Just been watching the excellent @BBCRichardMoss and @SharonBarbour on #BBCPoliticsNorth

I feel I need to personally clarify something.

A thread.

The #Covid19UK vaccine programme in South Tyneside launched in December. Our final site receives vaccine to launch next week.

The GP surgery teams and partners are doing an incredible job. Our drs, nurses, administrators, pharmacists, receptionists, volunteers, marshals, security have been absolutely bloody brilliant. As have all the partners who have offered help.

Because of their fab work, we have vaccinated more of the key cohorts than most of the rest of the country.

Could we go further and faster if we had more vaccine? Yes, the teams are raring to do even more. We recognise some of the national logistical challenges with this.

To all of our GP teams, pharmacists and those partners who are helping us.

We are immensely proud of you. You are amazing.

To those residents of South Tyneside who we haven’t yet vaccinated. Please be patient, we are working damn hard to get to you as fast as we possibly can.

To all the patients who have come through our vaccination sites.

Wow, you have been fab. I have personally worked as many sessions in the sites as I can and have seen that you have been positive, so cheerful and happy, following all the rules and we are very grateful to you.

This is hard. The logistics are immensely complicated. We are asking staff to respond incredibly rapidly, to work long hours under great pressure and they are doing so with the determined, cheerful professionalism you’d expect.

We are all with you.

#NHSheroes
@PrimaryCareNHS