V-Day LIVE: Sheffield Hospitals to start vaccination programme as first UK patient gets jab
The vaccination process to protect people against Covid-19 is underway in England after a 91-year-old woman became the first person to receive the life-saving jab.
Patients in Sheffield will also begin receiving the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine from Tuesday, with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust among 53 trusts across the country to be given the green light to begin the process back to normality.
Cases continue to fall in the city, with no new coronavirus-related deaths recorded on Monday (7 December).
There were 148 cases per 100,000 people in Sheffield in the seven days to 3 December. The average area in England had 126.
Coronavirus in Sheffield LIVE: Updates as first NHS patient receives vaccination
Last updated: Tuesday, 08 December, 2020, 13:59
- First NHS patient receives Covid-19 vaccination on ‘V Day’
- No new coronavirus-related deaths recorded in Sheffield on Monday
- The city’s infection rate continues to fall, with 174 fewer cases recorded in the seven days to 3 December compared to the previous week.
Shopper thrown out of Meadowhall after refusing to wear a mask while drinking coffee
Tier 3 restrictions have resulted in changes to food and drink rules at Meadowhall.
Shopper thrown out of Meadowhall after refusing to wear a mask while drinking coffee
A furious shopper has accused Meadowhall security guards of using excessive force against him after he refused to put his mask back as he sipped a takeaway coffee.
Sheffield GP ‘very excited’ as Covid vaccinations get underway in city
Sheffield GP 'very excited' as Covid vaccinations get underway in city
A Sheffield GP says doctors around the city are ‘very excited’ to play their part in the historic coronavirus vaccination programme beginning today.
The latest coronavirus infection rates for Sheffield and South Yorkshire
Latest coronavirus infection rates for Sheffield and South Yorkshire as vaccinations start
As the NHS begins to administer COVID-19 vaccines for the first time today, these are the latest infection rates for the local authorities in South Yorkshire.
Woman turns up at hospital asking for vaccination
People have been asked not to turn up at hospitals expecting to be vaccinated after the first patients were given jabs.
A Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust spokeswoman said a woman in her 90s had turned up at a hospital, having watched the news.
She said people will be contacted when it is their turn to be vaccinated.
‘It feels like the beginning of the end’
Prof Stephen Powis said the start of a Covid-19 vaccination programme “feels like the beginning of the end”.
Appearing on BBC Breakfast, he was asked what his message was to people who might have concerns over the vaccine.
Prof Powis said: “Vaccination is one of the safest forms of medicine.”
He added: “We know they work. This one has been tested in many thousands of people in clinical trials.
“And, of course, the independent regulator, the MHRA, has looked at it carefully, as it always does, and has given it the green light.
“I’m absolutely confident that this … all vaccines are safe. And so if you get called, we’ll be calling you to come and get it, then my advice is come and get it.”
No coronavirus-related deaths recorded in Sheffield on Monday
No coronavirus related-deaths recorded in Sheffield on Monday - despite 13 across South Yorkshire - but no fewer than 16 were confirmed on Sunday.
The hospital death toll in Sheffield remains at 511 as of Tuesday morning (8 December).
Yorkshire and the Humber had 537 deaths involving Covid-19 registered in the week ending November 27 – the highest number for the region since the week ending May 1, according to the ONS.
Vaccination process could start in care homes before Christmas
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he hoped care home residents would start being vaccinated before Christmas.
He told Sky News: “We hope to be vaccinating in care homes before Christmas … but we can only do that as fast as is safe to go.”
Mr Hancock also said vaccine cards being issued to patients were “standard NHS reminder cards” for the follow-up appointment for the second dose, adding: “We are not proposing to have a sort of immunity certificate that allows you to do different things.”
‘It is no good everybody relaxing now’
Health Secretary Matt Hancock urged people to continue to obey the coronavirus restrictions despite the rollout of a vaccine.
He told Sky News: "When enough people who are vulnerable to Covid-19 have been vaccinated then, of course, we can lift the restrictions … we think that will be in the spring.
“It is no good everybody relaxing now – we’ve got to hold firm until the vaccination programme has reached enough vulnerable people so that we don’t have people dying from coronavirus in the number that we do today.”
A further 190 coronavirus-related deaths were recorded in hospitals in England on Monday.