Castlefield Community Centre hosts pop-up vaccination clinic
News from NHS Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group
The latest of several pop-up vaccination clinics across Buckinghamshire came to the Wycombe area over the weekend, this time setting up in Castlefield Community Centre to make it easier for members of the local community to get their jab.
The pop-up centre on Sunday (11 April) gave 81 jabs to those who attended. The clinic was operated by local GPs with support from organisations including Wycombe Mosque, Wycombe Islamic Society (WISE), Karima, MEC and Jamia Rehmania.
The clinic follows others held in recent weeks, at the Wycombe Islamic Centre – which was aimed at residents in the Micklefield, Bowerdean and Totteridge areas – and before that at Wycombe’s Jubilee Road Mosque. A pop-up clinic has also operated at the Aylesbury Mosque, and more are planned in Bucks for the future.
Pop-up clinics aim to encourage greater uptake of vaccinations with the support of trusted local figures. They also offer a more convenient location to be vaccinated for many people, alongside the nine GP-led vaccination sites across Bucks, one national vaccination site in Aylesbury, and eight pharmacy-led sites in the county.
Dr Sajid Zaib, Clinical Lead for the Stoke Mandeville Stadium Vaccination Centre and GP at Oakfield Surgery in Aylesbury, is one of the GPs running these pop-up clinics. He said: “The success of these clinics highlights how important it is to go into the community to reach people who still need to be vaccinated. Making the location and environment comfortable for people who may have some hesitation about getting the vaccine can make a real difference, and we have had great engagement with these patients.
“To date we have attracted people with very diverse backgrounds at these clinics, including members of the Philippinian, Sri Lankan, African, Turkish, Arab, Indian and Pakistani British communities.
“Having female vaccinators available to give jabs in a culturally comfortable, familiar environment has also helped to give a positive experience to female members of the community who may prefer this. I would like to thank all our colleagues and partners in the community who have given their tremendous support and cooperation to make these clinics such a success and I would encourage all members of the community to come forward and have their jab when called.”
GPs from across the county were actively involved in arranging and running this initiative together with Dean Elliot, Group Commander for Resourcing and Projects from Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service who are supporting the vaccine roll-out.
Dr Raj Bajwa, Chair of NHS Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “This health initiative continues to be a fantastic example of collaboration between our local communities and the GPs and healthcare professionals who serve them.
“We would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make these clinics happen and we look forward to continuing to work with local communities across Buckinghamshire as the vaccination rollout progresses.”