NHS hits major Covid booster vaccine milestone in South West as three million jabs given

The NHS says more than 900,000 boosters have been given to people in the South West since December 12.

The NHS has hit a major milestone in its Covid vaccine rollout in the South West - administering more than three million jabs.

The rollout was ramped up after Prime Minister Boris Johnson set the target of offering a booster jab to every eligible individual before the end of the year.

Nearly a million people living in the region have received their booster jab since December 13.

At the Mount Hawke vaccination centre in St Agnes, meanwhile, more than 400 jabs were given over six hours on the weekend of December 18/19 - smashing their previous record and prompting a thank you from NHS bosses.

Three million Covid vaccines have been administered in the South West. Credit: PA

"During the past weekend, the Mount Hawke team had to cope with an unprecedented large number of walk-ins," explained Dr Rob White, who is a GP at St Agnes Surgery.

"This meant that many colleagues had to stay late to make sure that everyone attending the centre had received their jab.

"It's thanks to the hard work and commitment of the team that we were able to vaccinate a total of 453 patients, smashing all records for numbers in a 6-hour period. 

"Saturday’s total was 389 which, again, was a new record, so an amazing weekend of achievement, with a lot of patients receiving their first Covid-19 dose.

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"This is a fantastic response, and great news for people in Cornwall."

Cases of coronavirus continue to rise across the UK with over 100,000 new cases recorded in the 24 hours before December 22.

That is the highest daily number recorded since the pandemic began.

Despite the success of the vaccine rollout, people living in the West Country are still being urged to book their booster if they have not already.

Rachel Pearce, who is the regional director of commissioning and senior responsible officer for the Covid-19 vaccination programme for NHS England, South West, said: “To have expanded our capacity as quickly as we did is a monumental achievement.

“Since the Get Boosted Now campaign launched last Sunday (12 December), we have vaccinated just shy of 900,000 people across the region.

“Vaccination teams across the region pulled out all the stops to ramp up their programmes to ensure people can easily get a booster vaccination to protect themselves, their loved ones and the wider community.”

To book an appointment, or find out where your nearest vaccination centre is located, click here.