More than 280,000 people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have received first Covid jab

NHS England figures show 282,465 people had received a jab in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – including 92.7 per cent of the over-80s, some 98,635 people.

Politicians have welcomed the development, with hopes the NHS is on track to hit a government target of the most vulnerable groups vaccinated by February 15.

Havant MP Alan Mak said: ‘Having visited all three major vaccination sites serving the Havant Constituency, I’m delighted the roll-out of jabs is going well locally and across Hampshire.

‘Over 20,000 people across Havant have received their first vaccination, and with a new pharmacy vaccination centre having opened in Leigh Park, we are making excellent progress.’

A total of 61,007 residents aged 75 to 79 have also been vaccinated, 86.2 per cent of the county’s population in this age group. Focus has now turned to the over 70s with 20,017 jabs now administered to this age group.

Portsmouth North’s Penny Mordaunt said progress is on-track for the government to achieve its target.

Ms Mordaunt said: ‘People have worked so hard to get this done and I know we are ramping vaccinations up even further in the coming weeks. In our county the number of jabs already received equates to about 1,130 lives saved.

‘The vaccine means we are taking the fight to the virus and we will come through this.’

Recently published rankings showed Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were ranked 11th nationally for the percentage over 80s who have been vaccinated.

Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage added: ‘Great progress has been made with vaccine deployment. Many constituents have contacted me to say how seamless and straightforward the process was. Every life-saving jab will be a brick in the road back to normal life.’

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Portsmouth councillors are also pleased with how the vaccination programme is going and the continued fall in infections rates.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson, city council leader, said: ‘The vaccination programme is going extremely well and is a ray of hope for the city. Even if Covid is still around the vaccinations should mean our most vulnerable residents don’t die.

‘It will also hopefully ease the pressure on Queen Alexandra Hospital and other hospitals in Hampshire.’

The impacts of lockdown and vaccinations may already be having a positive impact.

Latest data shows QA Hospital was caring for 335 Covid patients as of February 2 – the first time since December 26 the Cosham hospital has had fewer than 340 people with Covid.

The number of patients on mechanical ventilation has dropped to 39 - closer to levels seen on January 12 when there were 40.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson stressed the importance of getting the jab.

He added: ‘If I get a call for my vaccine I will be there anytime of the day. The vaccine has the potential to reduce transmission and so it’s important for younger people to get it to make sure they don’t take Covid home to their families.’

It’s a sentiment shared by the council’s deputy leader Steve Pitt who said: ‘I’m very happy with the progress of the vaccine programme which seems to be on-track to meet the government’s target.

‘I would urge anyone to take up the opportunity of a vaccine. It’s absolutely clear this is the best way to free us from the shackles of Covid.’

Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan is pleased with the ‘positive progress’ but wants to see the programmed accelerated.

It comes as The News’ Shot in the Arm campaign calls for all community pharmacies to be involved in the programme, and everyone to be within minutes’ travel of a shot.

Mr Morgan said: ‘I’m particularly pleased that local pharmacies in Portsmouth are now being utilised after previous calls – but we need to go further.

‘As the vaccine programme opens up to additional, larger groups in the weeks ahead, we need to use every available resource if we are to vaccinate Britain as fast and efficiently possible.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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