Omicron: Record number of jabs administered in York

Maddy Ruff, chief executive of Nimbus Care, which is overseeing the rollout, praised the efforts of staff and volunteers

Health officials have praised staff and volunteers at Covid vaccination sites in York in helping to deliver a record number of jabs.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced booster jabs would be offered to everyone over 18 in England by the end of December.

Maddy Ruff, chief executive of Nimbuscare, which is overseeing the rollout, said it had been challenging.

However, she said the response from those involved had been fantastic.

She said the city's Askham Bar NHS vaccination centre had doubled the number of jabs in the space of a week from 2,000 to 4,000 a day after the prime minister declared an "Omicron emergency".

"It's been really busy - we are doing record number of jabs on this site," she said.

She added that with the three satellite sites at the University of York, Wigginton Recreation Hall and Burnholme Sports Centre, a record 7,000 jabs were being given daily - a three-fold increase from a week ago.

Dr Lesley Welch, clinical lead GP, said staff were working longer hours in order to meet demand.

However, she said she was delighted to see so many people coming for their booster.

Local resident Andy Norris said he hoped the booster programme would help slow the spread of the new variant

Andy Norris, who went for a jab at the Askham Bar site, described the current situation as "quite scary", but added: "Hopefully [the booster rollout] will help slow the Omicron and everything else that goes with it".

York recorded 604 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week of 10 Dec to 16 Dec. The average area in England had 655.

Nearly half the city's population has received a booster dose, with 76% of people aged 12 and over having had a second.