Northumberland passes 500,000 vaccination milestone

NHS staff across the county have delivered high numbers of first and second doses with over 91% of adults over 18 receiving a first dose and more than 88% receiving two doses.

Vaccination teams have also delivered more than 122,000 Covid booster jabs, covering almost 45% of the adult population already.

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of hospital vaccinating teams, general practice, community pharmacies, partners, volunteers and the introduction of the Roving Vaccine Unit, Northumberland residents are amongst of the most protected people in England with the county leading the way nationally for uptake of first and second doses.

And now Northumberland is in the top 10 Local Authority areas in England for booster uptake.

Vaccination uptake has remained high in the county since the programme began in December last year, and NHS teams have worked hard to take the vaccine out to hard-to-reach communities including isolated rural areas, homeless shelters, workplaces and popular events such as the Northumberland Pride Festival.

Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has also commissioned a transport service to ensure that anyone who needs support to get to their vaccination appointment doesn’t miss out.

Richard Hay, head of planning and operations at NHS Northumberland CCG, said: “To have delivered over half-a-million first and second doses is an absolutely tremendous achievement.

"Who would have thought that this time last year we would be in a position where almost nine in 10 adults in Northumberland have had two jabs? When you break the numbers down it equates to around 1,400 vaccinations delivered per day, every day over the last 12 months – that’s incredible.

“This is testament to our dedicated and hard-working NHS teams as well as the fantastic attitude and enthusiasm of people in our county who are so keen to protect, not only themselves, but those most vulnerable residents in their communities.

“We know just how difficult the past 18 months have been for everyone and pressure remains high for our local NHS services, including GP practices which are working to balance an increase in routine work-load, manage the backlog of patients, and roll out both the flu and Covid vaccination programmes. Without such high levels of vaccination we could be in a much more difficult position.”

Over 60% of under 18’s have received a first dose and, following recently updated advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI), are beginning to come forward to receive second doses once they are eligible with a full programme of school visits is being planned for the new year, alongside an out-of-school offer at selected sites.

Richard continued: “We are incredibly proud of everyone’s efforts to keep this virus at bay, but we know Covid-19 is still circulating in the community and the ‘evergreen’ offer of the first and second dose is still there for anyone who wants it.

“We are seeing more supplies of the Moderna vaccine coming into the county and want to assure people that this is just as safe and effective as a booster dose as the Pfizer vaccine.

“Let’s all keep going to do our bit to keep Covid cases and hospitalisations down as we head into the festive season.”

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