Send us your Covid-19 jab selfies as roll-out ramps up in key way out of lockdown
PEOPLE URGED TO GET THEIR JAB AS SOON AS THEY’RE INVITED
PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has set out the roadmap out of lockdown and we’re all looking forward to enjoying some of the things we’ve not been able to do for nearly a year. However, while things are looking hopeful, the message from North East Lincolnshire’s health bosses is that it still isn’t time to relax or let down our guard at all where Covid19 is concerned. The virus is still circulating and too many people are still catching it and passing it to others and some people are still becoming very poorly - so for now we all have to continue to do our bit to keep ourselves and others safe by sticking to the current guidelines. The key to being able to move out of some of the restrictions we’re all living under is getting people vaccinated.
Health and care staff and volunteers continue to work tirelessly to offer the vaccination to the most vulnerable people as quickly as possible and we thank each and every one of them.
As the Covid-19 vaccination is rolled out to more and more groups of people in our local community, people are urged to get their jab as soon as they’re invited. If you’re still waiting for your turn, you can still help by encouraging friends, family and workmates to have their vaccination by letting them know you’ll be “first in line” when it’s offered to people of your age group.
The vaccination is the best way to protect your loved ones, friends and workmates. It’s the best way for the roadmap to progress and enable us to start being able to start doing the things we’ve missed and for life to start looking a bit more normal. It’s also the best way to protect yourself. If you’re fit and well, you might not be too worried about catching Covid-19 and you might wonder why you need a vaccination.
Dr Ekta Elston, a local GP and the medical director at North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group, explains that everyone is at risk of catching the virus and healthy individuals might not sail through an infection like they might hope or expect.
She said: “While there are certain factors that make us more at risk of becoming severely ill, sometimes the virus just randomly decides to make an apparently very healthy person extremely poorly.
“This might mean a life-threatening episode or it might mean it takes you months and months to get over the virus with it having a major impact on your normal activities like taking part in sports, keeping in shape or going out with friends or family.
“Why risk this? The vaccination offers the best protection for everyone. Please do your bit to encourage others to protect themselves.”
North East Lincolnshire CCG has a webpage that is kept up-to-date with the latest information about Covid-19 vaccinations. Visit https:// www.northeastlincolnshireccg.nhs. uk/covid-19/covid-19-vaccine-faqs/ Local GPs have also recorded a series of videos in different languages that address some of the concerns people have expressed about the vaccines.
In the meantime, if you’re booked in for your vaccine why not help spread the word?
Take a thumbs-up selfie after you’ve had your vaccination and it could appear in the Grimsby Telegraph and on Grimsby Live!
Just email it with your name included to newsdesk@grimsbytelegraph.co.uk
A TOP officer at Humberside Police has clarified why you might be fined for breaching coronavirus rules after saying it was “irrelevant” whether people stayed local or not. Humberside Police and most other forces across the country have been constantly grilled on what they see as rule-breaking when it comes to travelling for exercise.
On Look North on Tuesday night, assistant chief constable Chris Noble said “they need to be very clear breaches of regulations and not guidance for enforcement”, adding that you could travel anywhere as long as there was a “reasonable excuse”.
It came after Cleethorpes and Hornsea were particularly busy at the weekend.
Now he has expanded on those comments, explaining when people might be fined for Covid breaches and when officers will elect to “strongly encourage people to follow the guidance” instead.
In a press release, ACC Noble said the force will “remain unapologetically inquisitive” about why people are out of their homes and that sitting on benches is still prohibited under the current rules.
He said: “UK Government guidance strongly requests that people do not leave their local area. However, the Covid regulations, which we enforce, and which enable us to issue fixed penalty notices for breaches, don’t restrict the distance travelled for exercise.
“We will remain unapologetically inquisitive about why people are out of their homes and will explain the regulations and encourage people to comply. Where people are breaching the regulations and are away from home without a reasonable excuse, they may be issued with a fixed penalty notice. “In situations where people are breaching the guidance not to travel out of their local area but are not breaching regulations, we will strongly encourage people to follow the guidance.”
ACC Noble said officers individually assess every situation and apply the most appropriate response, which on some occasions may see them dispersing a gathering, or in other cases will require issuing a fixed penalty notice. “The restrictions are clear in that you should stay at home unless you have a reasonable excuse not to. This may be to buy food, to travel to work, for childcare arrangements or for exercise,” he said.
“Going to the beach, parks or countryside, irrespective of where you travel from, is not permitted unless you have a reasonable excuse. “Currently other outdoor recreation – like sitting on a park bench or a beach - is unlikely to be a reasonable excuse and the police can take enforcement action in such circumstances.
“We are asking the public to take personal responsibility for your own actions and in particular - stay home; protect the NHS; save lives.
“As we hopefully approach the final stages of this pandemic, it is ever more important to take the advice of our public health professionals.
“I want to provide reassurance to all our communities that we will continue to take our role in this health emergency extremely seriously. I also want to thank our officers and staff, who every day, continue to put themselves in harm’s way to protect our communities.”
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