Ambulance queue shows why we MUST get a jab

Covid vaccination plea as 999 worker’s photo shows the pressure being put on local NHS

THIS photograph of 999 crews queueing to get into a Leicester hospital has been posted by an ambulance worker as a stark reminder of the impact Covid is having on the NHS.

Along with the picture, taken in welford Road near Leicester Royal infirmary, the worker wrote: “Yes, this time of year we get winter pressure but what Covid is doing is adding to this.

“Please take Covid seriously.”

The striking image comes as health bosses warn that hospitals are at risk of being overwhelmed, while a former mayor of Charnwood has issued a plea for everyone to have the jab and ‘help get life back to normal.’

Cllr Ken Pacey, a ward councillor in Syston,

was the first Charnwood borough councillor to receive the jab before Christmas.

The 82-year-old said: “we need as many people as possible to take up the jab. it is very safe, and i was really pleased to receive it.”

His message follows a warning from director of public health Professor ivan Browne who says hospitals are at risk of being overwhelmed in the next two weeks.

with infection rates at their highest, he said: “Some 2,000 new cases are being identified in Leicester each week, with our seven day infection rate per 100,000 people five times higher than the levels we saw over the summer.

“over the next two weeks, Leicester’s hospitals risk being overwhelmed as these rapidly rising levels lead to more people requiring hospital care.

“That means there’s a very real risk there won’t be beds, and places in intensive care units, for all the people who need them.”

The NHS is currently offering the Covid19 vaccine to people most at risk from coronavirus.

in England, the vaccine is being offered in some hospitals and pharmacies, at hundreds of local vaccination centres run by GPs and at larger vaccination centres. it’s being given to:

■ People aged 80 and over

■ People who live or work in care homes

Health and social care workers at high risk The NHS will let you know when it’s your turn to have the vaccine. it’s important not to contact the NHS for a vaccination before then.

“i just hope and pray that everybody will have the jab so we can get back to normal as soon as possible,” said Cllr Pacey.

“i received my jab in melton and i have to say the whole process was incredibly safe and everyone was socially distancing. i could not have felt safer and the whole thing took just about half an hour.

“The staff were very well organised and professional, and i cannot thank them enough.”