Sign our petition to ensure we all get a shot in the arm as soon as possible
The News and its sister titles across England are calling on the government to let all pharmacies play a part in the UK’s Covid-19 vaccination programme.
The Shot in the Arm campaign was born after thousands of readers and members of the public all over the UK expressed concern about the way vaccines are currently being rolled out. Many have noticed elderly people being asked to queue up outdoors in order to receive a vaccine.
As part of the campaign, a petition has been launched, calling on Boris Johnson to ensure that every person in the UK has the ability to get a jab without travelling further than 10 minutes from home, by bringing the large network of local pharmacies into the vaccination programme.
The petition, which is being hosted by change.org, is at
tinyurl.com/y6y4ztvb
By sharing it on social media you can help reach more people and convince the government to heed the call to let all pharmacies deliver the jab.
As well as signing the petition, you can also write to your local MP, asking them to support the campaign.
There are around 11,000 local pharmacies in the UK which currently aren’t part of plans to distribute the vaccine, despite the largest 200 pharmacies being approved as part of the programme earlier this week.
With local pharmacies already playing such a trusted and crucial part in community-based healthcare, allowing them to help with the vaccination rollout will help increase take-up and make it easier for members of the public to access their jabs .
Pharmacy staff are qualified to deliver vaccinations and have experience administering similar programmes like the winter flu jab.
Royal Pharmaceutical Society president Sandra Gidley said: ‘There are over 11,000 pharmacies. If each of those does 20 a day that is 1.3 million a week extra vaccines that can be provided, very often to those who are hardest to reach.’
She added: ‘Why would any government not want to do that?’
The majority of pharmacies are already equipped with the staff and facilities to join the vaccination programme, and the Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine is particularly well-suited to pharmacies, as it doesn’t require low-temperature storage and involves one initial dose, with the second coming up to 12 weeks later.