NHS leaders across Coventry and Warwickshire are calling for residents to get the Covid-19 vaccination when it is their turn.
More than 12,000 people across the region have received the vaccination so far at Primary Care Network sites.
Patients aged 80 and over, care home staff and care home residents are currently being offered a vaccination – as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which decides the order in which people will receive the vaccine.
Gradually, more people will be invited by the NHS to receive the vaccine at a local hub.
The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine comes after the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) – an independent body made up of experts who have studied the data and assessed the vaccines in the same way they do for hundreds of others each year.
Dr Sarah Raistrick, GP and Chair of Coventry and Rugby CCG, said: “I want to reassure patients that the Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective, and the same steps have been taken as for any other vaccine.
“The process for approving the vaccine has simply been done in the shortest time possible, without bypassing any of the usual stages.
“The Covid-19 vaccine is quick, free and effective, and I would urge anybody who receives an invitation to get the vaccination. It could save your and your families lives.”
She added the scale of the pandemic, and the accompanying lockdown restrictions, could reduce if enough people get vaccinated – and urged residents to follow the national lockdown restrictions while the vaccination programme continues.
