South Shropshire MP welcomes vaccine milestone

South Shropshire MP Philip Dunne has welcomed the UK reaching a significant milestone in the national vaccination programme – administering a total of 15 million vaccinations to the most vulnerable across the UK.

In Shropshire, the vaccine programme is now offering vaccinations to those in Priority Group 5, (those aged 65-69 or clinically vulnerable people). Letters inviting people in this age group to make appointments via the national booking service started to be sent out last week.

Mr Dunne said: “It is brilliant news that the UK has now administered the covid-19 vaccine to over 15 million people, helping to keep safe those in the most vulnerable groups. I offer my thanks again to everyone involved in the rollout, both here in South Shropshire and across the country.

"The Prime Minister has confirmed he will be setting out more details on 22nd February about how restrictions will start to be lifted. We will need to be cautious – allowing the virus to spread freely among even healthy adults increases the chance of new vaccine immune variants. But progress in vaccinating the vulnerable combined with falling cases is reason to look optimistically to the future.”

Mr Dunne visited the Vaccination Centre at Ludlow Racecourse on Saturday to thank all the staff and volunteers, working there through the snow on Saturday.  

He added: “There is a tremendous sense of community spirit helping sustain NHS staff and all the volunteers who are helping sustain this mammoth effort. We have achieved as a county and a nation a really important milestone, but there is much more still to do. I wanted to thank those in person for the efforts they are making to keep us safe.”