Vaccination clinics expanded to offer thousands of booster appointments
Charing Cross, Hammersmith and St Mary's hospitals have joined other hospitals, GPs and pharmacies in north west London to respond to the urgent need to offer all adults the Covid booster vaccine following the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
We have opened our vaccination centres to the public and extended our operating hours - adding thousands of appointment slots into the national booking system and also offering walk-in capacity each day at all three vaccine sites.
Imperial College Healthcare chief executive Professor Tim Orchard said: "We know that community spread of the Omicron variant has been extremely rapid in London, with a doubling time of two days, and it is now the dominant variant. It is also clear that two doses of vaccine do not prevent spread as well as it does for the other variants. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccines will not continue to reduce severe disease significantly and there is increasing confidence that the booster vaccine provides a very good level of protection against both infection and serious disease. In short, making sure that all adults can get this additional protection is the single most important response we can make to the threat of Omicron."
For information on where to get your jab, how to book and where walk-in jabs may be available, visit the North West London Clinical Commissioning Group website or find more information about our clinics on our website here. Please note that the best way to guarantee your jab is to book in advance, as walk-in vaccination will depend on availability.
To accommodate this huge push to vaccinate the adult population of north west London, some non-urgent outpatient appointments are having to be rescheduled but we are continuing to see everyone who has, or may have, time-critical needs or conditions, including cancer. You will hear directly from us if your appointment has had to be postponed - if you don't hear anything, please come in for your appointment. Our A&E departments and maternity services are running as normal.
In order to protect patients and NHS staff, social distancing and face coverings continue to be essential in all NHS buildings and vaccination centres.
