Ten minutes not ten miles must be the aim
■ We’re launching a campaign for more of our pharmacists to give Covid-19 vaccinations and are calling on you to back our petition to government ■ Local branches say they are poised and ready to help
IT’S THE Government’s contention that ‘everyone will live within ten miles of a vaccination centre’ by the end of January. But that does not go nearly far or fast enough.
The most vulnerable groups – especially the elderly – who are being targeted first for the vaccine are often those least able to travel any great distance.
If we empowered the 11,000 pharmacies across the country, along with GP surgeries, then the goal to have everyone within a ten-minute walk would start to seem achievable.
At the televised press conference on Monday, where the new UK Covid-19 Vaccines Delivery Plan was unveiled by health secretary Matt Hancock, a JPIMedia journalist challenged him to make maximum use of the pharmacies network as part of our campaign which is being supported by our sister titles across the country.
It is the prevailing need to minimise travel, as stated by Boris Johnson, Professor Chris Whitty and countless others earlier this week, which justifies this newspaper’s call for local pharmacies to be fully involved.
Not only do our wonderful, dedicated local pharmacies have the clinical expertise, but they’re located far closer to the people than the seven new regional centres up and running.
Ninety per cent of people in England live within 20 minutes’ walking distance of a pharmacy
– and this figure is as great as 99 per cent in the more deprived areas.
That said, this newspaper, and its sister titles in JPIMedia, welcomes the positive response from 10 Downing Street and Health Secretary, to our joint call for a greater role for community pharmacies. Let’s hope that they actually deliver.
We look forward to further progress being made at speed so people – especially the least mobile who are also the most vulnerable – only have to travel the shortest distance possible in this public health emergency.
That remains the objective – and ask of Ministers – so having a Covid vaccine becomes as simple and routine as the winter flu jab.
Pharmacies are located far closer to the people than regional centres