A YEAR on from the administering of the very first Covid vaccines, North Cumbria Integrated Care has cast an eye back over the past year, assessing its performance at delivering the jabs.

West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven was one of the first places in the UK to administer the lifesaving vaccine.

Now, 12 months on, NCIC has provided the vaccine to thousands across the county, including young people.

Paul Fieldhouse, clinical director of pharmacy at NCIC said: "We pulled out all the stops to make sure that Cumbria was in the first roll out.

"A dedicated team consisting of pharmacy colleagues, estates, nursing leads, occupational health, HR, IT, infection prevention, health and safety and finance worked round the clock to make sure that Cumbria was given the priority it needed to fight this virus."

One of the first care home staff to get the vaccine was Caroline Kennedy who works at the Gables Care Home in Whitehaven. She spoke of her excitement at the time, adding: "This will hopefully be the start of us getting back to some form of normality for them."

The first vaccine for Trust staff was given by Dawn Mahone, senior occupational health advisor at West Cumberland Hospital. She said: "I felt very special and very privileged to give the first jab at West Cumberland Hospital contributing to the health and safety of my NHS colleagues.

"I was nervous and excited. I’d had a lot of messages of support from friends and family and I just wanted to get going.

"I’m humbled by everyone’s efforts. There is light at the end of the tunnel now. We must all remain cautious but this is going to be a game changer."

The vaccine rollout of December 8 was only the beginning.

Fast forward 12 months and progress of North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust in delivering the vaccine has continued apace.

The Trust has supported primary care with the management and storage of the vaccine to the population of north Cumbria, offered two vaccinations and booster vaccinations to its entire workforce, and offered the vaccine to over 10,000 children across Cumbria.

The latest figures published by NHS England on December 2 show that in north Cumbria the NHS as a whole has delivered almost 600,000 vaccines.