Bad weather predicted tomorrow – drive through flu clinics will be closed

Drive through clinics for the flu vaccination in Edinburgh will be closed tomorrow 3 October 2020 in response to a severe weather alert issued by the Met Office.

A warning for heavy downpours has been put in place for the region, during which the forecasting service says flooding and travel disruption is likely.

In view of this, The Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership has taken the decision to temporarily pause drive through vaccination clinics, which operate outdoors.

A spokesperson for the Partnership said: “Keeping the people of Edinburgh safe and healthy is our priority, and we feel it is the right step to close our drive through clinics when a spell of such severe weather is expected to hit the City.

“While our clinics do not require patients to leave the car, they do involve our nurses and front line workers administering the flu vaccine outdoors. We need to ensure their safety and wellbeing should heavy downpours and flooding occur, as indicated by the severe weather warning, and we want to avoid encouraging our patients to make unnecessary travel during extreme road conditions.

“This is, of course, a temporary step and we’ll re-open centres as soon as it is safe to do so. Our plan is for all centres to be operating again on Sunday.”

Walk through clinics scheduled for Saturday will operate as planned and information is available through the NHS Inform website. Residents are also advised to monitor the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership’s social media channels for the latest updates.