Come forward when you get the Covid-19 vaccine invite says Blackburn man

A Blackburn man has urged people to come forward when they get the invite for the Covid-19 vaccination.

Mohamed Karolia, 83, from Queen’s Park, Blackburn, received his vaccine at a local vaccination service being run by family doctors and their teams in Blackburn on Thursday. It was administered by Clinical Pharmacist Zeeshan Zulfequar.

As the roll out of the biggest vaccination programme in NHS history gains further momentum, more and more community sites will be going live in other areas. Nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and other NHS staff are working alongside GPs to vaccinate those aged 80 and over, as well as care home workers and residents, identified as priority groups for the life-saving vaccine.

He said:

“It was very well organised at the vaccine centre and there were Covid restrictions in place. I feel a bit more relaxed now I have had the first part of the vaccine. There have been lots of scaremongering stories going around about it. It is important that people do their own research. It is your own personal choice at the end of the day whether you have the vaccine but your decision should be based on research.”

His daughter Rokaiyah said that they had discussed the issue as a family beforehand. She said:

“I was a bit scared at first after reading all the fake news being spread on social media but my brother and I discussed it as a family. We looked into it properly and we decided it was in the best interests of our parents for them to have the vaccine.

My father has been shielding throughout because he was treated for Sarcoma cancer two years ago and also has a kidney issue. He has been poorly so we thought it was better for him to have the vaccine.”

Residents of care homes in England will also receive their first vaccine soon after distributors finalise new, stringent processes to ensure the safe delivery of the PfizerBioNTech vaccine.

Like hospital staff, who launched the world-leading campaign last week, GP practice teams have been working hard and quickly to ensure that residents can be offered the vaccine in well organised, safe and easy to access places in local areas. 

The over 80s were the first group to be invited for the vaccination by direct invite from their GPs.  The NHS will contact people in each of the priority groups identified when it is their turn to receive the vaccine.