A GOVERNMENT minister has hailed all the teams involved in vaccination roll-out across St Helens – after meeting with key players on a video call.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps checked in with leading figures at the mass vaccination centre at St Helens rugby league stadium in the North West, to see first-hand the efforts of those involved.
Mr Shapps praised the efforts of transport operators and employees across the country who have gone above and beyond to help the nation’s coronavirus vaccination roll-out, ahead of the Government confirming on Sunday that 15 million people had been given their first dose of the vaccine.
It puts the Government firmly on course to meet its target of offering a first dose to everyone in the the UK in its top four priority groups – including all over-70s – by Monday.
On Friday Mr Shapps met Dr Hilary Flett – GP clinical lead for vaccination roll-out - and volunteers, on an online call to Saints' stadium to see first-hand how the roll-out is being delivered.
The team met with Grant Shapps in a video call on Friday
Mr Shapps thanked the team behind the vaccination clinics at the Saints stadium – both the GP-led clinic on the ground floor and the mass vaccination centre that is run by St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust on the first floor.
He spoke with local GP and vaccination roll out lead, Dr Hilary Flett, as well as nurse vaccinators Tracy McLoughlin and Debbie Larty, Tracy Dickinson, a volunteer from Halton and St Helens VCA and those managing operations behind the scenes, including Mike Rush, chief executive of Saints.
He was told it has been a team effort across the borough and that more than 80 per cent of all those in the eligible cohorts have now received their vaccinations, which is more than 25,000 residents.
After the meeting, Mr Shapps said: "We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the medical staff and volunteers in St Helens, supporting people to get their vital jabs. I urge everyone aged 70 and over who hasn’t yet had a vaccination to come forward and contact the NHS to get their jab."
The Star has been inundated with messages of praise from readers for the staff and volunteers at the vaccination centre - and a salute for their work featured on the front page of this week's print edition.
Dr Flett, meanwhile, added: “We were pleased to have the opportunity to speak to a government minister and enjoyed our meeting with him.
Dr Hilary Flett is heading the GP-led vaccination roll-out
"We hope that this gave him and his department a flavour of the benefits our population is reaping as a result of the huge amount of integrated working we are doing in St Helens across our health, social care and voluntary sector partners.
“Our 33 GP practices, NHS St Helens CCG, St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, St Helens Borough Council, Halton and St Helens Voluntary Community Action and of course Saints RLFC have made the vaccination programmes not only possible, but a tremendous success of which we are all extremely proud.
"Integration and community working is the key to transformation, something we realised in our borough some time ago in financially challenging times. We have now extended an invitation to Mr Shapps to visit our borough in person once Covid restrictions allow.”
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