NHS Highland earmarks Centre for Health Science near Raigmore Hospital as potential mass Covid vaccination centre as GPs take the lead for now
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Centre for Health Science near Raigmore Hospital in Inverness has been earmarked by NHS Highland as a possible mass Covid vaccination centre.
Currently, the centre is used to vaccinate frontline workers, but could be used for members of the public in weeks to come.
The bulk of vaccinations of the adult population of the Highlands, however, will be GP-led.
A spokeswoman for NHS Highland said: “Given our remote and rural geography, the majority of the delivery of the vaccine to the public will be co-ordinated by our GP practices, who are ideally located and experienced to do this, given they support our flu delivery programme so well every year.
“NHS Highland, with the support of Highland and Argyll and Bute councils, will provide any additional resources and support that they need to do so successfully.
“We are currently using the Centre for Health Science in Inverness as a central location for larger scale delivery, focused on our frontline staff.
“It is likely that we will require further use of this and other centres as the programme expands and this potential is contained within our plans.
“In our more remote and rural areas, staff vaccination is being co-ordinated by local teams.”
Secretary of the Highland Local Medical Committee, Dr Iain Kennedy, said almost all GPs in the region wanted to play their part in the vaccination programme.
“Highland GPs have been clear to us at the Local Medical Committee that they want to be involved in immunisations,” he said.
“We are confident of having a very successful Covid vaccine delivery, however what is very clear is that this is more of a marathon than a sprint.
“As many practices would like to vaccinate many hundreds of patients at a time, the supply chain is such that it is likely we will be vaccinating through until September.
“My own practice on Riverside [in Inverness] will be vaccinating a staggering 17,500 times – obviously this is because everyone requires a second dose.”
