Coronavirus West Berkshire: Ray of light as vaccine centre planned for Newbury

Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine being rolled out in parts of the district

CHRISTMAS certainly won’t be the same this year – but there was a glimmer of hope that life might go back to some kind of ‘normal’ as West Berkshire residents started receiving vaccinations this week.

People living in West Berkshire will not be able to meet with anyone outside their own household over the festive period after the district was placed into Tier 4 restrictions.

The new measures, announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday, mean that residents will not be able to visit friends or family who live in a different home – even on Christmas Day.

It is also a devastating blow for the district’s pubs, bars, hotels and non-essential shops, which must now close once again – just weeks after reopening their doors.

However, there was a light at the end of the tunnel on Tuesday as the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine rollout started in West Berkshire.

The vaccine, which was approved by the UK medicine regulator last month, will be given to those over 80 or in the vulnerable group first.

On Tuesday morning, patients from the Boathouse Surgery in Pangbourne queued up to be given their first doses.

Doctors Rupert Woolley, Carole Burton, Kirsty Thompson and Tom Morgan administered the vaccinations, while volunteers helped direct people where they needed to go.

In the afternoon, patients from Chapel Row Surgery also received their jabs.

There have been question marks over why none of the surgeries closer to Newbury are currently offering the vaccine.

Last week, the Downland Practice in Chieveley said it would not be able to roll out the vaccine at this stage due to the logistical nightmare it represents.

The practice, which is linked with the Strawberry Hill Medical Centre and Eastfield House GP practice in Newbury, said it would be “impossible” to do it without shutting the surgery down to all other work.

But this week it said that GP partners had agreed to sign up to the Covid-19 vaccination, likely to be rolled out in January 2021.

In a letter to patients the practice said: “The location of the vaccination centre is still to be confirmed, but it is looking like this will be a central Newbury facility that is able to handle large numbers of patients for vaccination.”

There are hopes that a mass vaccination site could be situated at Newbury Racecourse, but this has not been officially confirmed.

Newbury MP Laura Farris said: “Here Primary Care Networks comprising many local GPs will be turning Newbury Racecourse into a vaccine centre with an anticipated start date of January 11.”

The Downland Practice said it would be requesting working age patients to volunteer for clinical or administrative assistance.

It said: “We do not know exactly what is involved, this will be come much clearer once the Newbury location is confirmed and the Covid-19 vaccination facility have an established management structure.”

The Tier 4 restrictions have been put in place, in part, due to the emergence of a new ‘mutation’ of Covid-19 which scientists say is now “out of control”.

Mrs Farris said: “I am so sorry for everyone who has had their Christmas plans ruined by the decision on Saturday to move the whole of Berkshire into Tier 4.

“But the statistics as they relate to West Berkshire are stark.

“From when we left lockdown on December 2 to December 16 (the most recent published data), the rate of infection more than quadrupled – from 54.9 per 100,000 on the 2nd to 265.1 per 100,000 on the 16th.

“This is over less than a two-week period.

“The rate of infection is now rising here at a faster rate than any other part of Berkshire (and indeed most of the country) and is at the highest overall rate that it has been at any point during the pandemic.

“Whilst it may be true that some parts of West Berkshire have seen little of the virus, I am really sorry to say that we cannot afford to be complacent.”

West Berkshire Council leader Lynne Doherty said: “I get the disappointment that residents must be feeling but, looking at the rates, I do think it is the right thing to do.

“It is the speed of the increase I think is really worrying.

“A couple of weeks ago we were down to 50 or 60 cases per 100,000 people in West Berkshire – now we are talking about 260 cases per 100,000 people.

“Christmas will be different this year and there won’t be a single person in the district that won’t be affected in one way or another by the restrictions.

“It is not nice, it is not pleasant, but hopefully by keeping everyone safe at this time means that next Christmas we can be together again.

“It is so important we continue to follow the rules, even though it is going to be hard.”

Mrs Doherty said she believed the sharp increase in cases in recent weeks was down to a ‘combination of factors’.

One, she said, was “very likely to be the new mutation”. However she said that a change in some people’s behaviour was also a reason.

She said: “We have heard about people relaxing a bit more. I think that’s definitely played a part.”