Coronavirus vaccine: Royal Surrey in Guildford begins COVID-19 jabs

Staff at the Royal Surrey in Guilford are starting to vaccinate people against COVID-19.

The hospital said they had been working flat-out to begin the first vaccinations today (8 December) as part of what NHS medical director Professor Stephen Powis has called “the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history”.

People aged 80 and older, care home workers and some NHS staff will be first to receive the jab protecting them from coronavirus, which has killed around 1,000 people in Surrey and more than 60,000 nationally.

The Royal Surrey was keen to stress that staff will contact patients to invite them in for appointments and offer the vaccine, adding: “Please do not contact, or visit, the hospital to seek a vaccine before then.”

Patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient will be among the first to receive the life-saving jab. The hospital will also work with care home providers to book their staff in to vaccination clinics.

There are 50 hubs in the first wave and more hospitals will start vaccinating over the coming weeks and months as the programme ramps up.

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Chief Nurse, Jo Mountjoy, said: “We are proud to be among the first Trusts to administer the Covid vaccination.

“This is a moment of real hope for our community - we look forward to working with our local partners on this important programme and we thank our staff for their ongoing hard work and dedication throughout this pandemic.”

Ruth Hutchinson, Director of Public Health for Surrey: "This is momentous news for Surrey and means that we'll be able to start protecting the most vulnerable members of our community from Covid-19.

“But it's important for people to remember that Surrey's infection rates tell us that we have continued community spread of the virus.

“So, for now, we must all continue to follow the guidelines and play our part to keep Surrey safe."