Shot in the arm as Shrewsbury Town stars celebrate win with booster jabs
Shrewsbury Town goal hero Daniel Udoh celebrated his shots in the net with a shot in the arm as Salop players received their booster jabs on Saturday.
Several players got their Covid boosters as "Bob", the NHS's vaccination bus, dropped in on the Montgomery Waters Meadow.
It came after Town netted an impressive 3-1 win over Cheltenham Town, despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half. Udoh scored twice before midfielder David Davis clinched victory with a cool run and finish late on.
Almost 200 supporters from both clubs also took the opportunity to get their booster, with the bus parked up outside the stadium from 10am to 6pm on Saturday.
Covid has started to have a significant impact on football again, with more than half of the Football League programme postponed over the weekend.
Shrewsbury Town boss Steve Cotterill, who was hospitalised for a lengthy period of time after catching the virus, said he was "proud" of the players for taking the opportunity to get vaccinated.
Elliot Bennett, who skippered Town in Saturday's win, said: “I’m pleased to have sorted my vaccine before Christmas as cases continue to rise.
“It’s important we all get our jabs, so that we can protect our family and team mates this winter. If we all do this, we can hopefully look forward to a more positive new year.”
Steve Ellis, deputy senior responsible officer for the vaccination programme in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, expressed his gratitude to the club for hosting the bus – and to the players for coming forward to get their own jabs.
“I’m a Shrewsbury Town season ticket holder myself and it has been so pleasing to see them step up and support us at every step of this programme,” he said.
“This booster programme is vitally important as we look to protect our health and care services from the worst effects of what we expect to be a large Omicron wave in January.
“We’ve set ourselves a stiff challenge of delivering more than 130,000 booster shots before the end of the year, so it was great to see so many football fans playing their part on Saturday. We gave out 180 jabs during the day, which is Bob’s busiest day of the entire vaccination programme.
“Shrewsbury may have won on the pitch – but all of us were winners off it, with so many people going away with an increased level of protection that will help keep themselves, their family and their friends safe this Christmas.”
Bob – and his sister bus Betty – will be out and about at locations across Shropshire over the next couple of weeks for others still looking to get their boosters. People can also get jabs from a wide range of vaccination centres, community pharmacists and GP clinics right across the county.
A full list of sites, including opening times, can be found on the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System’s website stwics.org.uk
