First patients given vaccines at GP surgeries
FAMILY doctors joined the mass vaccination effort yesterday as deliveries arrived at more than 100 locations across the country.
Some started administering jabs in the afternoon while the majority will kick off today, with each aiming to complete a batch of 975 vaccines within three and a half days.
Up to 200 further GP- led sites are expected to come on stream by the end of the week and roving teams are due to start visiting care homes.
Isolated
Gerry Hughes, 81, and wife Maureen, 84, were thought to be the first patients in England to receive the vaccine at a GP surgery.
The couple, from Halesowen, West Midlands, have been married for more than 60 years and have three grandchildren.
They received their jabs together at the town’s Feldon Lane Surgery.
Maureen, a retired telephonist, said: “It means an awful lot. I can’t thank people enough who have made the vaccine possible.
“When you’ve been isolated for months, it’s great to see the product at the end – we’re just really excited.”
Brian Horne, 90, was the first person to be vaccinated at a GP surgery in Chalfont, Bucks, and was delighted when he got the call at the weekend.
He said: “I work part- time at my local church, organising lunches for other elderly people who live alone. Sadly, this has had to stop since coronavirus arrived and it is something that I deeply miss.
“Now I have had the vaccine I hope my friends receive it so we can start to get back to seeing people again. Even at my age it is important to stay active and keep occupied, so I am hoping today is a first step back to normal life.”
Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS director of primary care, said that preparing for the rollout had been “a real rollercoaster”.
She said: “Many of my colleagues have been working all hours through the Covid pandemic and now to finally be in a position to offer a vaccination to our community is incredibly powerful.
“As a GP I’m really quite blown away.”
GP practices are working together in local groups known as primary care networks ( PCNs) to open the clinics.
However, reports suggested some had experienced delays in receiving the vaccine. One GP in Gillingham, Kent, said she had been forced to cancel 80 appointments after a delivery was delayed.
She tweeted: “It’s so sad, they’d booked taxis/ families taken time off work. I even had a patient’s relative reschedule chemotherapy to be able to take them.”
Other practices were reluctant to join the programme due to workload concerns and complex requirements, such as needing to observe patients for 15 minutes after the jab.
Professor Martin Marshall,