Covid vaccinations at six more Devon locations

Exeter, Tiverton, Dawlish and Holsworthy begin jabs

Six more GP-run centres are opening in Devon to dish out the covid-19 vaccine, bringing the total number of places vaccinating people so far to 14 - serving patients from 85 GP surgeries. More centres will open in the coming weeks and will be immunising people who are at greatest risk from the virus.

People are being reminded not to contact their practice or hospital to ask about an appointment – the NHS will contact you when it’s your turn.
The latest centres to open in Devon are:

• St Leonard’s Practice, Exeter
• Clare House, Tiverton
• Dawlish Community Hospital
• Holsworthy Medical Centre
• The Pavilions, Plymouth
• Beacon, Plympton

Dr Rosalind Wardle, senior partner at Ruby Country Medical Group in Holsworthy, said: “We are really pleased that from Saturday we will be able to offer this life-saving vaccine to people in our local communities.

“Our teams have been working day and night to ensure we are ready to start vaccinating people as soon as our delivery of the vaccine arrives. We would like to thank all those who have been waiting patiently to be contacted for their invitation. We are working through our patient lists in priority order, as set out in the national guidance, and will make contact with everyone who is eligible in due course.”

Dr Elizabeth Cowan, GP at Barton Surgery in Dawlish, added: “Being able to offer the coronavirus vaccination here in Dawlish is very exciting. Not only does it allow us to provide a much-needed service to our patients locally, but also the ability to tailor the service to meet the needs of our community.

“The Dawlish and Teignmouth GP surgeries are working very closely with the team at Dawlish Hospital to set up the service and it has been an excellent opportunity to all work together. Everyone has really pulled out all the stops to get things set up so quickly and we know our community are really going to benefit from all the hard work that has already gone into, and will continue to go into running the vaccination delivery programme."

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is complicated to deliver, with each site needing to meet stringent requirements on freezer storage, adequate space for patient observation areas post-vaccine, staffing levels to maintain safety and normal general practice activity, and capacity to run centres seven days a week, as needed. The measures mean that not all health locations can be used to deliver the vaccine, but the NHS in Devon is working hard to open more centres around the county.

The centres see nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and other NHS staff working alongside doctors to vaccinate people aged over 80 and care home workers, who have been identified as priority groups for a life-saving vaccination.

The eight sites that are already vaccinating patients include Exmouth Tennis and Fitness Centre where among the first to receive their injection were Jean Copeland, 89, and Jim Copeland, 90, of Exmouth. They said: “We’re really pleased to have had the vaccination and people should have it. We don’t want the virus, especially at our age, it’s killed enough people.”