MP urges our readers to sign Echo petition
An MP has urged readers to sign up to the Sunderland Echo’s new A Shot in the Arm campaign to persuade the Government to allow local pharmacies to join the coronavirus vaccination roll-out programme.
Six pharmacies nationwide became the first across England to offer jabs on Thursday, January 14, with another 194 expected to follow soon.
But our new A Shot in the Arm campaign is urging the Government to equip England’s 11,500 pharmacies with vaccines so that it can meet its own target of immunising 15 million people by the end of next month.
Utilising pharmacies – Sunderland has 64 – would also bring the roll-out far closer to people’s doorsteps.
Our campaign includes a new petition calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government to act now.
Now Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott has signed the petition and is calling for others to follow.
She says: “I’ve signed this petition, and I support the campaign to roll out vaccinations to community pharmacies.
“I would encourage everyone to sign this petition, and I hope the government listens, and acts.”
Among the first six to offer jabs was Andrew’s Pharmacy in Macclesfield, which was among the selected pharmacies, where director Andrew Hodgson admitted: “It is probably the biggest single
day of my career.”
A Shot in the Arm is urging the Government to ensure that pharmacists across Sunderland and the country can also experience the biggest single day of their careers by joining the vaccine crusade.
While no North East pharmacies were involved in day one of the new roll out, NHS figures suggested that 49% of of people aged 80 or above in the region, which is combined with Yorkshire for statistical purposes, had already
received their first vaccine dose by January 10.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman insisted that “we’ve ensured that every area receives a fair share of the vaccinations and we will continue to do that”.
He added: “You will continue to see the vaccination programme accelerate through this month and February and the PM’s been clear that we will ensure there is a vaccine centre close to everybody by the end of the month.”