All care home residents have received first vaccine, says NHS Borders

In addition, more than 2,600 health and social care staff have been vaccinated so far. The vaccination team is continuing to get first doses of the vaccine to as many people as quickly as possible, in line with the national rollout plan.

GP practices in the Borders will start to receive initial supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine this week and will begin vaccinating members of the public aged over 80 from next week. There are more than 6,400 people eligible in this group.

Those over 80 will be contacted by their GP practice to book an appointment and Borderers are asked not to contact their practice direct.

Local GP, Dr Tim Young, said: “Being able to start vaccinating in our local GP practices is a huge step forward in the further rollout of the vaccination programme and most importantly getting it to the most vulnerable people in our community as quickly as possible.

“Our teams are working tirelessly to ensure that we vaccinate everyone aged 80 and over as soon as we can but please be patient. Your practice will contact you to invite you to book an appointment.”

Director of nursing and operations at NHS Borders, and executive lead for the Covid-19 vaccine programme, Nicky Berry, said: “Following a successful start to our Covid-19 vaccination programme in December, during which our teams worked incredibly hard to successfully vaccinate all care home residents within three weeks, we are delighted that we are now in a position to start vaccinating those aged 80 and over with the assistance of our GP partners.

"We also continue to focus on vaccinating as many frontline staff members throughout health & social care.

“The vaccination programme has and will continue to be a huge team effort and I would like to take this opportunity thank all staff throughout health & social care for their dedication and hard work. I would also like to thank staff and the Borders public for their cooperation and patience during this challenging time.”

For further information on the COVID-19 vaccination programme click here.