Axminster patients who received their COVID-19 jab before Christmas will be getting their second vaccination as scheduled, despite national news stories reporting that they may be delayed.

Recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had previously been told there would be a three-week gap between doses, with many already booked in for their second jab.

But the government announced a change to its COVID vaccination strategy this week, saying second doses of the newly-approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer/BioNTech jab would now be given up to 12 weeks after the first dose.

The government said it hoped the approach would free up more doses and mean as many people as possible would soon get their first jab and have some protection against the disease.

Despite the news, Axminster Medical Centre has confirmed that its vaccination clinic on January 7, to deliver the second dose to patients who had their first dose two weeks ago, is going ahead as planned.

A statement from Axminster Medical Centre said: "If you have an appointment for the 7th please make sure you attend as it is vitally important that you have the booster for long-term immunity and if you miss it we will not be able to offer you another appointment.

"The first clinic ran superbly and there were no unexpected failures to attend so thank you for that.

"However, after January 7 we will be booking patients in for a single vaccine and there will be a longer period before receiving an appointment for the booster (probably about 11 weeks). The first jab will provide significant immunity after a period of time but it is still essential that everyone follows the rules appropriate to the tier that we are in.

"On Wednesday an Axminster Medical Practice team went into Silverleigh nursing home and vaccinated every resident and many of the staff. We expect to follow up very soon with the rest of the care homes in our patch.

"There is lots to be positive about. Unfortunately, the situations in our local hospitals in Exeter and Taunton are pretty dire. The Intensive Care Units are full with COVID patients, wards are closed, and large numbers of staff are off sick or isolating.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel with the roll out of the vaccine but if we do not all play our part right now and follow our Tier 3 rules things could get a lot worse before they get better.

"Please look after each other and yourselves. Please only use A&E for true accidents or emergencies. If you can use eConsult, please do, in order to keep the phone lines clear for those who can't.

"We wish you a very happy new year, and in a matter of months we will gladly join in with the celebrations that we can't have tonight."