Kathleen Wynn, 91, was vaccinated on Friday morning at Alfred Squire Medical Centre in Wednesfield, one of several primary care centres across the city which, together with New Cross Hospital, are acting as vaccination sites.
She said: "I think this vaccine is a really good thing. It will be great to be able to see my sister and grandchildren again and it is the hope we need in 2021."
Her daughter Helen Shaw added: “We know that we all need to continue to be careful but getting mum vaccinated against Covid-19 gives us the hope that we can get our lives back as a family. It means so much to us all to not have to worry so much."
Nurse Rhonda Boden, who administered Kathleen's jab, said: "It is so important to get your Covid-19 vaccine when you are invited in.
"We are here for you, and it is great to see so many of you getting the protection you need; your thanks is all we need to keep going and we are very grateful for your support."
The vaccine is currently available to people in the first priority group – people aged 80 and over, care home residents and staff and health care workers at high risk – and will be rolled out to others based on factors such as their age and risk in the near future.
All GPs in Wolverhampton are linked to the primary care sites, and people will be contacted by the NHS as and when they become eligible for the vaccine; there is no need to call their GP or pharmacy. For details of the priority list, visit GOV.UK.
Vaccination centres which will be capable of treating large numbers of patients will be established across the region in the coming weeks as further supplies of the vaccine become available, including one which opened at Millennium Point in Birmingham today (Monday). It will also be made available from community pharmacies; further details will be confirmed in due course.
Dr John Burrell, Clinical Director, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Primary Care Network, said: “It is great to be offering our most vulnerable patients the Covid-19 vaccine here in Wolverhampton.
"You don’t need to contact us, your GP has you on the list and we will be in touch as soon as we have an appointment for you.”
Dr Salma Reehana, Clinical Chair, Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "The roll out is well underway and our GPs are moving through the lists and will be in touch. If you have had a letter from the NHS, please don’t call your GP; you can either wait for your GP to contact you about getting an appointment at a local centre, or use the details in the letter to book your jab at one of the larger vaccination centres."
Latest figures show there were 987 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in Wolverhampton over the seven days to 8 January. That means 2,596 people in the city tested positive for the virus in that seven day period – though the true number of new cases will likely be considerably higher.
Councillor Ian Brookfield, Leader of the City of Wolverhampton Council, said: "Thousands of people are still contracting Covid-19 every week, and the vaccine is the fastest way in which we are going to get out of this pandemic, so I urge everyone, as soon as you are contacted to have your jab, make sure you get it – because the quicker people are protected, the quicker we can get back to normal."
The vaccines, developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The latest information and guidance around coronavirus is available at GOV.UK and on the council’s own coronavirus pages. Further details of the lockdown restrictions currently in place, and the answers to frequently asked questions, are available at Covid Alert.
Anyone with symptoms of Covid-19, which include a fever, a new continuous cough or a change to the sense of taste or smell, must immediately self-isolate and book a PCR test by visiting GOV.UK or calling 119.
