What you may have missed: UK Armed Forces support to vaccines 2021
With over 17 million people in the UK having received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, find out more about the work of the Armed Forces across the UK in the past month.
💉 UK vaccine rollout update (22 February):
- First dose: 17.7 million people
- Second dose: 624,000 people
Since the beginning of the vaccination programme back in December, the UK Armed Forces have been busy assisting with the rollout across the UK, helping the government to meet their target of vaccinating the top four priority groups by 15 February.
Working all around the UK, serving personnel have been trained to give the vaccine to the public. Take a look at some examples of the Armed Forces assisting with the vaccination rollout over the past month:👇
The British Army trained in Leeds to support vaccine tasks:
The training is part of a larger plan to equip the Army to be sent to any site at short notice where additional support is needed.
Soldiers from 5 Medical Regiment, Gaza Barracks, Catterick Garrison were the second group from the Army to recently complete training at the Leeds Vaccination Centre, St James’ Hospital, as part of their role to support the NHS in the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccination.
The team included a medical officer, dental officer, paramedic, and combat medical technicians, as the six spent the day guided by Leeds Teaching Hospital staff, covering the key stages of the vaccination process.
“It was a great insight working in collaboration with the Army across these two days and providing them with essential training to be able to ready them as an additional resource to the NHS.”
— Spokesperson for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals
Vaccinations to veterans at Broughton House care home:
Military medical personnel have been working alongside the NHS to deliver vaccines to veterans at Broughton House care home in Salford.
Military veterans at a Salford care home became the first in the North of England to receive COVID-19 vaccinations from Combat Medical Technicians.
While military teams aren’t being — and aren’t due to be — used routinely to vaccinate in care homes, given the previous military service of the residents at Broughton House, the care home thought they would appreciate their vaccinations being administered by friendly faces in uniform.
Assisting with the vaccination rollout in Scotland:
Army medics from across the UK have deployed around Scotland to support NHS Scotland in administering the COVID-19 vaccine to members of the public.
With the help of the Armed Forces, Scotland have been able to vaccinate over one million people, just under one-fifth of their population.
Army Medical Services are able to deploy on short notice to provide medical support anywhere in the world.
