Posted on Friday 21st May 2021
Nearly 90 people got their first jab at today’s (Friday 21 May) pop-up vaccine clinic at the Burton Caribbean Association and the County Council and NHS would like to thank the local community for getting behind the event and making it such a success.
The pop-up was open to people aged over 34 - plus any other adult members of the same household. The drive was an effort to encourage as many eligible residents to come forward and get vaccinated as soon as possible.
The plea to make use of the drop-in clinic was repeated earlier in the week as concerns about the emergence of the Indian variant surfaced. Ten cases of Indian Covid-19 variants have been found in Staffordshire, including one person living in Burton.
Dr Richard Harling, Director of Health and Care at Staffordshire County Council said:
“I would like to thank the Burton Caribbean Association, the local community and our NHS partners for helping to organise today’s pop-up vaccine clinic.
“It’s great to see more people from all backgrounds get the jab – as this does really offer the best protection against Covid-19.
“We have seen that vaccine uptake in people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds has been generally lower than average so working closely with communities and organising pop-ups in familiar surroundings does help us get more people vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
Burton Caribbean Association’s Trevor Wright said:
“Today has been a great success and very busy, even before the doors opened there were people queuing up.
“After all the hard work that we have done within the local community - promoting the need for people to get vaccinated and that today’s pop-up was a perfect opportunity to get it done it’s pleasing to see a great turnout and that lots of people have responded.”
Victoria Lynne, Clinical Lead for today’s pop-up clinic, added:
“It’s been a lot busier than I expected I must admit, but it’s great and I’m really pleased so many people have chosen to come down today.
“The pop-up centres give us the flexibility to accept people without an appointment, people coming today have said it’s been great for them to walk to this local centre because they don’t drive.
“If you’re nervous, it’s normal especially with a new vaccine, but the nurses here onsite or your GP surgery can answer any questions or concerns you have.”
All people aged over 34 in England should book their vaccination without delay. Eligible people can book their vaccine by visiting the NHS Book a coronavirus vaccination website.