Home About Us Patients Your Visit Services ELHT&Me Charity Working for Us Research News and media COVID-19 Vaccinations Covid vaccinations in Lancashire and South Cumbria You will all be aware of the exciting news around the development of vaccines that are now being offered. The NHS locally, regionally and nationally are leading this work, but with significant support from Lancashire County Council, Cumbria County Council, our district councils, the military, police and many more. While there is a lot of media coverage about the vaccine and how it will be delivered, it is important to remember we are still at a very early stage. It is likely that the plans will continue to evolve as we know more about the vaccine and the timescales – but there is a team of people from a range of organisations across the county who are working to ensure we are ready. Key facts: Vaccines reduce the spread of infectious diseases and even get rid of some altogether. Since they were introduced, serious conditions like polio and tetanus have become very rare in the UK. Vaccination is the most important thing you can do to protect your community against serious illnesses. When enough people get vaccinated, it’s harder for a disease to spread to those who can’t have vaccines. Vaccines are a crucial part of our defence against infectious diseases like flu and measles. Getting vaccinated protects not only you but also your family, friends and community. Vaccines are the best way to protect children from serious infectious diseases like measles, mumps and rubella. All vaccines are tested and monitored to make sure they are safe for your child. Vaccines go through several stages of lab tests and clinical trials before they can be approved for use. Regulators review the results of these trials to check whether a vaccine meets the required levels of safety and effectiveness. After any vaccine is licensed for use in the UK, it is monitored by the @MHRAgovuk. This is an important part of making sure vaccines continue to meet safety standards on an ongoing basis. Vaccines are designed to prevent people from getting serious infectious diseases. It is much safer for your immune system to learn how to fight illnesses through vaccination than by catching and treating them. Watch Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam explain in detail why vaccines are the most effective way of preventing people from getting serious infectious diseases: You can learn more about how vaccines are safe and important here. "People shouldn't be worried that we're going too quickly." Scientists leading the development of a COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Oxford explain how they assess safety at each stage of the process. Watch in full: Frequently asked questions Useful documents Click here to download the PDF Click here to download the PDF Click here to download the PDF Click here to download the PDF Easy read documents Click here to download the PDF Click here to download the PDF Click here to download the PDF Click here to download the PDF Was this page helpful? Our Accessibility Statement View our current vacancies and read about working with us Read about our Media service and Communications Team Click here to Contact Us Show accessibility tools