Coronavirus (COVID-19) Help & Resources

Living with COVID

The Department of Health and Social Care has recently published a COVID-19 Stakeholder and Influencer Toolkit, which you can view here.

Long-term effects of COVID-19

How long it takes to recover from COVID-19 is different for everybody. Many people feel better in a few days or weeks and most will make a full recovery within 12 weeks, but for some people (estimated to be 1%), symptoms can last longer and this is post-covid syndrome or long-covid.

To support your recovery please find more information on your recovery website: https://www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk/

It is important to contact us if you remain concerned about your symptoms. We may need to organise some tests and talk about the care and support you may need.

COVID-19 Vaccination Invitations

Last updated 4th December 2021

Following the recent update from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), where the COVID-19 vaccination programme is to be accelerated and the booster vaccination is to be given from 3 months after the second, or third dose for patients severely immunocompromised, instead of the originally advised 6 months. The programme has also been expanded to allow patients aged 18 to 39 years old to be able to book in for a booster dose.

In light of the above recently released guidance, the vaccination hub in Northallerton will continue with previous arrangements to cease operating from the 21st December, 2021, and due to resources and capacity, will not be allowing patients to book in from 3 months after their 2nd, or third, doses; this is to continue to allow patients in the most vulnerable at risk groups to be prioritised for the vaccination. All invites to the vaccination hub are being carried out via our below “Vaccination Status” statement.

If you do not meet the below outlined criteria to be vaccinated at the Northallerton vaccination hub and would like to book a COVID-19 booster vaccination, please navigate to the gov.uk – book your COVID-19 vaccination webpage, or If you’d prefer to search for a COVID-19 walk in centre, please navigate to the gov.uk – find a COVID-19 walk in centre webpage.

Vaccination Hub – last session date is 21st December, 2021.

Invitation Status – we are currently inviting and booking appointments for patients in priority groups 1 to 9, i.e. aged 50 years old and over and those 16 – 64 with an underlying health condition, for their booster vaccinations where their 2nd dose was given at least 5 months ago. As well as patients who require a 3rd dose of the Covid-19 vaccination 8 weeks after their 2nd dose.

If you haven’t yet had your first dose/ or your 2nd dose at least 8 weeks after your first, please get in touch with the surgery and we will arrange a vaccination appointment for you.

If you have not yet received a text message, ‘phone call or letter and would like to book in, please ring the surgery after 4pm, Monday to Friday (except bank holidays). This is to help reduce the pressure on the telephones during our busier times of day and to help provide patients with better care and service.

Please find the list of priority groups below.

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme Priority Groups

Residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults
All those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
All those 75 years of age and over
All those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals (not including pregnant women and those under 16 years of age)
All those 65 years of age and over
Adults aged 16 to 65 years in an at-risk group (see clinical conditions below) At the same time as adults under 65 years with long term conditions, the vaccine will also be offered to unpaid adult carers, 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.
All those 60 years of age and over
All those 55 years of age and over
All those 50 years of age and over
All those 40 years of age and over
All those 30 years of age and over
All those 18 years of age and over

Clinical Conditions List

a blood cancer (such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma)
diabetes
dementia
a heart problem
a chest complaint or breathing difficulties, including bronchitis, emphysema or severe asthma
a kidney disease
a liver disease
lowered immunity due to disease or treatment (such as HIV infection, steroid medication, chemotherapy or radiotherapy)
rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or psoriasis (who may require long term immunosuppressive treatments)
have had an organ transplant
had a stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA)
a neurological or muscle wasting condition
a severe or profound learning disability
a problem with your spleen, example sickle cell disease, or you have had your spleen removed
are seriously overweight (BMI of 40 and above)
are severely mentally ill

Further detailed information on priority groups is available in the COVID-19 Priority Groups Green Book, chapter 14a.

Covid Vaccines

Covid Vaccines are being delivered to Primary Care Networks across the country.

The Hambleton Primary Care Network has received a delivery of the vaccine which is to be shared out amongst its 8 practices.

The vaccination programme will be delivered from the Grammar School in Northallerton, NOT from the surgeries.

We will be inviting patients when they’re at least 5 months post their 2nd dose, and will depend on when further deliveries of the vaccine arrive.

Please do not contact the surgery, we will contact you.

Thank you for your patience.

1st, 2nd, 3rd and Booster Doses

1st doses are available for all patients over the age of 12;

2nd doses are available to all patients over the age of 12 who have had a 1st dose at least 8 weeks prior;

3rd doses are only available to patients who are found to be severely immunocompromised (this is not patients who have underlying health conditions, unless they have a condition that puts them at considerable risk, not just high risk), who have had a 2nd dose at least 8 weeks prior.

