Relief all round as vaccine rollout reaches Shropshire care homes
“It’s a relief. I’ll be able to see my daughter again soon.”
Those are the words of Gill Bache, resident at Hagley Place Care Home in Ludlow which became one of the first in the county to receive coronavirus vaccines.
And that’s what it’s all about. An enormous weight beginning to finally lift for pensioners who have had to isolate for months on end and miss out on hugging their families, as news reports constantly remind them of their vulnerability to this virus which has killed tens of thousands of Brits.
It may just be the first step on the ladder, but they feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel.
An excitable mood was in the air on a chilly Saturday morning at the care home.
After a frantic 48 hours – they were only told on Thursday – medical staff from Station Drive Surgery in Ludlow administered 100 jabs altogether, 47 to care home residents, 31 to members of staff and 22 to other members of the community. The oldest recipient was a 104-year-old lady.
Among the 100 club was Gill, a well-known face in the town whose parents used to run the Royal Oak pub and hotel. She was a farmer’s wife and was known at the pub as Little Miss Dobson, due to her maiden name.
Angie Mcaulisse, the home’s social co-ordinator, said: “During lockdown she had visits through the window and visits at our pod outside. Like she said, it’s a relief to get the vaccine.”
It was many happy returns for Dr Graham Cook, partner at Ludlow’s Station Drive Surgery, who spent the morning of his birthday administering jabs.
"He said he couldn’t think of anything better he would rather be doing than helping protect people against the virus. We didn’t find out until Thursday that we’d be here. I must thank all our colleagues who have made this successful.
"It was all hands on deck to get our team of volunteers ready to get into the facility.”
Mary-Jane Jekiel, general manager at Hagley Place, said that it’s been a tough year at the home but feels it has brought staff and residents closer.
“It’s been a very challenging year but a good year for us in that we’ve been able to maintain the health and safety of our residents and remain Covid-free throughout the pandemic,” she said.
“We’ve been able to keep them in contact with their families as well through social media and on video. We’ve had to maintain contact with families so they know what’s going on, and we’ve tried to do that every step of the way.
“We have an amazing team here. They’ve worked really hard to keep spirits up for the residents. We’ve had socially distanced birthday parties and sang carols outside for Christmas. We even had a flower show.”
Ludlow MP Philip Dunne was also on hand to give his best wishes to staff and residents.
He said: “I’m thrilled to be here for the first vaccination of people in the Ludlow area. It has been a fantastic effort by staff to get everybody ready in 48 hours. The GP practice has pulled out all the stops.
“We now look forward to all the care homes being vaccinated during January.
“I think the new vaccine will be arriving in Shropshire next week.
“It’s a real lift and offers hope at the beginning of the new year to get on top of this new variant,” he said.
