First Covid-19 vaccination in Shropshire administered
The first Covid-19 vaccination to be given in Shropshire was administered at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital today.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust was selected as one of the first 50 ‘hospital hubs’ in the country for the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
The phased programme will see patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient, and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay, among the first to receive the life-saving jab.
Care home providers are also being asked by the Department of Health and Social Care to begin booking staff in to vaccination clinics. GPs are also expected to be able to begin vaccinating care home residents.
Any appointments not used for these groups will be used for healthcare workers who are at highest risk of serious illness from Covid-19.
Here is the first vulnerable person in Shropshire to receive the @pfizer @BioNTech_Group vaccine. The eagle has landed. (Consent was given for the picture). I am feeling quite emotional. @sathNHS pic.twitter.com/Ak278j3TXl https://twitter.com/ArneRoseBFG/status/1336301827751616512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Remarkable achievement
NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens praised all those involved in delivering the new vaccine programme.
“Less than a year after the first case of this new disease was diagnosed, the NHS has now delivered the first clinically approved Covid-19 vaccination – that is a remarkable achievement,” Stevens said.
“A heartfelt thank you goes to everyone who has made this a reality – the scientists and doctors who worked tirelessly, and the volunteers who selflessly took part in the trials. They have achieved in months what normally takes years.
"My colleagues across the health service are rightly proud of this historic moment as we lead in deploying the PfizerBioNTech vaccine.
“Today is just the first step in the largest vaccination programme this country has ever seen. It will take some months to complete the work as more vaccine supplies become available and until then we must not drop our guard. But if we all stay vigilant in the weeks and months ahead, we will be able to look back at this as a decisive turning point in the battle against the virus.”
Logistical challenge
The life-saving vaccine is typically delivered by a simple injection in the shoulder but there is a complex and difficult logistical challenge to deliver from the manufacturers Pfizer to patients.
It needs to be stored at -70C before being thawed out and can only be moved four times within that cold chain before being used.
All those vaccinated will need a booster jab 21 days later.
Largest ever vaccination programme
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We will look back on today, V-day, as a key moment in our fight back against this terrible disease, and I am proud our health services across the United Kingdom are about to embark on our largest ever vaccination programme.
“With over-80s and frontline health and care staff receiving their vaccinations from today, the whole country will breathe a collective sigh of relief as our most vulnerable loved ones start to be given protection from the virus. Now’s the time to sit tight and remain patient until you get notified by the NHS that it’s time for your vaccination. Until then, protect yourselves and the NHS by continuing to follow local restrictions. We can see light at the end of the tunnel but still have a long way to go.
“As a UK government, we have ensured the four nations will have enough doses of the vaccine to protect those across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland too. I want to congratulate each health service for their contribution to this momentous occasion.”
