Professor Mike Holmes, who runs York’s Covid vaccination centre, says he’s relieved its old ‘tent of hope’ was replaced by a ‘more solid’ building when Storm Eunice struck the city last week

Since we set up the York Vaccination Centre in December 2020 we’ve stood out in all weathers and this last week our volunteers and car park marshals have been challenged by the dreadful weather, to say the least.

I’m certainly relieved that the vaccination tent has been replaced by a more solid structure now. Despite the storms, snow and rain, we kept open every day and only closed slightly early on Friday.

I want to thank all the teams who kept this vital service running, whatever the weather.

As we begin half term, we’re encouraging students and their families to come forward and get their vaccinations during the holidays.

Why not all come together? – just book a slot online via nhs.uk

We’re now vaccinating a younger age group and will soon be helping to deliver vaccines to the 140,000 eligible 5 to 11-year-old children across the Humber, Coast and Vale region.

The JCVI has advised that 5-11-year-olds who are not in a high-risk group should be vaccinated.

This is a one-off pandemic response programme. Overall the committee agreed that the potential health benefits of vaccination are greater than the potential health risks. Two doses will be offered with an interval of at least 12 weeks between doses.

All the great work Nimbuscare teams have done so far in vaccinating the vulnerable 5-11 group will pay dividends for this roll out.

It’s great news to see our children’s treatment hub (CAT) move back to Askham Bar this week (Monday 21 February).

This is a vital service for children aged three months to 11 years old who have breathing related symptoms.

You can be referred to the clinic by contacting your GP or NHS 111. We are seeing lots of families and carers using this service, rather than going straight to A&E and it is proving really popular and effective now.

At Nimbuscare we’re continuing to grow and we’ve welcomed three new members of staff this week to our team. We continue to recruit clinicians too.

At my own practice, Haxby Group, this week we are launching a new Mentoring Scheme for future GPs.

We wanted to offer practical and some financial support to people who wouldn’t normally get the chance to get this.

The mentoring scheme will give a leg up to those who really need it.

I passionately feel that we need people from all backgrounds and with a range of life skills to enter general practice and we really don’t want anyone to miss out.

The scheme is open to anyone in the York, Hull or Scarborough areas and is specifically for local people. Details of how to apply can be found here.