Southampton over 75s urged to come forward for Covid booster

Those over the age of 75 are being told not to wait for a letter in order to get their coronavirus vaccine.

Residents in care homes for older adults and those aged five years old and over who are immunosuppressed are also eligible.

It comes as the number of doses administered in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight since December 2020 is set to hit five million.

The vaccine delivery programme is set to pause on June 30 for the summer to resume in the autumn.

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Speaking to the Echo, Dr Matt Nisbet, clinical lead for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Covid vaccine programme said: “It very much feels like life has gone back much more towards normal but one of the reasons for that is because we’ve been so successful in giving Covid vaccines between the population.

“As we approach the five million mark it’s an incredible achievement and an opportunity to thank all our staff and volunteers, and above all, our communities for coming forward.”

He added: “For those people who haven’t had the vaccine, it’s not too late for their first vaccine. We absolutely won’t judge people for not coming forward before.

“If people come before May 6 we will be able to fit two vaccines in before we pause for the summer.”

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On Friday, 84-year-old Muriel Standing, from Millbrook, received her sixth dose at Boots pharmacy at West Quay retail park.

She said: “I just thought, as it was there I may as well have it and hopefully you won’t get the disease.

“I heard it on the television and thought, oh I’ll try that, so I rang the phone number, and they said the nearest one was here so I decided to come.

“It seems to have kept me safe so far, so I thought why do anything about it.

“If it’s good then why not. You’re not losing anything by having it.”

“It’s two minutes out of your life and it could save a lot of misery,” she added.