Vaccine dose number 13,000 administered in Selsey

As of Tuesday, more than a third of patients (35.2 per cent) from the Chichester Alliance of Medical Practices – a group of eight GP practices – had received their first vaccination.

The Selsey Centre team delivered dose number 13,000 yesterday and said the mood was ‘so positive’.

A spokesman said: “When we started out, we took three days to dispense a batch (1100 doses) of the Pfizer vaccine, but we can do that now in less than two.

“Everyone involved has thought of and implemented ways to make things work better and more efficiently in their particular area, but we continue to meet our main objective, which is to treat all of our visitors with kindness, care and good humour.

“Some people are understandably nervous about being vaccinated or even just being close to other people after such a long time in isolation, but our marshals, administrators and vaccination team are like a large welcoming family and really understand and support those coming through the doors.”

A ‘clever’ scanning system allowing the team to issue a pre-printed card which the admin team can scan into the computer system has ‘helped a lot’, the spokesman said.

“This speeds up the process and ensures accuracy when searching for your details on the national database,” said the spokesman.

“Once your vaccination is recorded, a record is sent to the vaccination service and your registered GP, so they can see that you have had your jab.

“These details will be used when calling you for the second dose, which should be about 12 weeks after the first, so keep an eye on those phones nearer the time!”

The vaccine centres in Selsey and Tangmere have been vaccinating patients down to priority group seven – those aged over 60 – this week.

However vaccine supplies ‘seem to have ground to a temporary halt’ and only one clinic will be offered next week on Friday, March 5, the spokesman said.

“This is desperately frustrating for us all, especially when we are so good at delivery, but we hope that supplies and Government decision makers will move in our favour as we all want to get the population vaccinated as soon as we can,” the spokesman said.

“I know we would like to beat the targets, not just meet them, but annoyingly, our hands are tied.”

The team also gave their thanks to the covid marshals.

Administrator Mark Parrish said: “I have had the privilege of working alongside many of them and I have been able to discover a little about their backgrounds and interests, and what lovely people they are.

“Every shift we have roles for 10-11 marshals (over 20 per day).

“They give their time freely and willingly and apart from a good supply of cake, there is not much we can offer them in return.

“Many have told me of the wonderful comments they receive from you about the difference they are making to everyone’s lives in our community and they have noticed that the Centre could not run without them, and I think that’s the point.

“When a delivery of vaccine is promised, the shifts are published online for the marshals, and they are all gone in a few minutes - such is their enthusiasm!

“So, when you do finally get your call for a vaccination, please do let them know what a good job they are doing.”