Covid: Firefighters trained to help give vaccine in Basingstoke

Alan Titchmarsh was one of the first people to get the vaccine at the fire station

Firefighters in Basingstoke have been trained to help NHS staff give the Covid vaccine.

Trained crews are working at a new vaccination centre at Basingstoke Fire Station, with celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh among one of the first to receive a jab.

Station manager Keith Jones said staff were "delighted" to be able to support the rollout.

Fire cover will continue to be provided from the station.

In a video posted on Twitter, Titchmarsh said the vaccine rollout was "such a wonderful boost for morale for everybody in the country".

Vaccination centres also opened at St James' Hospital in Portsmouth and The Riverside Centre on the Isle of Wight on Monday.

All three, including the one at Basingstoke Fire Station, are open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

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They follow the vaccination hub at the Southampton Clinical Commissioning Group's offices in Southampton, which opened to the public on Tuesday.

All four of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight large-scale vaccination centres are being run by Solent NHS Trust.

Basingstoke Fire Station, where firefighters have been trained to vaccinate

Chief medical officer Dr Dan Baylis said: "We are really excited to be expanding the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

"We are especially grateful to our partners who are offering mutual aid to help us vaccinate as many people as possible."

People should not turn up at any of the centres before they have been offered an appointment inviting them to be vaccinated.

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