You can book a vaccination online through the National Booking Service at http://nhs.uk, by calling 119, or by speaking to your local GP practice.

If you are in a priority group and have not been offered a Covid-19 vaccination appointment yet, please do not worry – the NHS will offer you one soon.

The NHS will continue to contact people directly to invite them to receive the vaccine when it is their turn. This may be via the phone, text message or letter from a Croydon GP practice.

Please note that these letters will not give you a specific appointment time, they will provide a number for you to ring in order to book your slot, so there is no danger of you missing out on a vaccination appointment if your post has been delayed.

The NHS is working flat out to offer the vaccine as quickly and safely as they can. But the they need our help and support to get everyone vaccinated as quickly as possible.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked St John Ambulance to support its mass vaccination programme.

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, St John’s highly skilled volunteers have already given hundreds of thousands of hours of their time, supporting the NHS in caring for patients on board ambulances, in hospitals and as part of vital community projects, such as this year’s seasonal flu vaccinations.

All of that work continues, and the charity has now been tasked with training thousands of volunteers ready to administer COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as they are available.

Between now and spring 2021, they have plans to train more than 30,000 volunteers. Using their longstanding expertise, they will empower people like you to deliver these vital jabs and take care of people before and after they receive them.

There are 3 roles specific to the vaccination programme:

• Volunteer Vaccinator
• Vaccination Care Volunteer
• Volunteer Patient Advocate

Some people, specifically the Volunteer Vaccinators, will be able to give vaccinations, but others are there to support people as they go through the process of having the flu or COVID-19 vaccination.

To find out more about becoming a Volunteer Vaccinator, please click here.

Due to the increase in cases of Covid-19, the coronavirus level has been raised to five, which means that the epidemic is in general circulation, transmission is high or rising exponentially and there is a risk of healthcare services being overwhelmed.

Therefore, we will now be entering a new national lockdown in order to slow the infection rate.

The main advice is to stay at home. The single most important action we can all take is to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

You must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary.

You may leave the home to:

• shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person
• go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home
• exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, this should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.
• meet your support bubble or childcare bubble where necessary, but only if you are legally permitted to form one
• seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (including domestic abuse)
• attend education or childcare – for those eligible

Colleges, primary and secondary schools will remain open only for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. All other children will learn remotely until February half term. Early Years settings remain open.

Higher Education provision will remain online until mid February for all except future critical worker courses.

Those who are judged to be clinically vulnerable are being urged to stay at home as much as possible and not go to work even if they can’t work from home.

You cannot leave your home to meet socially with anyone you do not live with or are not in a support bubble with (if you are legally permitted to form one).

The law will be updated to reflect these new rules. The police can take action against you if you leave home without a ‘reasonable excuse’, and issue you with a fine (Fixed Penalty Notice).You can be given a Fixed Penalty Notice of £200 for the first offence, doubling for further offences up to a maximum of £6,400.

Although the NHS is under immense pressure, significant changes have been made so people can still receive lifesaving treatment. It is absolutely critical that people still come forward for emergency care.

If you require non-urgent medical attention, please contact your GP, call NHS 111 or visit the NHS 111 website.

Help reduce the spread of Covid-19 by celebrating New Year safely at home.

Every action counts when it comes to protecting ourselves and our loved ones from coronavirus.

For more advice: http://gov.uk/coronavirus

To help us reach patients who need us as quickly as we can, we are asking the public to support us by only calling 999 for life-threatening emergencies.

For urgent medical advice when it’s not an emergency, please go to NHS111 online first, by going to www.111.nhs.uk

You can also support us and the wider NHS by observing the coronavirus rules and remembering: Hands, Face, Space.

London is in Tier 4 which means you should stay at home as much as possible. If you need to leave home – for food, medical reasons, exercise or work please remember to wear a face covering and make space from others.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to all our staff and volunteers who are going above and beyond to care for Londoners in need.