JCB turns part of factory into a vaccination centre
Couple aged 84 and 80 first to receive jabs
PART of a JCB factory has been converted into a Covid-19 vaccination centre which will see more than 40,000 people receive the jabs.
The digger-maker has transformed part of its Compact Products plant, in Cheadle, into a medical facility after teaming up with a group of GPS in the Staffordshire Moorlands.
And the factory – which manufactures mini excavators – opened its doors to patients for the first time yesterday as doctors and their teams began the massive vaccination programme.
The GP practices involved include Werrington, all three Cheadle practices, Waterhouses, Alton and Tean.
Practice manager Jessica Harding, of Well Street Medical Centre in Cheadle, is part of the co-ordination team leading the project on behalf of the practices.
She said: “We are absolutely delighted to be getting under way with our vaccination programme at JCB Compact Products.
“It is an enormous undertaking to vaccinate 40,000 people from seven different GP surgeries, and the support we have received from JCB has been incredible.
“JCB has invested a huge amount of time and money in providing us with a first class facility and we are immensely grateful.”
JCB’S company doctor, Jonathan Graham, said: “As the biggest employer in the Staffordshire Moorlands, we are extremely happy to help our local GPS deliver such a hugely important vaccination programme.
“Many of those receiving their injections at JCB Compact Products will have family members who work for the company, so we naturally wanted to help.”
Vaccinations using the Pfizer / Biontech vaccines are by appointment only. They began yesterday with those aged over 80.
The first two patients to receive the jabs were retired dustman Jim Walker, aged 84, and his 80-year-old wife Joan, a former office worker.
Grandmother-of-two Joan, from Werrington, said: “I didn’t know we were going to be the first patients, so I guess it’s my claim to fame now!
“I would advise everyone to have the injection – you have got to do it, no two ways about it.”.”