Council teams up with local NHS to provide mobile vaccination service.
We’ve been running a mobile community testing service for months, taking lateral flow tests to hundreds of people in communities across the county. But we’ve now teamed up with the local NHS, and with clinical lead registered nurses and registered vaccinators on board, we’re now also offering vaccinations against coronavirus as well as tests.
We piloted it in Kingsbridge last week, and it was a success.
One 17 year old came with their dad. He has autism and is claustrophobic, such that he hadn’t wanted to attend the mass vaccination centre in Plymouth, nor go anywhere with large gatherings. Having a vaccine site that was outside and nearby offered enough reassurance to make it possible for him to attend for his vaccination.
Two siblings had felt uncomfortable booking their vaccine appointments despite both wanting to, because their mum didn’t want the vaccination. They came. They didn’t need to make an appointment, and both of them now have protection from the vaccine.
Another person had a phobia with needles, so the idea of booking an appointment in advance a distance away and then dreading every moment thereafter, they’d not done it. Being able to not over-think it, and to simply just get it done with little fuss was the only reason they’ve now received the vaccine.
And one man in his 20s hadn’t wanted the vaccine, until he got coronavirus. He heard about our mobile unit in the town that day and came along. He’s now vaccinated.
We’ve all got our own reasons for getting vaccinated, but sometimes we might need a reminder. If you’ve not been able to arrange your vaccination yet, let our mobile testing and vaccination facility be your motivation.
We’ll be in Kingsbridge again on Thursday 2 September, in the town’s square. We’ll be outside Exeter Library on Tuesday 7 September, and in the Lidl car park at Burnthouse Lane in Exeter on Friday 17 September.
We’ll have more dates and locations on our website shortly at devon.cc/flow