The Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, which is part of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, was one of the first hospitals to take delivery of a batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine this morning.
Dr George Findlay, chief medical officer and deputy chief executive at the trust, said the vaccination programme gives NHS staff “more confidence” coming into work.
He added the UK-developed vaccine, which can be kept at normal fridge temperature, is much easier to administer when compared with the jab from Pfizer and BioNTech, which needs cold storage of around minus 70C.
Dr Findlay has said hundreds of people are expected to be vaccinated per day at the Princess Royal Hospital site, with efficiency expected to increase after the first few days of the programme.
He added:
“We’ve got a delivery hub set up in the grounds of this hospital, so we’ve got the infrastructure there to invite people in for booked appointments”.
“And we will make sure those booked appointments are full every day from Monday going forward.”
NHS staff and social care workers who are at risk are among those who will be vaccinated with the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab from next week.
Dr Findlay said:
“We started vaccinating on our other hospital site a few weeks ago, it’s been seen as a really positive step, something that gives staff more confidence to come to work”.
“You only have to look at the statistics over the last 10 months about how many staff have suffered illness, or sadly lost their lives”.
“This gives staff the confidence to come to work to be able to look after patients”.
Dr Findlay said the hospital has been under “quite a lot of pressure” since the start of December due to a rise in cases amid a new variant of the virus.
He expressed:
“Staff are coping amazingly well, they are working incredibly hard, and we are increasing capacity to deal with the most sick patients”.
“So whilst it’s really difficult, and staff are under pressure, the hospitals are coping and we are still providing care to everybody who needs it”.