The Beaumont Practice

26/08/2021

The eligibility criteria for antibody testing has widened and everybody over the age of 18 will be offered the opportunity to opt-in to antibody testing when registering for a PCR test via GOV.UK. Randomly selected individuals, out of those who opt in and subsequently test positive for COVID-19 following a PCR test, will be sent two finger prick antibody tests to complete at home and send to labs for analysis. The first antibody test will be taken immediately after testing positive, and the second test will be taken 28 days after testing positive. Individuals will receive their antibody test results directly and the results will be linked to GP records.

19/08/2021

From 1 September 2021, GPs will offer the non-live shingles vaccine Shingrix® to all those who are eligible for shingles vaccination but are clinically contraindicated to receive the live vaccine Zostavax® due to their immunocompromised status. This is based on the recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). 2 In line with the current requirements of the shingles programme, the vaccine will be offered via a proactive call to those becoming eligible at 70 years old and will be offered opportunistically or if requested for those over 70 years until the age of 80.

05/11/2020