First vaccines given in Wolverhampton as Staffordshire rollout plan revealed
Further details have been confirmed about the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines across the region as GP surgeries in Wolverhampton injected their first patients.
Patients received Pfizer jabs at surgeries on Monday ahead of a phased roll out in the Black Country and Staffordshire.
People aged 80 will be the first to get the jabs, receiving invitations to visit their GP surgery or a designated vaccination site.
Surgeries in Wolverhampton and Halesowen were among the first in the country to give out jabs. They are among five across the Black Country and Birmingham that will give the jabs this week, with more joining next week.
Meanwhile the Staffordshire County Showground in Stafford and the Trinity Methodist Church Hall in Codsall will be used to vaccinate patients from the area from Wednesday.
WATCH: First vaccines given in Wolverhampton
Joan Dudley, aged 80, from Tettenhall Wood, was the first patient to be vaccinated at Wood Road Surgery, in Tettenhall Wood, Wolverhampton on Monday.
She attended with her husband John, 81, originally from Bilston, who was the second patient.
Mrs Dudley said: “I was totally shocked when they told me I could receive a jab. I didn’t expect it at all. It was no problem, I didn’t feel a thing. It will prevent me getting Covid-19. This will give me a bit more freedom.”
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Alexander Smith, 85, was also among the first patients to get a jab. Having the vaccine means he will now be able to see his two-months-old grandson for the first time.
He said: “I have a grandson who I have never seen before, he was born in October. I am looking forward to seeing him.”
The jabs at Wood Road Surgery were administered by Dr Erum Quieshi, who has been a doctor for 17 years.
She said: “I am very excited to be one of the first doctors in the community to administer a vaccine. I am proud of this historic moment. We have faced unprecedented situations in the last months. This is the way forward.”
"We are looking forward to people feeling much safer once the vaccination programme is done."
The Wood Road surgery joined Feldon Lane Medical Practice in Halesowen in launching the GP-led vaccination on Monday.
Retired car factory worker and chauffeur Stanley Davies, 91, was the third patient to receive the coronavirus vaccine in Halesowen after couple Gerry and Maureen Hughes.
Mr Davies, a former Longbridge assembly line worker, said: "It was fine, no trouble at all.
"I'll have anything that'll do my health good. I will be able to relax, I hope, and look forward to the next one [a second injection] and then perhaps leave this mask off."
The Wolverhampton and Halesowen surgeries are being joined this week by Northway Medical Centre in Sedgley, Whiteheath Medical Centre in Oldbury and Enki Medical Centre in Birmingham.
Each part of Staffordshire will also have a designated surgery or standalone site, with Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium confirmed as being used along with the showground in Stafford.
Further sites expected to be operating in the Cannock and Codsall areas before the end of the week.
Richard Williams, chief executive of Staffordshire Showground, said: “We have been assisting the response to the pandemic from March we became the food and PPE hub for the county.
“We are delighted to be once again assisting the local community. Our extensive free parking and easily accessible conference facilities close to Stafford town centre make us an ideal venue and we are pleased to be helping to bring the pandemic to an end and allowing us all to return to a more normal lifestyle.”
John Denley, Wolverhampton’s Director of Public Health, said the involvement of GPs was crucial, adding: “This is absolutely huge, really significant.
“It has been a long time waiting for this development. It is something we are working in partnership with the NHS to roll out across the region.”
Asked when healthy adults could get a vaccine, Dr Salma Reehana, chairman of Wolverhampton CCG, said: "We are thinking maybe early new year. That is what we are looking for.
"We are waiting for further information."
