Covid booster jabs: 'We're all tired but it is so important'

Mass Covid vaccinations have been taking place as the government ramps up the booster programme, amid fears over the Omicron variant. About 3,000 people turned up at Newmarket Racecourse in Suffolk for a jab, and more than 2,000 were at a leisure centre in Saffron Walden, Essex. What do the people doing the jabs and those being jabbed think about the latest rollout?

Newmarket Racecourse has been used as a vaccination centre throughout the pandemic, but thousands were invited to get a jab at the venue at a special event.

Lisa Nobes, chief nurse for Suffolk and North East Essex, says booster jabs are "really, really important".

"We know people's immunity wanes after around six months, so coming forward for the booster is the only way to really protect us, particularly with winter ahead and socialising with Christmas.

"The booster and other precautions are the only tools we have [against Covid-19] and it's absolutely key to avoid serious illness and avoid long Covid."

Ms Nobes says she is "concerned about any variant" not just Omicron, "but it's worrying and that's why we are here".

She says in Suffolk and North East Essex about 80% of eligible people have been given a booster.

"All the people coming here are willing," she says, and hopes the remaining people will come forward in the next few weeks, but admitted "it's a busy time of year".

Two of those who received their boosters at Newmarket were Janet and Michael Leamy.

Mrs Leamy says her third coronavirus vaccine "means a lot to me".

"I can now enjoy Christmas without worrying," the 84-year-old says.

Mr Leamy, 87, says: "I feel we can now go anywhere and feel safe.

"Without the booster I probably wouldn't go out. That's how valuable this is."

Dr Richard Boyce, a GP in Saffron Walden, is one of the people behind the vaccination centre at the Lord Butler leisure centre.

He says: "We know the importance of this booster programme and we recognise we need to ramp it up again.

"We're all tired, it's been a long year, but we know the next month and a half is going to be really important."

The centre runs at the weekends and at its peak saw 2,500 people in a day.

Dr Boyce says it is "only possible with the number of volunteers we've got here and administrators supporting the process".

He says from the data he has seen, a third vaccination can protect against the Omicron variant, which is "encouraging and enthusing us to get these boosters done".

The GP also believes the variant has encouraged people to get a jab, saying: "Many more people have come forward for their first dose when they might have waited.

"I suspect that will continue, people who might have been reticent will come forward."

One of those who came to Saffron Waldon for their first jab was A-level student Harriet.

The 17-year-old says: "I hate needles and vaccinations, but it was the easiest one to get out of all the ones I've had.

"I told them I was nervous about injections and tend to faint, so they laid me down and I didn't feel it."

Harriet says some of her friends have not had a vaccination, which she does not know the reasons for, but "a lot of them are double jabbed".

She says she got a jab because "I want to travel next year and I want to go on holiday after my A-levels".

As well as Covid-19 vaccinations, the centre in Essex has been delivering flu jabs.

Martin Bessell got both and says: "I came down to get a booster and then was offered the flu jab as well, and I thought I'd get them all done at once."

He says he was getting his booster at the first possible opportunity and booked it "the moment [I was] eligible".

"They know what they are doing so let's get on with it. It wasn't a difficult decision at all," he says.

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