Shropshire braced to meet new Covid jab milestone at 700,000 doses
Shropshire is braced to reach a new milestone in its roll-out of Covid jabs as new figures show almost 700,000 doses of the vaccine have been given in the county.
Health bosses say "great strides" are still being made, although anyone eligible who is yet to receive the vaccine is being encouraged to come forward.
Latest NHS England data shows that 699,917 doses of the vaccine had been given to patients across the county by August 22, with the next update due to be published on Thursday.
It shows that around four in five 18- to 24-year-olds have now had their first jab.
Steve Ellis, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin vaccination programme lead, said: “Our Covid vaccination programme is still making great strides in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, thanks to our fantastic staff and volunteers and the hundreds of thousands of people who have come forward to have a vaccine.
"At the start of last week we’d vaccinated just under 700,000 people and our clinics continue to see more people coming through the doors every day so we’re sure to have met yet another milestone.
“However, even though we’ve vaccinated so many, I would still encourage anyone who hasn’t yet had a jab to get one as soon as possible so that we can get back to doing the things we love.
"We have a number of walk-in and pop-up clinics around the county providing vaccinations without the need to book.”
Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, near Oswestry, and Shrewsbury Indoor Bowls Centre continue to operate as walk-in vaccination sites, alongside Woodside Pharmacy in Telford, Station Drive Surgery in Ludlow and Turreff Hall in Donnington.
A number of pop-up vaccination clinics are also operating which will have first and second Pfizer doses available for those aged 16 and over.
More details are available at stwics.org.uk/our-priorities/covid-19-vaccination-programme/walk-in-clinic-times.
It comes amid a significant rise in new Covid cases within the county recently.
Shropshire Council’s director of public health Rachel Robinson warned last week that the situation was worsening.
She said Shropshire has the third highest infection rate in the West Midlands, just slightly behind Herefordshire and Wolverhampton.
Ms Robinson added: "The best protection is still two doses of a vaccine.
"It significantly reduces your chances of becoming seriously ill if you get Covid-19. All adults aged 16 and over are now eligible.”
In Powys, nearly nine in 10 adults have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Public Health Wales data shows 94,129 people aged 18 and over had been given both doses of a vaccine up to August 22 – 87 per cent of the area's age group.
