The volunteers who are helping make Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent’s COVID vaccination programme a success have been thanked for their efforts.
It comes as it has been conformed that a national target for offering all the most vulnerable groups protection from the virus has been met.
At one of Staffordshire’s busiest vaccination centres – the County Showground in Stafford – over half of those on duty at any time can be volunteers.
Vaccination Centre Director, Steve Powell said: “They are pivotal to the success of the operation. We have a list of over 100 volunteers now and we need between 20-25 per shift out of a total of around 40 people.
“They come from all walks of life and a wide range of ages, with some that are retired and others that have been furloughed. They are quite happy to roll up their sleeves to do whatever needs to be done to get as many people possible vaccinated.”
Vince, a volunteer marshal at the Showground, said: “Our task, as well as pointing people in the right direction, is to help allay fear and bring down any level anxiety people may be feeling.”
Dr Paddy Hannigan, Clinical Director for the Programme said: “We are making excellent progress in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, and volunteers have been a big part of that.
“We are committed to making sure everyone gets the vaccine with the most vulnerable being the highest priority. We are now inviting people aged 65-70. If anyone is older than that and has not had their vaccination we would urge them to get in touch with the GP surgery as soon as possible.”
The latest published figures (Thursday February 11) show that 247,899 people had been vaccinated.
This includes:
- 97% of people aged over 80 have been vaccinated
- 99% of people aged 70 to 75 have been vaccinated
- 94% of people aged 70-74 have been vaccinated
