Teens ‘Grabbed a Jab’ at Kennet School at the weekend

Kennet School in Thatcham opened its doors at the weekend of August 21 and 22 for 16- and 17-year-olds to walk in and ‘Grab a Jab’ without booking.

The programme was administered by West Berkshire Council, working with Oxford Health and GP practises.

Kennet headteacher Gemma Piper said: “We were very pleased to be contacted by the local public health team and were able to open up our site for their use on both Saturday and Sunday.

“I am hugely grateful to the staff who yet again volunteered their time to support this and am pleased that young people in our community who want the vaccine have had quick access to it, and we will continue to work with Public Health England to continue providing the options for our community as they become available.”

A larger team arrived on the Sunday after vaccines ran out on Saturday, to get just under 200 16- and 17-year-olds jabbed.

Healthwatch West Berkshire chief officer Andrew Sharp said the turnout took them by "surprise".

He said: “On Saturday we ran out really really quickly. On Sunday we had an extra 40 vaccines. We had 192 in total in the two days.

“There were lots of supportive parents, our volunteers were wonderful. Oxford Health and the West Berkshire public health team were brilliant.

“Kennet School deserve a huge amount of praise, and everyone from the Healthwatch who gave up their Saturday and Sunday. It was the best volunteer effort."

The queues were a shock for Heathwatch West Berkshire as it experienced much smaller numbers in previous walk-ins for over 18s in Calcot.

Mr Sharp said: “I am sorry that people had to wait quite a long time. It was a shame that we couldn’t do something about that.”

Kennet Academy Trust estate manager Edd Keen said: “People were very pleased it was being put on and it was shown by everybody arriving very early to make sure they would be getting jabs.

“The teams that were running it were excellent. We got a great response from the general public.

“To have as many youngsters vaccinated as possible is a great thing.”

n More vaccinations for 16- and 17-year-olds are available at Northcroft Leisure Centre in Newbury until Saturday from 10am to 7pm. Details on page x