A doctor has admitted feeling "a bit emotional" as coronavirus vaccinations begin today at The Lights Theatre in Andover.

Resident Mary Jackson, 84, who lives just outside the town, was among the first to receive the vaccine. 

She said: “A massive thank you to the brilliant scientists, and all her at The Lights theatre for managing the oldies! I feel so privileged to be given the vaccine – it has taken a huge weight off my shoulders, as I’m a carer for my husband.”

She was vaccinated by Dr Rome Candy.

Dr Ben Sharpe, Andover GP and clinical lead for the Andover Vaccination Site, admitted the process was “a little bit emotional”, and added: “2020 has been a hard year for so many people, but we hope that as we start these vaccinations, people will feel encouraged for the start of 2021. The scientists behind this vaccine have managed to ensure it is safe, well-tested and very effective in a brilliantly short timescale.

“For us, it has been hard work over the last 3 weeks getting ready for our first delivery. There has been extraordinary teamwork across all of the town's GP practices, Test Valley Borough Council, the team at The Lights and the Clinical Commissioning Group in Hampshire. There has been an amazing response of over 200 volunteers wanting to help us deliver this programme, for which we are really grateful.

“We hope that we will see large numbers of people over the next few weeks and look forward to helping protect them against COVID-19. We ask that people don't contact The Lights or their practices just yet as we will contact them directly when they are eligible for vaccination."

The Lights Theatre is among the ten new sites in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight that have started receiving delivery of vaccines this week. The theatre was selected due to its size because of the necessity of having refrigeration units for the vaccine. 

With this, there are a total of 36 vaccination centres in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Dr Nigel Watson, GP and Clinical Lead for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Covid-19 Vaccination Programme, said:

“It has been great that we have been able to get the vast majority of our GP-led sites up and running so quickly. Clinics are going really well with lots of our patients and staff saying how smoothly things have run.  

“We’d like to thank everyone for bearing with us as we know how important the vaccine is to many people. I would ask people to please continue to be patient. The NHS will contact you when it is your turn to be offered a vaccine with information about how to do this.

“Whilst the vaccine roll-out is really good news, we know that the virus is still very much with us so we all must do everything we can to protect ourselves and others.”