ST HELENS’ mass vaccination programme has been given a shot in the arm after the first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine arrived.

GPs have been hard at work this week administering booster jabs of the Pfizer vaccine to patients who received the vaccine in December.

And today, St Helens CCG took delivery of the first batch of the recently approved, Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

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This will be used to vaccinate residents and care home staff next week.

GPs will also now be able to vaccinate housebound residents, who have so far been unable to receive the Pfizer vaccine due to its fragility.

A spokesman for St Helens CCG said: “As this vaccine can be stored in a regular fridge and is far less fragile than the Pfizer one, our GPs will be taking it out next week to vaccinate residents and staff in our care homes and also housebound residents.

“As soon as we receive further supplies of both vaccines, we’ll be continuing with our mass vaccination clinics at Saints and calling the rest of our over 80s and then working our way through the priority list in order of age and clinical risk.

“We advise patients take up whichever vaccine they are offered in order that they can be protected from Covid-19 as soon as possible.

“Both the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines have been given regulatory approval by the MHRA and both are safe and highly effective.

“If you or a family member is over 80 but hasn’t yet been called, please be patient – as soon as we receive further supplies from the national supply chain and are ready to vaccinate you, your GP surgery will contact you to book you in.”

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The spokesman said the mass vaccination plans are dependent on vaccines being delivered on time and the “robustness of the supply chain”.

They said the CCG is working hard with NHE England to secure further supplies.

If you have any questions on the Covid-19 vaccination programme, visit the FAQ page here.