Health bosses yesterday said the region ‘stands ready and well-prepared’ to help deliver any vaccination in line with national directions.
Local immunisation coordinator and consultant in public health medicine Dr Nigel Calvert described news of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine as very encouraging.
He added: “But work is still required before any vaccine for the coronavirus is ready and available.
“That said, the success to date of the biggest flu vaccination campaign ever mounted within Dumfries and Galloway does offer a very good degree of confidence that we’ll be able to help deliver Covid vaccinations when we are at that point.”
The NHS in currently on track to conclude this year’s flu jab programme, for which almost two thirds of the region’s 150,000 population are eligible.
But Dr Calvert pointed out that a similar covid project would be an even more ‘challenging undertaking’.
The first to receive the vaccination would be care home residents, people working in health and social care, and those aged over 80.
And immunisations would be carried out in centralised public locations.
Dr Calvert said: “All of this will be arranged as we move forward, but in the meantime it is important that we don’t forget that covid continues to pose an immediate risk to ourselves, our families and our communities.
“It’s very important that we continue to follow the FACTS guidance around wearing of masks, maintaining hand hygiene, keeping a physical distance from others and not mixing with people in other households.”
South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth is confident that NHS Dumfries and Galloway will be able to deliver a Covid-19 vaccine as and when it becomes available.
He said: “From my own discussions with NHS Dumfries and Galloway in recent months, I know they have been actively preparing for the possibility of a vaccine being developed and how they might roll it out. That work will put our region in a very good position, though obviously this vaccine is still at early stages of development and nothing has been confirmed yet.”
Meanwhile, an Annan firm has offered to support the safe delivery of the Covid vaccine.
Eco, which offers dry ice solutions to the pharma industry and the NHS, say they have the capacity to produce 7.5 tons of dry ice per day to help keep the vaccine at its required temperature of -70 to -80 during transportation and storage.
Managing director Eddie Black said: “We already supply dry ice to support the pharma industry in the UK, including a university-backed programme of research into vaccines. We also supply the NHS.
“Dry ice is the only stable product on the planet when it comes to the safe transportation and storage of vaccines. It is used to safely transport medicines all around the world.
“We have more than ten years of experience in the manufacture and supply of dry ice. It’s what our business was founded on.
“We are here and ready to help fill the gaps and support that supply chain wherever it is needed most.”
* please do carry over to p7
