THE vaccine rollout has continued at a good pace, both locally and nationally.
The centres across the Keighley and Ilkley constituency have been really busy.
My thanks continue to go out to the local NHS, the Modality Partnership and all of the volunteers who have given-up their time to help with the vaccine rollout.
Nationally, two in three adults have now received their first dose of the vaccine. That is ahead of almost every other country. This means that 35 million adults in the UK have now received their first dose.
The focus has now rightly shifted to second doses which are being administered at speed. To date, one in three adults has now received their second dose of the vaccine which means in numbers, over 16 million second doses have been administered.
Across the Keighley and Ilkley constituency the vaccine uptake has been high, with 72 per cent of the electorate receiving their first dose and 36 per cent receiving their second dose.
Again my praise goes to the local NHS and the Modality Partnership as well as Keighley Central Mosque, Project 6, Keighley Asian Women and Children’s Centre and all other parties who have been instrumental in leading outreach programmes across Keighley.
The different variety of vaccines now available in the UK has increased to three – Pfizer, Oxford/Astra Zeneca and the recently-approved Moderna. Whilst only limited supplies of the Moderna vaccine are currently available, it is expected that more will be made available over the coming weeks. The Government has ordered 17 million doses of this vaccine.
There has been much national publicity on questions of vaccine safety.
Public Health England announced last month that its analysis of the programme during the period from December 8, 2020, to the end of March revealed that over 10,400 lives had been saved. This is a fantastic result. The vaccine programme has been proven to save lives and is rapidly helping us to ease restrictions and return life to some form of normality.
The advice from the NHS is to go and receive your jab whenever you are called forward. Due to my age I am yet to receive mine, however I will be taking it as soon as it has been offered to me.
There has been much media speculation over the last couple of months with regards to the safety of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine and its connection to rare blood clots. It is important to stress that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective and has already saved thousands of lives.
As the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation have said, the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks for the vast majority of adults.
However, as a precaution, it has now been advised that adults under the age of 40 should, if available, be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
Overall, the vaccine programme has been a renowned success and is enabling the Government to continue with its easing of restrictions in line with the Prime Minister’s roadmap.
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