent in batches through January 2021, and all letters will be received by 22 January 2021.
    Please use our online form if you are 80 or over and registered with a Powys GP and have NOT yet received an invitation letter.
  • Other priority groups:
    People in other priority groups will be invited for vaccination in the priority order recommended by the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (last updated 30 December 2020). This next priority group is people aged 75 and over, and invitation letters will be sent following vaccination of the groups above. You will receive an invitation letter when the vaccination programme reaches your priority group. Please don’t contact your GP, pharmacy, health board, hospital or local authority about an appointment until you have received your invitation.


Establishing the biggest ever vaccination programme is a massive task involving hundreds of staff and volunteers across Powys. Here are just a few examples of the amazing members of the team who are making this happen on our website:

 

Please note that national factors such as vaccine approval & availability, and changes policy & guidance, may impact on the delivery of our COVID-19 vaccination programme in Powys. This does mean that the information on this page is subject to change. Please keep checking back for the latest information.

 

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