Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
DATE SET FOR FIRST VACCINES IN CITY
GPS PREPARE FOR JABS AS CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS HANG IN THE BALANCE
The roll-out of the Covid vaccine in the city is expected to start on Monday, the Gazette can reveal.
More than 300 jabs a day will be administered by GPS, with over-80s living in the south of Canterbury first in line. Meanwhile, drive-thru vaccine clinics are also due to begin early next week at Estuary View in Whitstable. It comes after 97-year-old Winifred Prett became the first person in the district to receive the jab on Tuesday. She was one of almost 1,000 over-80s getting the vaccine at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Herne Bay. Mrs Prett said she is looking forward to going shopping once she receives the second dose in three weeks’ time. “It would be nice to get out,” the Beltinge resident said. “[The vaccination] was fine. It was just a little prick. “I was expecting it to be the same as the flu jab, and it was. There’s nothing wrong with it, it doesn’t hurt – go and get it.” Eighty-three-year-old Roger Wise was also one of the first through the doors at the hospital. The Greenhill octogenarian is excited to see his granddaughter once he is fully immunised.
“It felt just like a flu jab – it was a scratch,” he said. “I’m a bit relieved that there’s something on the horizon to take the danger away. “I’ll be able to go out more and mix with people again.” Meanwhile, 101-year-old Rene Petts from Herne said she cannot wait to get back to her “whist drives” which she has really missed this year. Staff from Herne Bay’s Primary Care Network (PCN) continued administering the jabs at the hospital on Wednesday and are set to finish the first batch of vaccinations today (Thursday). Meanwhile, practices under the Canterbury South PCN are contacting hundreds of elderly patients to invite them for a jab.
The vaccinations will take place at a GP surgery, with the first appointment as early as Monday. The location has not yet been confirmed.
With 975 doses of the Pfizer/ Biontech jab to administer within three-and-a-half days, health chiefs estimate between 300 to 350 people a day will be vaccinated - and then booked in for a second injection in January. Judith Marsh, who is co-ordinating the roll-out in Canterbury, says the vaccine will be offered at other locations as soon as possible.
“We are working towards expected vaccine delivery early next week and want to start vaccinating as soon as we can and practices will inform their patients as soon as possible, according to the available slots,” she said. “It is a huge challenge for our teams after a demanding year in primary care, but such a welcome Christmas present for our elderly population who so deserve some good news and a positive start to 2021.” Ms Marsh added that doctors want to remind people that immunity is not achieved until seven days after the second dose - so people must still follow social distancing rules. In Whitstable, Estuary View Medical Centre’s drivethru vaccine clinics are fully-booked.
The site will have four sheltered lanes - and one portacabin for those who need to have the injection indoors. Estuary View’s Dr John Ribchester said: “We’ve got fully-staffed clinics with five vaccinators. It’ll be open 12 hours on the Tuesday and Wednesday, with a catch-up on the Thursday to use up the remaining vaccines. “They will go to the over80s and if there are leftovers, rather than throwing them away, we will offer them to staff to come in at late notice. “We want to get the majority done on Tuesday and Wednesday because we’re not sure how eager people will be to have an injection on Christmas Eve.
“We’ve got an army of people. The injectors are either doctors, nurses or paramedics and we also have data-entry clerks and volunteers to help with the traffic flow.” Following the jabs at the Queen Victoria on Tuesday, patients were asked to remain at the hospital for a further 15 minutes to ensure they did not suffer any allergic reactions. Dr Jeremy Carter hopes all of the Herne Bay PCN’S most vulnerable patients in the over-80s category will receive the jab over the next month. The Kent and Medway NHS Clinical Commissioning Group says it is expanding the vaccine roll-out to more areas in the coming weeks and in the New Year. “Bearing in mind this vaccine gives a 95% protection rate against coronavirus and some of the patients today are 90-odd to 100 years old, we’ve now got a solution for them,” Dr Carter added.
‘It is a huge challenge for our teams after a demanding year [...] but such a welcome Christmas present for our elderly population’