Lewisham residents over 18 encouraged to get vaccinated amid a rise in Covid-19 cases

As the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 increases in London, everyone over 18 is being encouraged to get the vaccination.

NHS teams will be visiting areas in New Cross, Deptford and Brockley from today and residents will be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine in their neighbourhood in a mobile NHS vaccination unit.

Working closely with the NHS South East London CCG, Lewisham Council is rolling out an outreach programme with trained teams visiting residents door-to-door across Lewisham to talk about the risk of Covid-19, discuss the vaccination and support local people with public health information.

Letters will also be delivered to households and local residents will be invited to attend walk-in clinics nearby at:

• Waldron Health Centre – every Saturday, 9am – 1pm and 2pm – 6pm.
• Lockyers Pharmacy, Evelyn Street, SE8 5BZ – various dates and times through July with weekday evenings and weekend clinics available.
• Lewis Grove Pharmacy, Lewisham, SE13 6BG – various dates and times through July with weekday evenings and weekend clinics available.

On Saturday July 17, community champions will be available at Fordham Park Community fun day from 12pm until 6pm to answer questions.

Street art will lead from the park to the walk-in clinic at the Waldron Health Centre.

The outreach teams will also be handing out rapid test kits to encourage everyone to continue taking regular Covid-19 tests.

Residents are encouraged to continue to get a rapid test twice a week to help stop the spread and protect everyone in the community, even if you’ve had the vaccination.

Dr Catherine Mbema, Director of Public Health for Lewisham, said: “We’re doing everything we can to make it as easy and convenient as possible for residents to get the Covid-19 vaccination and ask questions of health professionals.

“In the last week, we’ve boosted the number of vaccination clinics in Lewisham with 13 venues now offering walk-in clinics, many of which open during evenings and weekends.

“More people are testing positive for Covid-19, driven by the Delta variant so we’re asking everyone in Lewisham to get vaccinated and to make sure they get both doses, which gives much greater protection against the Delta variant.”

Young people across Lewisham are also invited to join @LewishamYoungMayor for an Instagram Live event on Thursday July 8 at 6.30pm on anxiety, vaccinations and emotional wellbeing.

It will be a chance to find out what’s happening in Lewisham and have a say on local health issues.

Jacob Sakil, member of the National Youth Justice Board and former Young Mayor for Lewisham, and local GP Dr Chris Ferdinand will host the discussion.

Everyone aged 18 and over can get vaccinated – book via www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or call 119, free of charge.