After looking into coronavirus in Gloucestershire, the facts were very clear.
To this date, Gloucestershire have generally done well with the uptake of first and second doses of the Covid vaccine with 12-15-year-olds now being offered their first doses. With the new Omicron variant in the country, boosters are now being rolled out at a faster pace and people are being strongly urged to have their jab before December 11th. Throughout the country, people aged 40-49 are now eligible for their booster jab and second doses are being offered to 16-17-year-olds. The only issue – booster jabs seem to be impossible to book in Gloucestershire.
“We want to reassure residents that they will be able to have their vaccination in Gloucestershire and local GP services will be in contact, so we would also ask people to please be patient, the NHS will invite you to book your vaccinations when it’s your turn.”
Dr Andy Seymour, Clinical Chair, NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group
Drop-in clinics in place all around the county for anyone requiring their first and second doses of the vaccine. There is a drop-in clinic between 5:30pm and 8pm today at East Fire Station in Cheltenham for anyone over the age of 16. There will be no booster jabs offered here, though. People should generally not attend the drop-in service if they already have an appointment at a vaccination centre or have any symptoms of COVID-19 or have had a positive Covid test within the last four weeks.
Mask wearing has now resumed in venues like shops, salons and hairdressers but remain unnecessary for venues such as nightclubs, pubs and restaurants. This has brought with it a divided opinion on whether masks should be mandatory in every venue we enter or whether the rule of face coverings should be completely scrapped. Wearing a mask is also now being suggested in all education settings to reduce the spread of the potentially threatening variant, Omicron.
Across the UK, there’re talks of a about a potential lockdown and opinions are varied, “I don’t think I can deal with another lockdown. All 3 years of university have been taken by it and it’s kind of annoying at this point in time”, says Darcey Barrett. Another lockdown has not yet been announced but with patients being hospitalised with coronavirus rising, people are speculating.

Almost a year ago Covid vaccines, specifically Pfizer, began rolling out to frontline workers. The uptake in the first month stood at 4% having their first dose with 0.7% having their second dose. This increased massively over the year with the percentages now standing at 88.7% for first dose uptake and 80.7% for second dose uptake.
The NHS encourage everyone to get their vaccine, test themselves regularly and stay safe.