3rd Dose for Severely Immunocompromised Patients

Severe Immunocompromised Conditions and Treatments

1. Individuals with primary or acquired immunodeficiency states at the time of vaccination due to conditions including:
acute and chronic leukaemia, and clinically aggressive lymphomas (including Hodgkin’s lymphoma) who were under treatment or within 12 months of achieving cure

individuals under follow up for chronic lymphoproliferative disorders including haematological malignancies such as indolent lymphoma, chronic lymphoid leukaemia, myeloma, Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia and other plasma cell dyscrasias (note: this list is not exhaustive)

immunosuppression due to HIV/AIDS with a current CD4 count of <200 cells/µl for adults or children

primary or acquired cellular and combined immune deficiencies – those with lymphopenia (<1,000 lymphocytes/ul) or with a functional lymphocyte disorder

those who had received an allogeneic (cells from a donor) or an autologous (using their own cells) stem cell transplant in the previous 24 months

those who had received a stem cell transplant more than 24 months ago but had ongoing immunosuppression or graft versus host disease (GVHD)

persistent agammaglobulinemia (IgG < 3g/L) due to primary immunodeficiency (for example, common variable immunodeficiency) or secondary to disease/therapy

2. Individuals on immunosuppressive or immunomodulating therapy at the time of vaccination including:
those who were receiving or had received immunosuppressive therapy for a solid organ transplant in the previous 6 months

those who were receiving or had received in the previous 3 months targeted therapy for autoimmune disease, such as JAK inhibitors or biologic immune modulators including B-cell targeted therapies (including rituximab but in this case the recipient would be considered immunosuppressed for a 6-month period), T-cell co-stimulation modulators, monoclonal tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), soluble TNF receptors, interleukin (IL)-6 receptor inhibitors, IL-17 inhibitors, IL 12/23 inhibitors, IL 23 inhibitors (note: this list is not exhaustive)

those who were receiving or had received in the previous 6 months immunosuppressive chemotherapy or radiotherapy for any indication

3. Individuals with chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease who were receiving or had received immunosuppressive therapy prior to vaccination including:
high-dose corticosteroids (equivalent to ≥ 20mg prednisolone per day) for more than 10 days in the previous month

long-term moderate dose corticosteroids (equivalent to ≥10mg prednisolone per day for more than 4 weeks) in the previous 3 months

non-biological oral immune modulating drugs, such as methotrexate >20mg per week (oral and subcutaneous), azathioprine >3.0mg/kg/day, 6-mercaptopurine >1.5mg/kg/day, mycophenolate >1g/day in the previous 3 months

certain combination therapies at individual doses lower than above, including those on ≥7.5mg prednisolone per day in combination with other immunosuppressants (other than hydroxychloroquine or sulfasalazine) and those receiving methotrexate (any dose) with leflunomide in the previous 3 months

4. Individuals who had received high-dose steroids (equivalent to >40mg prednisolone per day for more than a week) for any reason in the month before vaccination.
Individuals who had received brief immunosuppression (≤40mg prednisolone per day) for an acute episode (for example, asthma / COPD / COVID-19) and individuals on replacement corticosteroids for adrenal insufficiency are not considered severely immunosuppressed sufficient to have prevented response to the primary vaccination.

Information was attained from the .gov.uk website regarding the ‘Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice on third primary dose vaccination’ where you can find additional information.

Booster doses are available for all patients aged 12 and over who had their 2nd/ 3rd doses at least 6 months prior.

COVID-19 Patient Information

If you have been invited to have you COVID-19 vaccination, please see our COVID Vaccination Centre – Information about your appointment.

If you would like further information regarding the COVID-19 vaccination, please see the NHS’s COVID-19 Vaccination Guide for Adults.

Public Health England has also produced an Easy Read Leaflet regarding the COVID-19 vaccination.

Have questions on the COVID-19 Vaccination?

Do you have questions regarding the COVID-19 vaccination? If you do they may already have been answered. Please see our COVID-19 FAQs for Patients.

Home Monitoring Pulse Oximetry

The use of a pulse oximeter post discharge due to admission for COVID-19, can help reduce the risk of serious deterioration from post COVID-19 symptoms.

COVID-19 Prevention and Testing

National Lockdown: Stay at Home guidance from the Cabinet Office (Government), on how to reduce the spread of COVID-19 as well as what you can and cannot do.

Please find below links to COVID-19 outbreak management in different languages from North Yorkshire County Council.

Outbreak Management Easy Read – English

NHS App Easy Read – English

Outbreak Management – Arabic

Outbreak Management – Cantonese

Outbreak Management – Nepali

Outbreak Management – Pashto

Outbreak Management – Polish

Outbreak Management – Romanian

Future of the Shielding Programme for the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable

The UK Government has set out a roadmap for the clinically extremely vulnerable on the future of the shielding programme.

Coronavirus (Covid-19): Clinical Trial

In relation to the COVID-19 outbreak. A clinical trial exploring treatment for the COVID-19 virus is taking place. If you experience a continuous cough and/or a high temperature and have had it for less than 14 days.

Find out more about the COVID-19 Clinical Trial here.