With vaccination now available to all adults in Stoke-on-Trent, all generations are being urged to pull together to make COVID ‘history’.
Dr Paddy Hannigan, Clinical Lead for the vaccination programme in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent said: “This is the time for people of all generations to have a conversation about why it’s important that all adults get vaccinated.
“Families need to be talking to each other. Neighbours, work colleagues and teachers and lecturers can all play a part.
“Young adults have a crucial part to play, and we’ve already seen a promising number of younger people at the pop-up vaccination clinics we’ve held at our universities and in Leek.”
As part of the work to reassure that vaccination is both safe and necessary, a list of some commonly asked questions from young people have been put to Dr Zirva Khan, who is a GP in Stoke-on-Trent.
Watch the short videos here:
In these short videos, Zirva considers:
- How do we know the vaccines are safe?
- Should we be worried about side effects?
- What are the risks for younger people?
- Why is COVID a greater risk than the flu?
- Can you still catch COVID after being vaccinated?
- Can I do my own research about vaccine safety?
- Do I really need two doses?
Dr Khan said: “We need to be having these conversations with younger people in our communities to talk about coronavirus and vaccinations. I know many of them have concerns, so I want to make sure they feel comfortable to ask questions.”
Dr Hannigan added: “The vaccination programme has been a huge success and we are offering people the most appropriate vaccine based on their age group. But we’re not protected until everyone is protected, so we need to keep vaccine take-up as high as possible.”
Anybody aged 18 or over can now book their vaccine via the national portal or by calling 119.
(reproduced from Together We’re Better, Stoke and Staffs)