Medical staff give 'phenomenal’ 10,000 Covid-19 vaccines to Buxton residents in 10 weeks

By Sunday, March 21, over 10,000 patients from Stewart Medical Centre, Buxton Medical Practice, Elmwood Medical Centre and Hartington Surgery had received their first dose of either Pfizer or Astra Zeneca vaccine at the Buxton Medical Practice vaccination site.

Graham Chipp, business manager at the Stewart Medical Centre on Hartington Road, praised the efforts of staff and patients.

He said: “The take-up has been phenomenal and far higher than we thought it would be which is great.

"The older cohort has been almost 100 per cent turn out and the numbers are high in the younger generations too, much more than we have ever seen for the annual flu jab.

“To get to 10,000 first dose vaccinations in ten weeks is truly amazing and a true testament to all the staff from different practices working together and working tirelessly every day.”

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Graham says he has never seen anything like this in his medical career and probably never will again so he is so proud of all those involved.

“As a profession we are exhausted, we are working late, missing time with our families so we can staff the vaccination centre but it is clearly paying off as so many people have accepted the offer of the vaccination,” he added.

"I think for many the vaccination is the first step to getting back to normal, to seeing friends and family again, to going to the pub or on holiday, everything people have missed in the last year.”

The vaccine roll-out started in mid January with the highest priorities receiving the dose first such as care home residents and workers, those aged over 80 and frontline health workers.

The programme in Buxton, which is facing vaccine shortages just like the rest of the country, is now inviting people aged between 65 and 69 year olds, 16 to 64 year olds with an underlying health condition, 60 to 64 year olds and 55 to 59 year olds to come for their first vaccine.

Graham said: “People might be waiting a bit longer for their vaccine but we will get round to you all.

“This has been the biggest inoculation programme I have ever been involved in and soon we are going to start seeing those who had their first vaccine return to us in the coming weeks so there is no sign of it slowing down just yet.”

He added: “Thank you to the staff, the volunteers marshalling the car park, the public for being so understanding as we get through this together."

The vaccination hub at Buxton Medical Practice on Temple Road is a safe and covid secure environment with free parking, offering appointments from 8am to 6pm on vaccination days.

It is staffed by GPs and Practice Nursing teams from all the local practices, with access to patients’ medical information and access to medical equipment in the unlikely event of an adverse reaction.

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