Mansfield MP hails Covid vaccine rollout effort as a phenomenal achievement

This is a phenomenal achievement for Britain as a country as it has administered more doses than Italy, France, Germany and Spain combined.

The UK is among the world leaders when it comes to vaccinations delivered so far and the leader in Europe.

A perfect example of the world leading role global Britain can play and, of course, a huge opportunity for us to get our lives back.

Alongside this, there was also the news that the Moderna vaccine, of which Britain has 17 million doses already ordered, is due to arrive in early spring and will help the NHS to expand vaccine eligibility to more people in Mansfield and across the country.

Currently, our area is on track to have all over-80s, care home residents and care home staff vaccinated by the end of the month – and actually, our area has been asked to bring that target forward by a week to January 25.

That means all over-80s should receive a letter inviting them to make an appointment for their first vaccination by this week.

Looking forward, our area is also on track to vaccinate the top four groups of priority by the Prime Minister’s deadline of the middle of February.

This means more than 247,000 vaccines will have been delivered in Nottinghamshire which is an astounding achievement and I would like to thank all those healthcare workers, volunteers, those who waited patiently for letters and everyone else involved in the vaccination process for their work.

Every vaccination delivered brings us that little bit closer to being able to safely ease restrictions and bring us back to normality.

I know how hard lockdown measures are on people and the strain that place on people’s mental health and relationships.

It is important than ever that people still follow the current rules to help limit the cases locally and protect the NHS.

However, there is now light at the end of the tunnel and we have taken a big leap towards it in recent weeks.

The deployment of vaccines is currently running smoothly and that’s vital of course.

We need to make sure the supply and the vaccine to each area is consistent.

That’s a big challenge but also a huge priority for everyone involved.

More than 200,000 people have signed up to help deliver the vaccine too, as volunteers.

That’s amazing so thank you to everyone who’s put their hand up to help – it’s those kind of stats that show the very best of Britain.

Ben Bradley is MP for Mansfield.