The Armed Forces have been working to support the rollout of the
coronavirus vaccine programme with new deployments planned in
Scotland and North West England.
Working together with local health boards and the NHS, personnel
are part of Operation Rescript, the Armed Forces Covid-19
response. They are providing ongoing assistance to administer
vaccines, provide logistics and planning support, as well as
carrying out surge testing in response to variants of concern.
Defence Secretary , said:
The Armed Forces continue to show their incredible versatility
and flexibility, deploying wherever and whenever they are needed
in support of this national vaccination effort.
I am delighted to see that across all corners of the UK, military
personnel are working side by side with their NHS counterparts to
help get the British public vaccinated as quickly as possible.
Health and Social Care Secretary, said:
We have vaccinated over three quarters of UK adults with a first
dose and half of adults with a second dose. That is a huge effort
across the healthcare system and beyond – and I am incredibly
grateful for the amazing role our armed forces have played in
this.
We know how effective the vaccine is, thousands of lives have
been saved and thousands of hospitalisations prevented. These are
not just numbers, these are our family, friends and loved ones
who have all been protected. Each vaccine brings us one step
closer to putting this pandemic behind us. So when you get the
call, get the jab.
North-West England
Armed Forces personnel have deployed to Bolton and Blackburn to
help the NHS, DHSC and local councils respond to the variants of
concern identified in the area. 144 medics from across the Army
are working on the vaccine programme in Bolton in addition to 75
personnel who are providing support to mass testing. They are
working alongside RE: SILIENT and St Johns Ambulance service.
In nearby Blackburn, 55 personnel from 19 Regiment Royal
Artillery are also supporting the testing programme, providing
additional capacity to help break chains of transmission.
Scotland
63 members of the Armed Forces will deploy to Lanarkshire and
Lothian from Monday 7 June for up to five weeks. 42 service
personnel will provide support to NHS Lothian. This will be made
up of 36 vaccinators, 4 registered health professionals and 2
command and control managers. They will be split into 4 vaccine
support teams who can deploy across Lothian as required.
21 service personnel will also work alongside NHS Lanarkshire and
will consist of 18 vaccinators, 2 registered health professionals
and one command and control manager. They will form two vaccine
support teams and will deploy across Lanarkshire as required.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, a Vaccine Task Group made up of 100 Combat
Medical Technicians and 22 logisticians supported the mass
vaccination programme for 8 weeks.
Alongside their Health and Social Care Northern Ireland
counterparts, medics administered almost 121,000 vaccines which
saw 7% of the population being vaccinated against the virus by
the military. Regular and reservist personnel from 32 units
across all three services supported the programme at the SSE
Arena in Belfast until the end of May.
Commander Standing Joint Command, General Tyrone Urch
said:
I am incredibly proud of our servicemen and women who have
deployed in support of the Department for Health and Social Care,
NHS and Health Boards across the United Kingdom to help deliver
the vaccination programme efficiently and at pace.
We are delighted to be able to support and complement the
incredible work done by health professionals and volunteers
across the country and we will continue to deliver anything
requested of us.
As part of the UK Government’s response to variants of concern,
400 trained vaccinators from across the Armed Forces are
available to be deploy when and wherever required. 4,300 service
personnel also remain at high readiness and can be called upon to
support with Covid-19 tasks across the UK.
This comes in addition to support the Armed Forces have provided
around the world, including delivering vaccines to Ascension
Island, Falklands, Gibraltar and Tristan da Cunha, and delivering
other essential COVID supplies to India and Nepal.
