MP welcomes acceleration of vaccine rollout in Cheshire

Edward Timpson MP has welcomed the Government’s Vaccines Delivery Plan – the biggest vaccination programme in British history – that sets ambitious targets as the Government continues to ramp up its vaccine rollout.

Already in Cheshire and Merseyside, 201,220 vaccinations have been administered as part of plans to vaccinate the top 4 priority groups by mid-February. In the North West, 487,397 people have received a vaccine, with 547,214 doses administered in total across the area.

Cheshire and Merseyside’s figure means that our region is now one of the most vaccinated parts of the country, second only to Cumbria and the North East.

The United Kingdom is leading the way with its vaccination programme. So far, more than 5 million vaccinations have been administered to 4.6 million people – the fourth highest per capita, behind only Bahrain, the UAE and Israel. In addition, only two countries have administered more doses than the United Kingdom – China and the USA.

The Government’s Vaccines Delivery Plan sets out how it aims to administer 2 million doses of vaccines by the end of January, as well as offering vaccines to every elderly are home resident by the end of the month. So far, more than half of those over 80s and care home residents have received a vaccine.

On top of this, the Government is opening up new vaccination sites every day as part of our Vaccine Delivery Plan to ensure everyone is within 10 miles of a vaccination centre.

Edward Timpson CBE MP said:

“The NHS vaccination programme, the biggest in our country’s history, has got off to a fantastic start thanks to the hard work of all of those involved.

“It’s great to see that so many people in Cheshire have received the vaccine as we lead the world in our fight back against coronavirus. I am pleased that Cheshire is amongst the top preforming areas in the country on vaccine distribution.

“I look forward to getting my vaccine over the coming months – and I urge everyone to do the same when they get the call up”.

Health Secretary, the Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP said:

“Vaccines are the way out of the pandemic, and this historic rollout will cover every corner of the country. Community pharmacists have been phenomenal, and will have a pivotal role to play in the continued expansion of the programme.

“Through the UK Vaccines Delivery Plan, over four million people have already received their jab. From hospitals to pharmacies, sports clubs to places of worship – we’re making sure the vaccine is as accessible as possible.

“In the meantime it is vital everyone continues to play their part in this national effort by staying at home to protect the NHS.”

• Continuing to roll out the vaccine across new sites as we accelerate our Vaccines Delivery Plan – ensuring all parts of the country are well served. Vaccinations are already available from more than 1,000 GP-led services, over 200 hospitals and a growing network of large-scale NHS Vaccination Centres, with a further 55 pharmacies, a cinema and a mosque all due to begin providing vaccinations this week.

• Delivering more than 5 million vaccines so far, to 4.6 million people, as we lead the world with our programme. The NHS in England is vaccinating at a rate of 140 people a minute and we have now vaccinated over half of all over 80’s and care home residents. We are leading the world with our Vaccines Delivery Plan – only two countries – the United States and China – have vaccinated more people than the UK. We have vaccinated almost four times as many people as Germany and only a million less people than the entire European Union combined. 

• Ensuring we have enough supply of the vaccine. We have has secured early access to 367 million doses of 7 of the most promising vaccines so far and have invested over £230 million into manufacturing a successful vaccine. This includes 100 million doses of the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, 40 million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine and 7 million doses of the Moderna vaccine. 

• Publishing our Vaccines Delivery Plan, setting out how we plan to deliver the biggest vaccination programme in British history, to protect all those who need it most as quickly as possible. The plan sets out that tens of millions of people will be immunised by the spring – through Phase One – at over 2,700 vaccination sites across the UK. We will work with the NHS, devolved administrations, local councils and the armed forces to deliver the largest vaccination programme in British history. 

• • By the end of January, everyone in England will be within 10 miles of a vaccination site or, for a small number of highly rural areas, the vaccine will be brought to them via mobile teams.
  • By the end of January and all residents and staff in over 10,000 care homes across the country will be offered a vaccine.
  • This will be made possible by rapid expansion of sites: 206 active hospital sites, 50 vaccination centres, around 1,200 local vaccination sites – including primary care networks, community pharmacy sites and mobile teams.
  • We have mobilised a workforce of over 80,000 health professionals to help in the delivery of the programme across the different vaccination sites, with over 200,000 additional members of the public expressing their interest in helping with the non-clinical elements of the rollout.