Askham Bar celebrates six months of vaccination programme
It's six months this week since the very first Covid vaccinations were administered there.
It's six months this week since Askham Bar administered its first Covid vaccinations.
Nimbuscare, a group of 11 GP practices which runs the site at Askham Bar, has now vaccinated over 315,000 people.
The team have also reported a 97% positive feedback rating from the members of the public who were surveyed.
Maddy Ruff is the CEO at Nimbuscare, and told Greatest Hits Radio: "We're really proud of what we've achieved. It's amazing that from such humble beginnings the centre here has transformed into a key part of the vaccination effort nationally.
"We've hit 315,000 vaccinations, and in May we did 75,000 vaccinations in one month - our biggest month.
"We didn't think those numbers were possible when we first started in December, and it's through the support of all of our clinical staff and volunteers that we've been able to hit those numbers.
"Combining the national and local site has been great in York. It's wonderful now to be seeing young people coming for their vaccinations; I remember back in January when people in their 80s, 90s and even 100s were arriving in terrible weather conditions to get their jabs.
"It's all part of our national effort to get back to normal. Once we gauged the scale of the challenge, our Chairman (Professor Mike Holmes) quickly realised that we'd do well - it was just about making sure we could do things safely before we ramped up the numbers.
"In York we were lucky to be asked to be a pilot site for the new Moderna vaccine, so on many days we've had Pfizer, Moderna and Astra-Zeneca supplies readily available.
"What this has demonstrated is just what general practice can do working at scale. We've worked together as one big team and the local community - it just shows what that strength is, and we'll certainly be taking it forwards".