Nearly 40% in district have had first jab - now it’s time for second dose
PEOPLE all across Derbyshire are going back for a second helping of acovid-19 vaccine, as the largest vaccination programme in NHS history enters yet another important phase.
In the Derbyshire Dales, 3,122 had been given their first jab as of Sunday, making the district one of the bestperformers in the county, and representing 38.7% of the district’s population immunised.
And health bosses say vaccination teams have been preparing carefully for the next stage, with Gpled vaccination sites among those gearing up to administer second doses as people return to the same place as they had their first dose.
NHS Derby and Derbyshire CCG Executive Medical Director Dr Steve Lloyd, who is the programme senior responsible officer, stressed the importance of delivering second doses to protect individuals and the wider population.
He said: “The second dose of vaccine is critical, as it provides even better protection for longer, and this is key to us all being able to return to a more normal way of life.”
“Firstly it makes it much less likely you become seriously ill from Covid-19. Secondly, new research suggests that this increased protection may potentially reduce transmission of the virus to others.
“People should get this second dose; it’s potentially lifesaving and will help to get us all back to normality.”
“Gp-led sites and the hospital hubs at Royal Derby Hospital and Chesterfield Royal were the first to begin vaccinating back in December, so they will be leading the way with the second doses as well.”
Teams will also once again be heading out to care homes to provide second doses to residents and staff, as well as visiting housebound patients.
Dr Penny Blackwell, a GP at Hannage Brook Medical Centre in the Derbyshire Dales, said: “Our teams, and all those working in the Peaks and Dales, often have to get to some pretty remote places to deliver the vaccines.
“These rural areas really have suffered a lot during the pandemic, with people frightened to go to hospital for fear of Covid-19 and facing hardship ranging from loneliness and depression to delayed treatment for serious illnesses.
“Being able to deliver these second doses is a real privilege as it gets our patients one step closer to returning to their normal lives.”
The district’s MP Sarah Dines has welcomed the latest figures for the Derbyshire Dales.
She said: “The NHS vaccination programme, the biggest in our country’s history, has been a fantastic success story and showcases the very best of collaboration across the entire United Kingdom.
“I would like to thank everyone involved in this enormous effort, without whom, this would not be possible.
“I want to thank Dr Ben Milton, Dr Penny Blackwell and all the NHS staff and volunteers making the vaccination programme in Derbyshire Dales possible.
“It’s great to see that so many people in my constituency have received the vaccine as we lead the world in our fight back against coronavirus.
“We are defeating this virus by the hundreds of thousands of jabs going into people’s arms every day, giving us hope as we look to a route back to normality”.
The second dose of vaccine is critical, as it provides even better protection for longer
Dr Steve Lloyd
THE owners of a wedding venue near Ashbourne say they are appealing to the government for financial support but want to reassure couples that they have no intention of closing down.
Family-run Shottle Hall has moved to reassure brides and grooms that even though the weddings industry is not being offered enough support by the government, the historic venue is not in danger of going bust.
Following the announcement that unlimited weddings will not be allowed until June at the earliest, the company has written to Sarah Dines, MP for Derbyshire Dales, to suggest that the Government should refund the couples who are being forced to cancel their weddings.
But, it says anyone who has booked a wedding at Shottle Hall can be assured that the company is not in danger of collapse.
Shottle Hall’s weddings director, Sarah Farkas, said: “It was wrongly reported that Shottle Hall was struggling financially – this is not the case and we would like to reassure every single one of our brides that no wedding is in any danger.
“Nationally, more than 50 venues have gone into administration in the last 12 months and Shottle Hall is determined not to join this growing list; but the government needs to take action now.
“While pubs and restaurants can hopefully reopen in May, it makes no sense that safelyheld weddings are unable to do the same. Shottle Hall is significantly larger than most hospitality venues and households can be seated together.
“While we completely understand the need for restrictions to be in place in order to protect the nation, it feels – once again - as if the weddings industry is being ignored.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that from April 12, the numbers of guests at wedding receptions will rise from six to 15.
And from May 17, up to 30 will be able to attend weddings and receptions.
It is not until June 21 that the government will make a decision on whether all limits can be removed on numbers at weddings.
Almost all Shottle Hall’s 2020 wedding bookings were moved to dates in 2021, at no extra cost to the couples, although many are now rescheduling for the second or third time due to fears that they will be unable to celebrate with loved ones. Wedding venues have been obliged to refund those couples who decided to cancel, regardless of whether they had wedding insurance or had been offered a different date. Many wedding venues also missed out on government support packages as, until the most recent national lockdown –the third – they were still staging much smaller weddings, causing them to trade at a loss.
Sarah, whose own wedding went ahead in 2020, with a significantly streamlined guest list, added: “We are absolutely devastated for our couples who have been planning their weddings for years and are still unclear whether they will be able to celebrate with their family and friends.
“When I got married, I couldn’t even invite my two of my own bridesmaids, so I do understand how hard these restrictions are.
“We really need the government to support us financially now,” she added.
“If we can’t operate at capacity, and brides and grooms can’t invite all their guests, then we will make a loss and we can’t continue in this way indefinitely.”
It feels like our industry is being ignored when other businesses are being protected
Sarah Farkas
AN “old fool” was talked into bringing drugs to a prison inmate who boasted she could sell it for four times its value to fellow prisoners.
Bricklayer Simon O’rourke arranged over the phone to try to smuggle cocaine to Rebecca Matthews, who was serving a sentence at HMP Foston Hall.
Derby Crown Court heard how during their conversation he said to her “Are you going to sell my sniff, Becky?”, to which she replied: “Why are you talking like that, this is being recorded?”.
The 58-year-old then brought the drug to Derbyshire from his West Midlands home and the pair were caught out.
Handing O’rourke, of Solihull, a 14-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, Judge Shaun Smith said: “As the saying goes ‘there is no fool like an old fool.’
“For reasons best known to you, you were persuaded to do this by her and it all ended in disaster.
“Goodness knows why you got involved in this.”
And jailing Matthews, 27,for 18 months the judge said: “I have absolutely no doubt you were the instigator.”
Sarah Slater, prosecuting said the offence took place on December 2, 2018, at the women-only Derbyshire prison.
She said O’rourke and Matthews, of no fixed address, were talking on the telephone about him coming to see her.
Miss Slater said: “During that conversation he said to her ‘are you going to sell my sniff (cocaine), Becky?’ and she replied saying: ‘Why are you talking like that this is being recorded?.’”
“She then went on to say: ‘I have made a killing here before,’ which the Crown say shows she had sold cocaine at Foston Hall when she was there previously.
“On the day of the visit prison officers noticed he was very fidgety, approached him and took him to one side. “On him was cocaine and a substance we say was bicarbonate or another cutting agent. “It was worth £1,600 because she talks about the value being four times higher inside prison than outside.
For reasons best known to you, you were persuaded to do this and it ended in disaster.
“He was arrested and said he took the drugs to her to cheer her up and in her interview she denied she had encouraged him to bring it in.”
O’rourke pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a class A drug.
Phillip Plant, mitigating, said his client works as a bricklayer and had got involved with
Matthews, who is more than half his age, as he wanted to help her.
He said: “This is an unusual situation, he did something completely out of character.”
As part of the suspended sentence he was ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work.
Matthews, a mother of one, pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to convey a class A substance into prison.
Theresa Hunt, her barrister, said: “She accepts she was the instigator. There was a lack of sophistication, she knew she was being recorded.
“It was the most basic attempt which was doomed to fail.”
Judge Shaun Smith