Many people rely on an unpaid carer, and would not be able to cope if their carer caught the flu and was too ill to look after them. There is also a risk that if the carer is not vaccinated then they could risk passing the virus on to the person that they care for, which could lead to them becoming seriously ill.

Last year almost 300 people in Shetland were identified as being eligible for the flu vaccine specifically because they were carers and just over half received the vaccine.

This year, due to coronavirus, flu clinics are running differently to previous years. Please contact your own health centre to book your flu vaccine appointment and to find out about the procedures which are being put in place for your own safety.

Shetland has always had one of the highest uptake of flu vaccinations for unpaid carers amongst the Scottish Health Boards. Here at Shetland Carers, we would like to ensure that this continues to be the case so if you are an unpaid carer, please make sure you consider having the flu vaccination.

Contact numbers for Shetland's Health Centres are as follows:

Unst Health Centre 01957 711318

Yell Health Centre 01957 702127

Hillswick Health Centre 01806 503277

Brae Health Centre 01806 522543

Whalsay Health Centre 01806 566219

Bixter Health Centre 01595 810202

Walls Health Centre 01595 809352

Lerwick Health Centre 01595 693201

Scalloway Health Centre 01595 880219

Levenwick Health Centre 01950 461222