Vaccine roll-out for county will start in town tomorrow

CORONAVIRUS vaccination centres will be set up in two Derbyshire towns this week, it has been confirmed.

Derbyshire GPs will begin vaccinating their first patients against Covid-19 at medical sites in Dronfield and Ripley.

Dronfield’s Stubley Medical Centre will conduct its first vaccinations tomorrow morning, followed by Church Farm Primary Care Centre in Ripley on Saturday.

The primary care vaccination sites are expected to be the first of their kind in Derbyshire to begin using the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine.

Stubley Medical Centre is one of 11 GP practices managed by Chesterfield and Dronfield Primary Care Network in north-east Derbyshire.

The Network’s clinical lead, Dr Miles Davidson, is a senior partner there, and said the first vaccinations represented a turning point for people in the county.

He said: “I’m delighted that we are able to begin delivering Covid-19 vaccinations at a local level.

“General practice has the expertise to deliver mass vaccination in the UK. This is a watershed moment in our efforts to protect patients from this virus.”

He added that the primary care network team and community health colleagues across the area had “risen to the challenge of preparing to deliver the vaccine, and I can’t speak highly enough of all the work they have put in”. The announcement follows the initial launch of vaccinations at the Royal Derby Hospital and Chesterfield Royal Hospital last week.

Under the first phase of the roll-out, vaccines will initially be provided for over-80s, as well as vulnerable care home workers and residents.

Those requiring a vaccination have been asked to wait until they are contacted and told they do not need to visit or contact their GP to get on the waiting list.

The thoughts of Dr Davidson were echoed by Dr Andrew Mott, clinical director of Alfreton, Ripley, Crich and Heanor Primary Care Network, which works across nine GP practices in central Derbyshire.

He said: “Our teams in all our GP practices across the PCN have worked incredibly hard to get this site ready to begin vaccinations.

“Just like our colleagues across the whole NHS, they have been magnificent in getting us to this stage so quickly.

“We have already begun contacting patients to come in for the vaccinations, but want to stress that people should wait for us to get in touch with them.”

Supplies of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which needs to be kept under ultra-cold conditions, have been stored in specialised freezers at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Royal Derby Hospital.

So far, more than 130,000 people have been vaccinated across the UK.