Glasto livestream blasted for not helping grassroots
A SMALL coronavirus vaccination centre in Honley has reached the impressive milestone of administering more than 10,000 jabs.
The Honley Village Vaccination Centre opened on January 28 and has since been offering the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to people from as far as 30 miles away.
And the centre – run by Friends of Honley volunteers, Medicare Pharmacy and Honley Community Trust – administered its 10,000th vaccine on Friday, March 19.
The milestone jab was given to Graham Hirst, from Honley, who said he was “proud of what our community has achieved.”
Asghar Khan, managing director of Medicare Chemists in Huddersfield, said: “There is a fantastic atmosphere here and a resilient community spirit that is evocative of the war years.
“Everyone involved is acutely aware that what they are doing is truly making a difference to bring this difficult time to an end.
“We’re fortunate to be working with the same core team from last year who helped with deliveries and flu jabs.
“The team includes retired and semi-retired GPs, nurses and our own Medicare pharmacists; all local people.
“In addition, we have over 300 volunteers who each fill one of five roles, guiding patients on their journey.
“Anxiety levels can sometimes be high and we have done a lot of reassuring, but we have also seen a huge amount of relief and pride in the village about what we are doing.
“Out of the 10,000 people we have vaccinated we haven’t had any major medical issues reported. This milestone is a testament to the entire team. We look forward to the next 10,000 people walking through our doors.”
To help mark the occasion, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage popped into the centre with two bottles of his own branded sherry, which he has donated to the Friends of Honley’s Youth Project.
Simon said: “We walk past the vaccination centre daily on an evening and see everyone mucking in - it is truly inspirational that members of this small, rural community are able to access their vaccination without having to travel to the larger cities.
“I just wanted to show my support for this achievement and to look ahead to the future for us all.”
Since delivering its 10,000th jab, the centre has gone on to administer 3,000 more vaccines in just over a week.
THE boss of the Music Venue Trust has described Glastonbury’s decision to host a global livestream on the first weekend music venues can reopen as “disappointing”.
Mark Davyd, founder and chief executive of the organisation, said the move represented a “complete failure” by organisers to support grassroots venues hard hit by the pandemic.
Coldplay, Damon Albarn and Jorja Smith are among the artists booked to play at various well-known sites around Worthy Farm, including the Stone Circle and Pyramid field, on May
22.
The ticketed event falls in the same week indoor venues can reopen with social distancing, in line with the Government’s road map out of lockdown.
Mr Davyd wrote on Twitter: “I think what the live industry really needs right now is some collective, collaborative, joined-up thinking.
“Announcing the world’s largest online event for the first weekend on which limited, actual in-person events are permitted really isn’t that.”
Tickets for the virtual event, which will be broadcast across four separate time zones, cost £20.
Mr Davyd later tweeted saying he had had a “positive conversation” with UK livestreamers Drift, who are involved in producing the event, and they had told him the show was booked before the road map announcement. Grassroots venues including Oporto in Leeds, and Night And Day in Manchester, also criticised Glastonbury’s decision.