THE BORDON doctor leading the coronavirus vaccination roll-out for the town says although they are "running at above capacity" and "pressure is high" to get the job done, it is going well.

Dr Anthony Leung of the Forest Surgery said: “Like hospital intensive treatment units, we are running at above capacity.

“If we have four vaccinators, that takes out four clinicians for the day so there are fewer surgery appointments, even if we work longer hours. The pressure is very high.”

The team began giving vaccine jabs before Christmas – and the pace remains relentless.

Dr Leung said: “We are really fired up to make good use of the vaccines we receive. A box of the Pfizer vaccines was delivered to the Forest Surgery before Christmas, and we squeezed 1,000 doses out of that.

“Then last week we got another 1,000 box of the Pfizer late on Wednesday, and we vaccinated Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

“The first patients were mostly from Bordon, and there were more from south of Bordon for the second batch. We also went out to care homes.”

And there have been many offers of help from the community, from helping to signpost to directing traffic in the surgery car park.

Dr Leung said: “Our patient group has done an amazing job. The goodwill and adrenaline kept us all going.

“And there have been offers of help from retired clinicians. They have helped in the waiting rooms but aren’t vaccinating, as they have to jump through many hoops before they can give the jabs, something that has been raised in parliament.”

But Dr Leung does have concerns about the high-pressure schedule needed to get everyone eligible vaccinated.

He said: “The next couple of months are going to be most difficult and crucial for hospitals and surgeries. I am expecting more than 1,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine this week and next.

“They have a six-month fridge life, but we are going to use them as soon as possible.

“We are ready to go down the age range with vaccinations, but we have to help other areas who still have many 80-year-olds to do, so we can only move at the pace of the rest of the south east.

“But it is important to remember the UK has already given more vaccinations than the rest of Europe put together.”