‘Residents most at risk from Covid-19 are now protected’

IT’S now three weeks since our Askham Bar site became the first national Vaccination Centre in Yorkshire. This region is doing incredibly well and has made a significant contribution to the 12 million + vaccinations done so far.

We are being challenged by the weather this week. Snow on Tuesday caused us a few concerns but we managed to stay open – our team was up early and on site at 6am waiting for our snow plough to arrive and clear the car parks to make sure we were ready for the arrival of almost 2,000 people that braved the elements and came to be vaccinated that day.

We feel that has prepared us well for whatever Storm Darcy can throw our way this week– we hope we communicated well and, of course, we will continue to do that.

The site came to life last Tuesday when the snow was cleared and as people worked together to make sure everyone got their vaccine.

Only a handful of people had to reschedule their appointment, so it was well worth the effort. Thank you to all the taxi drivers, volunteers and friends and families who helped us.

The real stars of the week, however, were all the people who travelled to get their vaccine. Every day we see new faces – lots of characters with stories to tell – giving us lots of laughs and messages of support.

We even welcomed local TV star Harry Gration who came to get his jab! We’ve been overwhelmed by this – at the end of the day the reality is that you are our priority.

So what next? We’ve almost vaccinated everyone in the 1-4 priority groups, set out by the JCVI. This is great news for our population and means that those most at risk from Covid are now protected by one dose of the vaccine.

The Government’s target is to vaccinate everyone in the first four priority groups by February 15. So we urge anyone who is over 70-years-old or who is registered as Shielding (Clinically Extremely Vulnerable) who has NOT yet been for their vaccine, to book an appointment now. People can do this themselves now, using the online link. They don’t have to wait for an invitation.

All the information of how to book is on our website – nimbuscare.co.uk.

We have enough vaccine this week to vaccinate everyone who is eligible. We have made such good progress and are well on target.

Of course, from my experience as a clinician, I know that people aren’t just statistics. We recognise that it doesn’t necessarily work like that.

We realise the importance of vaccinating those with the highest risk first and we are dedicated to that – in that regard the 15th February target date isn’t that important.

We will continue to focus on our patients and work day in day out until those people who want to be vaccinated are vaccinated.

We are working to ensure no one misses out – this week we have been having really helpful conversations with key people in our region to plan how we can get to everyone. We all have to work together - if you can get to Askham Bar, then please do so.

We are providing satellite vaccination services with limited availability and we are working with York GP practices to reach those who are housebound.

We have sent teams to vaccinate those in care homes and sheltered accommodation and we are also looking to other healthcare facilities too – last weekend I spent time at St Leonard’s Hospice vaccinating patients and that felt incredibly humbling.

Help with transport is also available, if anyone is struggling to get to the site. Support is on hand from York Wheels, Age UK and other local organisations – details on the nimbuscare.co.uk website.

Towards the middle of March we will arrive at the 12 week point from when we started and we will start to give people their second dose.

Don’t worry if you haven’t yet been sent an appointment – you will be contacted over the next month.

Once you have been given this second dose, after around two to three weeks you will be fully vaccinated and, we hope, very well protected from the risks of Covid.