Four community vaccination sites have been rolled out in Bath and North East Somerset and neighbouring Swindon and Wiltshire, with more than 900 people receiving their Covid-19 vaccination by the end of the first week. Combe Down Surgery, near Bath, is the closest surgery offering the vaccine

Rowden Surgery in Chippenham, as well as the The Steam Museum in Swindon and the Corn Exchange in Devizes, played host to hundreds of people eager to receive the vaccine. All four venues were transformed in to local vaccination services, in which groups of GP practices worked together to provide the vaccine to patients over the age of eighty.

All patients will have to return for the second dose of the vaccine in approximately three weeks.

The first person to receive the vaccination in Bath was Nanette Kelly, 93, who said: “I’m glad I had it done. It was easy and it didn’t hurt.”

Eighty-six-year-old Richard Conroy from Devizes was the Corn Exchange’s first recipient. Speaking afterwards, Mr Conroy said: “I was invited by my GP last Wednesday, which was my birthday. The surgery sent me an email then I phoned to make the appointment.

“I feel absolutely marvellous, it’s a pretty good feeling to get the vaccine. Everyone should have the jab when it is offered.”

At this stage in the vaccination programme only those people aged eighty and over, as well as some frontline health and care staff, will be invited to receive the vaccine.

Gill May, Director of Nursing and Quality, said: “Never has there been a vaccination programme as ambitious as this, and it really is humbling to have been able to see everything come together so quickly and efficiently.

“These community sites are among the first of their kind, and I know that NHS teams in other areas of the country will be looking to us as they arrange their own.

“We all know there is a long way to go until we can confidently say that coronavirus is no longer a threat, but we’ve taken the first steps, and it’s important to remember that even the most intimidating of journeys start with that first step forward.”