COVID-19 vaccinations latest news 📣 (and join 'Building Vaccine Confidence' Q&A at 6:30pm tonight!)

STOP PRESS: COVID VACCINATION Q&A chaired by our Council leader at 6:30pm tonight!

We appreciate that there has been lots of information to digest over the past few days around COVID-19, including the extension to many of the restrictions, more information here.

We also wonder if anyone reading this has yet to get their vaccination, for whatever reason. Please scroll down to see the latest on how you can get your priority 1st and 2nd jabs as a Carer in Sutton and the support that is available to you.

We'd also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who got involved in National Carers Week to 'make caring visible and valued'. We missed seeing many of you in person, including those of you unable to participate due to busy caring roles. We will be back soon with a round-up of the week including the many pledges made for the coming year.

Please also visit our website, Twitter, or Facebook page for upcoming events in the meantime.

Carers your time is now! Please do call us on 020 8296 5611 or email us on communications@suttoncarerscentre.org if you have yet to get your vaccination.

We know that a lot of Carers find it hard to take the time to look after their own health. So we want to remind you that we can help fast-track you for a COVID-19 vaccination, one that fits into your caring schedule.

Please see below for the full guidance on how to access the appropriate COVID-19 vaccination and the support that we can offer you as a Carer if you are aged 16 and above.

1. If you are over 40, then you can walk into the St Nicholas Shopping Centre and receive your first or second dose of Oxford-AZ (if you had your first before mid-April 2021). The walk-in clinic is open from 8am until 7:45pm (new extended hours!) every day until Sunday (20th June). Further information can be found on the poster below.

If the queues are too long to fit around your caring, then please let us know and we will arrange a time slot by appointment, one that is more suitable for you.

2. If you are under 40, then you need an alternative to the Oxford- AZ. We can help book an appointment time for you to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech or other medically-approved vaccine for your age group. These are available from this weekend, 19th June, 2021. Priority will be given to people needing a first dose, but we also may be able to book second doses as well, if 8 weeks have elapsed since your first jab.

Just because you haven't seen it advertised, it doesn't mean that it is unavailable.

Please remember that you are eligible as a Carer from age 16 to receive this.

If anything is getting in the way of you getting your jabs, such as finding covering care or arranging transport, then please let us know, so that we can support you.

3. If you are worried about receiving the vaccine or need more information, then please call us on 020 8296 5611. We are an independent charity, but we can facilitate a discussion with a medical professional, giving you the opportunity to ask any vaccine-related questions you may have.

DON'T MISS - Building Vaccine Confidence Q&A event tonight!

If you haven't yet made your mind up in regards to receiving the vaccine, then please join the Building Vaccine Confidence with African and Caribbean Communities Q&A at 6:30pm tonight. Even though this event is targeted at Black African and Black Caribbean Communities in Sutton, everyone is welcome to join. Find out more about this event by clicking here.

You can book your place for this free event here, and please note that spaces are limited. You can also submit a question to the panel here. All questions asked are kept anonymous.

We aim to secure a summary of the event to share with anyone who misses it.

We respect everyone's individual right to choose if they have a vaccine or not...however the recommendation of our medical colleagues in Sutton is clear: everyone who is able to receive the vaccine should take it.

Contact Sutton Carers Centre on 020 8296 5611, 10am – 5pm Monday to Friday, until 8pm on Tuesday evenings, and from 11am – 1pm on the second Saturday of each month, or email us on enquiries@suttoncarerscentre.org, youngcarers@suttoncarerscentre.org, or for Covid-related queries above, communications@suttoncarerscentre.org.

You also can get extensive information from the London Borough of Sutton website here, including information about COVID-19 tests, with or without symptoms. It also has information if you feel unsafe from domestic abuse or if you have concerns about the safety of a vulnerable adult or child.

Your NHS is still here for you, too - so, as always, if you have any concerns about your health, please contact your GP, or in any emergency, please call 999.

For copies of this newsletter, our 8 - 13 and 14+ Sutton Young Carers News, as well as previous editions then please visit our website here.