Fifers are being asked to “roll up your sleeves” for the Covid-19 vaccination, as the next phase of NHS Fife’s vaccination programme gets under way.
People aged 18-49 are now being invited to come forward for the coronavirus vaccine.
Those aged 40-49 will be contacted first, followed by those aged 30-39, and finally adults aged 18-29.
The aim is for all adults in Scotland to have had their first vaccine by the end of July, depending on vaccine supply.
The news comes as it was announced that Fife College’s Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline will be transformed into a Covid-19 vaccination clinic and two other sites will host the vaccination programme.
‘Great progress’
NHS Fife Director of Pharmacy and Medicines, Scott Garden, said:
“We have made great progress in delivering more than 225,000 doses of the vaccine to people in Fife to date and I am hugely grateful to the vaccine delivery teams for how they have responded to this huge logistical challenge.
“You will be invited when it is your turn to get vaccinated so please be patient as we work through the age groups. When you are invited forward, please do get the vaccine if you are able to do so. You can get really ill with coronavirus at any age.
“The vaccine provides our best way out of the coronavirus pandemic and a return, in time, to the things we’ve all missed.”
‘Effective and safe’
Professor Emma Thomson of the University of Glasgow Virus Research is an expert in infectious diseases, who led work done in Scotland to develop the Covid-19 vaccine.
She said: “Each vaccine passes through a three-phase testing process, reviewed by independent regulatory and advisory bodies, to ensure it is effective and safe.
“Licensed Covid-19 vaccines have passed through the same rigorous tests as all other vaccines in tens of thousands of participants who have taken part in trials around the world.
“We continue to monitor for side-effects even after licensing in the millions of people who have already received the vaccine.”
Vaccine invitations are being sent to the address registered with your GP, and those who have recently moved are being urged to update their details as soon as possible.