8 December 2021

Today marks the one year anniversary of the first UK resident receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. 

Since then, over 100 million doses have been administered across the UK and at least 50,000 of those were provided by Frimley Health.

We were one of the first Trusts in the country to start vaccinating patients and this time last year a hub had been set up at Wexham Park Hospital offering Pfizer jabs to local residents over 80, care home workers and frontline staff. The first patient to receive their vaccine at Frimley Health was Prem Premachandran, a consultant in our emergency department who had to shield during the first wave of Covid.

The hub was open for a total of five months and it that time more than 42.000 people were given the vaccine. Now, twelve months on, the vast majority of our people have been vaccinated and we have just completed our booster programme for frontline staff and employees who are over 50.

In light of the new Omicron variant, the Government has expanded its booster programme to include all adults over 18 and announced that all eligible people will be offered a top-up jab by the end of January.

Tracey Coulson, head of nursing and vaccination lead said: “At Frimley Health we are so proud of what we managed to achieve with our vaccination hub, protecting tens of thousands of people across our local communities.

It is just as important to get vaccinated now as it was on day one of the programme. Booster jabs will protect the progress we have already made against the virus and help ensure we can all enjoy Christmas safely with our loved ones.”

People can book their vaccine appointment online at www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or by phoning 119. A wide range of walk in clinics are also available around the region, with many offering extra appointment slots in the run up to Christmas. People can also use the NHS online walk-finder to find their nearest site.