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We have listened to feedback from people across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire telling us that some communities want to have their COVID-19 vaccination in a trusted environment they are familiar with. As a result we are running some vaccination clinics in locations such as local community centres, mosques, churches and temples.
These mobile vaccination clinics are being run in addition to our wider vaccination programme across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire and are usually run by staff from local GP surgeries.
If you have been invited to receive your vaccine at your GP’s regular vaccination clinic or asked to book an appointment at a community pharmacy or the Ashton Gate Vaccination Centre via the national booking system, please do your best to attend one of these sites. This will allow the limited appointments at our mobile mobile vaccination clinics to be made available to those who need them most. You can find more information about other vaccination sites here.
Booking for these mobile clinics is being managed by local communities, rather than through the national booking service or GP services.
For more information or you have any questions about a specific community clinic please email bnssg.communications@nhs.net.
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Community leader videos
Community leaders who recently had their Covid-19 vaccinations at Eastville medical centre talk about their reasons for choosing to have the Covid-19 vaccine
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Sandra Meadows MBE, Chief Executive of Voscur
Bishop Raymond Veira, Pastor at The House of Praise
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Rashid and Tehseen Majothi, Family run business owners – Bristol Sweetmart
Bishop Dexter Edmund, Senior Pastor at Bethel Church, Bristol
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Malcom Haynes, Landlord of Star & Garter Public House
Mohammed Elsharif, Community Development Manager, Bristol
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Feedback from health care professionals
Many health care professionals from across our region are involved in the set up and running of the mobile vaccination clinics.
See what some of them have said about being involved in this programme:
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Dr Huzaifa Adamali – Respiratory Consultant at Southmead Hospital. Dr Adamali has worked on the frontline with grassroots BAME communities during the pandemic and sits on the Bristol COVID-19 Pandemic Board.
“The current pandemic has been challenging and we have lost so many: family, friends, neighbours….our communities have been shaken up. Now we have an option to prevent the transmission of the virus and becoming seriously unwell. I would recommend that we take the COVID19 vaccination. We want to return to our old lives where we can congregate and pray and celebrate our religious festivals. Let’s get ready for Easter and Ramadan and ensure we have done our bit to protect ourselves, family and love ones”
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Dr Caroline Crentsil – Salaried GP at The Orchard Medical Centre, Kingswood, and Lead GP at The Haven, Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Service, Montpelier. Dr Crentsil is also commencing a population health fellowship with BNSSG, working to reduce health inequalities.
“As a GP working in 2 different roles I have seen the devastating impact of coronavirus across multiple communities; loved ones lost before their time, and also otherwise healthy people struggling to return to normality due to symptoms of long-COVID. The COVID-19 vaccines offer the hope of an end to all the loss and I’m grateful that vaccination is being made more accessible to everyone via these community clinics. Alongside the clinics we are also providing opportunities to have your questions about the vaccine answered so that everyone can access the information they need to make an informed decision.”
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Dr Seema Srivastava – Consultant Medicine for Older People, Associate Medical Director at Southmead Hospital. Dr Srivastava works in the Emergency Zone at Southmead Hospital looking after older patients. She also leads the safety and quality improvement (QI) programme across the Trust and was awarded an MBE in the 2018 Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for her services to the NHS in Patient Safety.
“I have seen some of the most unwell patients during the COVID pandemic. Taking the vaccine is so important to stop people of any age getting really unwell or passing serious infection to others. I am really pleased we can bring the vaccine closer to our local communities and proud to be helping in the community clinics.”
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Sahra Adan, Amran Hussein and Mohamed Elmi are 3 of the many local Bristol North Somerset South Gloucestershire Health Link Workers providing face to face, telephone and video call interpreting, as well as advocacy, signposting and referrals for people who have difficulty in accessing health services due to language and cultural barriers.
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Sahra Adan
“The Coronavirus situation put us in a place that no one could predict what tomorrow may look like and our whole future was uncertain. Fortunately there is a light at the end of the tunnel because our medical experts have worked, and continue working, incredibly hard to produce those reliable vaccines to protect us from this nasty disease.
“I am so glad that I am doing my bit by encouraging people to take the vaccination and look forward to taking part in community vaccination clinics, working with different communities and health professionals who have always been on the frontline to serve the communities”
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Amran Hussein
“As a Health Link Worker taking part in the Covid-19 vaccination pop-up clinic for BAME is a great opportunity to address the issue of reduced uptake for the vaccine in BAME communities. The outcomes of the clinics are very encouraging and positive.
“I’ve been working with the community for the past 15 years providing reassurance to support people through their health journeys, enabling them to get answers to all their questions. It’s very fulfilling and rewarding to play a vital role and a physical presence in communities with language barriers to encourage uptake of the vaccination. Once people have had their vaccine, it’s great to see them calling their family and friends to come along and have their vaccine too”
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Mohamed Elmi
“You only realise the severity of a calamity when it comes closer to your door. The impact has struck me especially on witnessing its victims from close friends, acquaintances and members of my extended family. In particular seemingly healthy people who have passed away. It has proved to be a fatal and serious disease depriving the lives and wellbeing of the society.
“So we need to continue to strive to raise the awareness in our communities for their own safety and that of the public at large. It is pleasing recently to experience more and more of my clients approaching me for support as they are eager to get vaccinated. It is very helpful that vaccination clinics are being brought to the communities’ settings and I believe this will further encourage uptake”
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Dr Suhail Asghar works in NHS Blood and Transplant in Bristol. He is chairman of 1st Bristol Muslim scouts group and a trustee of Shahporan Islamic centre Southmead, a registered charity working for BAME and Muslim communities
“We all have suffered a lot during last 16 months. We have lost friends and many people from BAME community are affected with significant COVID-19 symptoms. There is a hope for us to protect ourselves and our families to take COVID-19 vaccine. We are fortunate that our government is offering free vaccine to any adult above 18 years of age. Once we have COVID-19 vaccines in a significant numbers in our community, risk of transmission will automatically decrease and our normal activities can resume sooner. Please do not miss a change to have vaccine as soon as it is offered to you.”
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Clemence Neelankavil is a Clinical Endoscopist in North Bristol NHS Trust. He has lived in Bristol for 20 years and over that time has been involved in charitable activities providing events and sports to benefit the Asian community. He is media lead for a charitable organisation in Birmingham and during the Covid pandemic worked tirelessly to help both the Asian and English communities. At present he is doing Ministries all around the world through different media platforms.
“Working in a hospital set up for the last 25 years and facing few pandemics, I reassure you that it is the health education and support which beats these challenges. This is why I have decided to work tirelessly on this project. Immunization is the process whereby a person is made resistant to an infectious disease, typically usually by the administration of a vaccine. The agent in a vaccine stimulates the body’s immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and “remember” it. In this way, the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms it encounters in the future. Immunization has proven to be successful. Scientists have made remarkable achievements, spending days and nights, and it is our turn to support them and the world. Unless our whole World gets vaccinated it is never going to be safe place to live. We are sharing our valuable time to support you – please be part of it. Prevent transmission – Prevent death”