By GPs in England to begin offering Covid jab
Covid vaccinations will start being given to patients from some GP surgeries in England today.
GP practices in more than 100 locations will receive their first deliveries of the vaccine later, the NHS said.
Some will start vaccinating this afternoon, with the majority getting under way on Tuesday as part of the next stage of the rollout of the programme.
NHS staff including nurses and pharmacists will work alongside GPs to inoculate those aged 80 and over, as well as care home workers and residents.
The vaccination centres will operate from existing doctors’ surgeries or community hubs in villages, towns and cities across the country, with patients invited to receive the jab.
Tens of thousands of people in the UK received the Pfizer-BioNTech jab last week in hospitals.
Like last week, GP practices will prioritise the over-80s, along with health and care staff.
A couple in their 80s were set to become the first to receive a GP surgery vaccine at the Feldon Practice in Halesowen.
They were said to be “very excited”.
Dr Mohit Mandiratta, who will be one of the the GPs administering the vaccine, told Sky News: “I feel incredibly proud and incredibly excited and I feel honoured, privileged and humbled to say our patients in Halesowen will be the first to get it in the community.
“It’s been such a difficult time for everybody over the last nine months and it’s great we’ve got a bit of light to get us out of the dark tunnel we’ve all been in.
“But it is important people continue to follow the guidelines because we’re not out of the woods yet so it’s so important that over Christmas people follow the national guidelines and continue to protect themselves and each other as much a possible.”