More than 800,000 COVID-19 vaccinations have been delivered in Tayside since the programme began one year ago, saving an estimated 2,500-2,700 lives across Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross.
The first COVID vaccination in Tayside was delivered at Ninewells Hospital to staff nurse Lynda Smyth on 8 December, 2020. Lynda was one of the vaccinators working in the staff clinic and received her jab from fellow vaccinator, staff nurse Marion McLaggan.
Since then, the vaccination teams across Tayside have delivered 805,000 COVID vaccines, including first, second, third and booster doses, as well as 160,000 flu jabs, taking the total vaccinations in the past 12 months to 965,000.
Director of Public Health Dr Emma Fletcher said, “To have delivered close to one million COVID and flu vaccines in the last year is truly remarkable and has been crucial in our response to the pandemic.
“Our huge thanks go to all of our vaccinators, support teams, marshalls, volunteers and partner organisations, as well as everyone who has rolled up their sleeves and been vaccinated.
“Together we have made huge strides in tackling COVID-19 and our teams will continue to work hard to further roll out the booster programme over the coming weeks and ensure everyone has the opportunity to protect themselves and their loved ones this winter.”
Chief Executive Grant Archibald said, “The scale of work that has gone into the vaccination programme over the past 12 months is unprecedented and I want to thank each and every person in NHS Tayside, our primary care colleagues, the Health and Social Care Partnerships, local authorities, volunteer organisations and armed forces who has contributed to this huge partnership effort.
“Our staff always go above and beyond to provide excellent care for the people of Tayside and I’m very proud of their dedication and resilience through what has been a very challenging couple of years for us all. To hear that up to 2,700 lives in Tayside alone have potentially been saved by the vaccination programme is truly humbling and makes all of the hard work worthwhile.
“The people of Tayside have also played a significant part by turning up in their thousands to roll up their sleeves and get protected so a big thank you to you all.”
The first vaccinations were given to frontline health and social care staff before being rolled out to care homes and GP practices to reach those who were most vulnerable.
The programme then began to gather pace with the creation of a number of dedicated community vaccination centres in Dundee, Perth, Pitlochry, Blairgowrie, Forfar, Montrose and Arbroath, which allowed vaccination teams to deliver significantly higher numbers of vaccines. To ensure as many people as possible were able to access the jab, a wide range of outreach clinics also took place in community venues, religious centres, football stadiums, farms and factories, supermarkets, and university and college campuses.
The programme then moved on to first doses for younger age groups before the seasonal flu and booster campaign began in September.