Image above: Dr Nikki Kanani, Medical Director of Primary Care for the NHS  People aged 70 or older in England who have not yet had their coronavirus vaccine but would like to, are being asked to contact the NHS themselves. Dr Nikki Kanani, Medical Director of Primary Care for the NHS gave a press conference on behalf of the Government on Monday 8 February, urging everyone over 70 to take up the offer. "This weekend we were vaccinating almost 28,000 people every hour" she said. "That means that we were doing everything we can to protect you from this virus and the snow has not stopped us". Chiswick Health Centre is one of 1500 sites all over the country which are now giving vaccinations. In Chiswick GPs are now calling people in their 60s to be vaccinated.

As coronavirus vaccines are being administered across the country, with people receiving invitations to be vaccinated in several different ways now, fraudsters are trying to cash in by targeting residents who are waiting for the call to vaccination. An email is doing the rounds which attempts to trick people into handing over their bank details. It was reported more than 1,000 times in 24 hours on the 25 January. It's meant to look as if it has come from the NHS and asks the recipient to click on a link to accept or decline an invitation to receive the coronavirus vaccine. If they click accept, they are asked to input personal information and their bank card details. People in Chiswick are among those to have received the scam emails. Tony Cardiff from Glebe Estate said on social me

The NHS has launched a new national booking system for appointments for Covid vaccinations. In Chiswick, an email went out to local residents from NHS Hounslow CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) on Monday 18 January about it. The trouble is that GPs received the email at the same time as the public and they are left unclear what now is their role. The email said: 'Letters are now being sent to NW London residents to book a vaccination through the national booking system'. (You may wonder what that has to do with us in Chiswick. It's the first I've heard that I live in north west London. I don't, I live in Chiswick, in west London, but we now come under the umbrella of NW London for all things NHS related). The email explains that letters are now being sent to residents in the

Above: Photograph by Marianne Mahaffey  Train services across the country, including those which service Chiswick, will be reduced by up to 72% of pre-pandemic levels. The changes will come in place gradually over the next few weeks and passengers will be asked to check before they travel whether their regular service is running. The rail industry argues that the timetable cuts will mean a more reliable service for passengers. They put themselves in danger of catching Covid-19 by interacting with the public. A reduced service means fewer rail staff will catch the coronavirus. If they tried to run a full schedule, more staff get sick and the greater the disruption would be to the schedules. A spokesperson for South Western Rail told The Chiswick Calendar: “Our pri

  Images above: Kelly O'Neill; Laura Ellener; Xanthe Arvanitakis LB Hounslow's Director of Public Health, Kelly O'Neill, will be speaking at the Chiswick Area Forum on Tuesday 12 January. The meeting starts at 7.00pm. She will be giving an update on how LB Hounslow is coping with the Covid crisis. Laura Ellener, Head Teacher at Chiswick School  will also be giving her report. The school has recently started Rapid Covid testing of staff and students who are not showing any symptoms of the illness. Staff are teaching children considered vulnerable and the children of key workers on site, while teaching the rest of their students remotely. They are

Image above: Queue for vaccinations mid-morning on Friday 8 January The Covid vaccination programme is being delivered primarily at GP surgeries, with 1,000 GP practices at the forefront of providing jabs to the public. The vaccinations are being offered first to elderly people and those who are clinically vulnerable. The NHS will contact you if you are eligible for vaccination at this stage. Chiswick Health Centre is one of those select locations to offer vaccinations. The centre has had queues of elderly people waiting outside for vaccinations, referred by GPs in the area. The first cohort, over 80, received texts before Christmas and they're now moving on to the over 75s.  Those The Chiswick Calendar has spoken to have received

Chiswick School starts testing programme Staff at Chiswick School have this week started administering coronavirus testing to its staff and students. Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson announced on 15 December that secondary schools would be required to provide mass testing for students from the beginning of the Spring term. They're using the Lateral Flow Tests, the so-called 'Rapid' tests which give a positive or negative result in 30-40 minutes, without having to be processed in a laboratory. The tests are being used in schools to help identify people who have high levels of virus who do not have symptoms and would not otherwise come forward for a test. Rapid Covid testing centres for the general public have also been

Weeks ahead "hardest yet" Boris Johnson has said that the weeks ahead would be the "hardest yet" but he believed the country was entering "the last phase of the struggle". Announcing a national lockdown on Monday 4 January, he said the Government is once again instructing us to stay at home. We are at Alert Level 5, the highest level in the plan announced in May. Level 5 means there is a significant risk that the healthcare services could become overwhelmed, and strict social distancing rules are needed. Boris Johnson's speech in full A Consultant at one of west London's largest hospitals has told The Chiswick Calendar

Image above: Cavendish Primary School; Google Street view The schools were meant to be going back this week (5 January 2021). The majority of children and teenagers in Chiswick will be staying at home. Schools in LB Hounslow, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham are amongst those forced to delay the start of the new term in the latest Covid-19 restrictions announced on Wednesday 30 December by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. See 30 December: Chiswick Schools among those closed to majority of pupils by Covid restrictions At leas

Image above: Windfall Natural, Turnham Green Terrace Many of Chiswick's shops sell goods which in Tier 4 are not considered 'essential' - books and clothes for example. They are not allowed to open for customers to enter the shop while Tier 4 restrictions are in place. You may be surprised though at what is included on the 'essential' list. 'You can leave home to buy things at shops which are permitted to open in your area, but you should stay local. For instance you can leave home to buy food or medicine, or to collect any items - including food or drink - ordered through click-and-collect or as a takeaway, to obtain or deposit money (e.g. from a bank or post office), or to access critical public services'.