Oldham's youngest councillors are toasting the NHS and staff at The Royal Oldham Hospital after they received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine.
Councillors Luke Lancaster, 22, and Max Woodvine, 20, were contacted by the Northern Care Alliance and booked an appointment on the same day to get a jab of Pfizer-BioNtech.
It comes as Oldham is now offering those aged 18 and above who are now also eligible to receive their first dose through a drop-in system at the Dunwoodie Centre, as the borough is ahead of the national priority schedule for delivering vaccinations. Appointments are also available to book.
There will also be a pop-up clinic on Wednesday (23 June) at the European Islamic Centre, based at 79 Manchester Road, from 10am to 3pm for anyone aged 18 or over to get their first Pfizer-BioNTech jab without the need for an appointment.
After staff at the hospital have reported many people missing appointments, the two councillors are advising all of Oldham's young people to book an appointment or simply drop-in when the opportunities to do so arise in the coming weeks.
Councillor Lancaster said: “Whilst many minds are concentrated on other important matters, such as England’s route to Euros victory, having a strong vaccination uptake is central to our country’s unlocking and moving on from this difficult situation for good. Hopefully, with more people coming forward for their jabs, we’ll be set for the remaining restrictions to be lifted in just a month’s time.”
Councillor Woodvine added: "Of course this is a testament to the Government, securing and delivering millions of vaccines, but vaccines need somebody to administer them and the staff at the Royal Oldham, and elsewhere, have been doing it so amazingly. Tens of thousands of people across the Borough are now vaccinated but we need to ensure as many people have it as possible, especially us youngsters."
He concluded: “This is a success for Oldham as we buck the trend!”
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