Sunderland awaits Covid vaccination plans after 'very limited' first batch issued

The Newcastle Hospitals Foundation Trust vaccinated its first patients on Tuesday, however further information on how the vaccine will be rolled out across the region is still awaited.

Sunderland city councillor Dianne Snowdon said in a Facebook post that no information on coronavirus vaccinations had been shared with city leaders ahead of the first doses being deployed.

Cllr Snowdon said that it is not known when vaccines will arrive within the city or where they will be distributed from as she said the first batch is a “very limited number”.

Cllr Snowdon said: “Hopefully we will have some vaccines in Sunderland very soon but at 7pm last night (Monday, December 7), no information had been shared with City Council leaders about where or when they would arrive, but we do know the first batch is a very limited number.”

Fifty NHS sites have been chosen to be part of the first wave of the vaccine roll-out and will be vaccinating patients over the coming weeks.

The NHS has said that GPs and other primary care staff are also being put on standby to start delivering the jab.

A small number of GP-led primary care networks will begin delivering the vaccine from next week (December 14) with more practices in more parts of the country joining in on a phased basis during December and in the coming months.

The NHS has said that vaccination centres treating large numbers of patients in sporting venues and conference centres will be introduced when further supplies of vaccine come on stream.

Currently, the RVI in Newcastle is the only hub in the region to administer the Covid-19 jab as it meets specific storage and security measures.

It is understood that more hospital hubs will be expected to be ready to vaccinate shortly – although no official announcement has been made on where they will be.

Last month, Sunderland City Council revealed that plans were being put in place to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine “as soon as possible”.

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