Covid booster vaccination van aims to 'keep pressure' on to cut hospital admissions

Hundreds have queued in the wet weather in Portsmouth today (3 December) to get their coronavirus booster vaccinations.

Queues snaked around the Guildhall leading up to an NHS 'vaccination van' offering jabs to those 40 and over.

Many waiting for a jab said they would have had to wait until the end of December if they booked their vaccination appointment online.

The NHS team aims to vaccinate an extra 250+ people on the day.

Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth City Council, said: "I think we need to think of different ways in which we can get it to different people who have not had their booster.

"We know there are some people who are very enthusiastic. We know there are some people that just won't do it, but there are some people who probably will, if it's made easier for them. So this is a way to keep it easy so people just turn up, get their jab and go on their way.

"We need to think of different ways we can get to different people who've not had their booster to make sure they do."

He added: "We know from the research that it increases your immunity enormously."

"We know there are too many people in QA [Queen Alexandra Hospital], in hospital beds who have got Covid. And we need to make sure we keep the pressure on, to keep the numbers as low as possible for the winter.

"This is the most successful vaccination programme the UK has ever run. But inevitably there are glitches and hold-ups and that's not easy for people. We'd like it to always go completely smoothly, but actually, if you look at the numbers that have been vaccinated, we've never had a vaccination programme in this country that's been as successful as this. And it has saved hundreds of lives."

There are plans for the vaccination van to be back in the city on Friday 10 and Friday 17 December.Other booster buses will be on the Isle of Wight, Gosport and Southampton over the weekend.

The CovBoost study found that booster jabs may well offer good protection in the face of the Omicron variant. A team studying the effects of third doses said the body's T cell immune response after a booster shot is such that it may provide protection from hospital admission and death.