Coronavirus: Vaccines Update – Friday 22 January

NHS teams have been working hard over the last month to deliver the vaccines in our hospital hubs, local GP-led services and care homes, at the same time as providing care to all those who need it and the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

We have been reassured by our NHS colleagues that, by the middle of February, the vaccine will have been delivered to the first four top priority groups, which are residents in care homes, over 70s, health and care workers and the clinically extremely vulnerable people across Shropshire.

Thousands more people will receive their vaccinations when two new centres open in Shrewsbury and Ludlow in early February. A third centre in north Shropshire will also be open by mid-February. We welcome the news of further rollout through all our primary care networks to local GP practices across the county, increasing the access to our residents in their communities.

The council are working closely with our local NHS colleagues and other key organisations to support the NHS delivery of the vaccine. Our customer contact centre have made over 5,000 calls to frontline health workers and local residents to help book their vaccination appointments. The council is also offering additional support to ensure the programme is delivered locally, including helping people with transport to the vaccination centre where that is needed, delivering the IT infrastructure to the centres, project support, liaising with care home teams and volunteer recruitment.