MORE than 80 per cent of staff at a Teesside hospital have received covid jabs as figures show the North-East leads the way in vaccines given to over 80s so far.

NHS data show the North-East and Yorkshire region has the highest rate of first doses given to all ages by head of population in the country – with 4,309 jabs per 100,000 people.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands more than 80 per cent of staff at James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, have received a jab as of Thursday (January 14). 

Figures also revealed the North-East and Yorkshire saw 310,110 first and second doses against covid administered up to January 7 – the second highest total in the country. 

And the region also has the highest total number of over 80s receive first and second jabs. 

Redcar MP Jacob Young said 99 per cent of over 80s living in TS6 areas had received their first jab.

He added: “I’ll continue to work with our local teams to free up any blockages – but this is fantastic progress so far and I thank everyone involved.”

On Wednesday, Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston said about 8,500 people in Middlesbrough had received a covid jab so far.

Health chiefs told a Middlesbrough Council scrutiny panel how care homes in the borough had started to see residents receive injections this week. 

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen hailed the progress made on jabs so far.

The Conservative mayor added: “This is the best vaccination rate in the country and is testament to the hard-work and dedication of everyone involved in this national effort, including the logistics experts, delivery drivers, steward volunteers at vaccination centres and of course our amazing NHS workers.

“It’s absolutely essential that as many people as possible get vaccinated as soon as possible and It’s great to see the North-east leading the way. 

“Across the country we are now doing more than 200,000 jabs a day – and the sooner we get jabs into people’s arms, the sooner we can get back to normal.”

The figures were also praised by Simon Clarke, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

He said: “It’s great to see the North-east is delivering the most vaccines of any English region and we owe a huge debt to all the NHS teams involved in its delivery.  

“Locally, my focus is on ensuring the best possible delivery strategy in rural East Cleveland.

“Vaccinations start at The Garth Surgery, in Guisborough, on Friday – but as numbers ramp up, it would be good to secure an option that means people don’t need to travel from other towns like Loftus and Skelton.”

“Relatively confident”

Labour group leader Cllr Matt Storey told Wednesday night’s Middlesbrough Council he was “relatively confident” about the vaccination programme after talking to NHS leaders on Teesside.

“We’ve already got GPs going into care homes with the AstraZeneca jab to vaccinate people within care homes because it doesn’t have to be kept at such a cold temperature,” he added.

“Staff at James Cook are being vaccinated – and we’ve seen more than 2,000 care home staff vaccinated which is absolutely critical for those key workers.”

Meanwhile, Mr Preston told the virtual chamber there was hope this year after a tough 2020. 

He added: “When it comes to getting together, I think this is possible sooner than some people would have you believe.

“In Middlesbrough, we have vaccinated approximately 8,500 residents – that might not sound a lot but from a standing start, that’s good progress and we’re above the national average.”

Hopes of normality 

The mayor told councillors thousands of vaccines would arrive in the coming days and those eligible would be contacted soon.

And he shared hopes about “starting to get back to normal” once vulnerable groups received jabs.

Mr Preston said: “We have a duty to get back to normal to protect the jobs, mental health and protect the futures young people need. 

“People who aged four to 21 have probably had one of the best years of their lives ripped away so for their sake we need to start getting back to normal.”

Cllr Storey later urged caution about how rules were relaxed.

Despite optimism over jabs, Teesside hospitals are still seeing high demand from covid patients. 

Middlesbrough care chief Erik Scollay warned councillors the NHS was under “sustained pressure” on Teesside – adding it had probably not yet seen the peak of pressures brought by the relaxation of guidelines over Christmas. 

“We’re probably still a week to two away from that,” he said.