CORONAVIRUS vaccines are set to go ahead as scheduled despite recent government advice.

The second Covid-19 vaccinations for those who had their first jab in December are set to go ahead on Wednesday, January 6 following the latest medical advice that these appointments should be rescheduled. Chief medical officers in the UK have advised that the second dose of the vaccine remains effective when given up to 12 weeks after the first dose, and therefore should be given towards the end of this 12 week period.

Patients booked into the vaccination clinic on January 6 should attend as arranged.

Bridport Medical Centre was chosen as the surgery to administer the vaccinations for the Jurassic Coast Primary Care Network (PCN).

The Jurassic Coast Clinical Directors, together with the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have agreed that the clinic should go ahead as planned, citing the difficulties of rearranging appointments for close to 1,000 patients booked in on January 6.

A spokesman for Bridport Medical Centre said: "Logistically, at such a late stage, it would be impossible to rearrange the appointments for the 975 patients booked on January 6. Our Jurassic Coast Clinical Directors, together with Dorset CCG have agreed that this clinic should go ahead, as planned.

"Patients should be reassured that there are no safety concerns in the new guidance, and it will not impact on how effective the vaccination is in protecting patients from Covid-19 once the course is complete.

"We await further guidance on the next stages of the vaccine programme, particularly following the extremely good news that the AstraZeneca (Oxford) vaccine has been approved for use. This vaccine should be far easier to manage and administer in Primary Care."

They added: "Patients booked for their second vaccine do not need to call us. We will contact patients to reschedule their second vaccine appointment."

For more information, visit Bridport Medical Centre's Facebook page.