COMMUNITY vaccinations of people from the Ludlow area aged over 80 are set to begin on Monday, January 25 when a vaccination pod will open at Ludlow racecourse.

People will be contacted by their GP surgery either by email or letter and offered an appointment. They are urged not to contact the surgery but wait to be contacted.

If vaccine supplies are maintained as planned, the programme is expected to complete all care homes in south Shropshire by the end of next week, all Priority Group 2 (over 80s) by the end of January and all Priority Group 3 (over 75s) and Priority Group 4 (over 70s and clinically extremely vulnerable) by mid-February.

“I know there has been frustration that vaccines have not been deployed earlier,” said Philip Dunne MP for Ludlow and a former health minister.

“This has been due to logistical challenges in supplying the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine to such a large and sparsely populated geography as the whole of South West Shropshire through a single hub.

“As more vaccine becomes available and with the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine requiring less challenging handling practices, it is now possible to deploy with all the very willing vaccinators and volunteers from the GP surgeries and others in the area.“