The chairman of North Yorkshire County Council has urged people to follow his example and get the covid vaccination when it is offered.

Cllr Jim Clark, who lives in Harrogate and represents Harrogate Harlow division, received his vaccination at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

He said:

“It is a very efficient operation, despite challenges posed by the weather, and everybody who attended for their jab at the same time as me was very pleased with the service from the NHS and the many volunteers on hand and ready to help.

“We have all come to value the work of the NHS more than ever during this pandemic and the staff working on the frontline in very challenging circumstances and the best way we can show our continuing support is by taking up the offer of the vaccination.

“This is the biggest contribution we can all make, along with following social distancing and hand hygiene rules, to reducing the pressure on our hospitals and to saving lives.”

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Cllr Clark, who is 73, recalls being vaccinated for the first time when the NHS was formed after the Second World War. Since then, he has been inoculated for serious illnesses including mumps and diptheria, as well as taking up his flu vaccine each winter.

He was vaccinated by Dr Ian Dilley, a GP partner at East Parade Surgery in Harrogate and clinical director of the Mowbray Square Primary Care Network. Dr Dilley said:

“The vaccine rollout is going extremely well and it is great to see so many people enthusiastic to have their vaccination. All the staff have worked very hard to ensure our systems are smooth and well organised and we hope all our patients experience a process that is safe, reassuring and friendly.

“The combined effort across primary care, the incredible voluntary sector, NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and many other organisations has resulted in a service the whole county should be proud of.”

A steady stream of cars and taxis made their way through the gates of the newly-opened covid vaccination centre at Ripon racecourse this afternoon.

Early morning snow delayed the planned 8.30am opening but by 1.30pm, with a thaw set in and roads cleared, the first vaccination had taken place.

A team of doctors, support staff and marshals — some of them volunteers — were on hand to guide, reassure and assist those who came for their jab.

The centre is located in the Wakeman Bar, where punters normally celebrate winners or commiserate over losses.

Outside Ripon racecourse, where covid vaccinations started today.

It has been temporarily transformed into a smoothly-operating medical centre that can cater for up to 600 people a day.

The number was reduced today because of the lost hours this morning, but the weather forecast for tomorrow bodes well for a full day of vaccinations starting at 8.30am.

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Attendance is by appointment only.

The opening of a dedicated covid vaccination centre in Ripon comes just days after Ripon City Council offered the NHS facilities at the Hugh Ripley Hall in Skellbank for use in vaccinating local people.

Ripon is among a number of racecourses around the UK to make its facilities available so that the vaccination programme can be stepped up.

Volunteers are needed to support the Ripon vaccination centre, which is expected to open next month.

Mashamshire Community Office, a charity which offers information and advice in the town, is looking for a team of marshals for the site, which will be at Ripon racecourse.

Health bosses confirmed the location of the vaccination site yesterday.

Volunteers are likely to be needed from the second week of February, a post on the Kirkby Malzeard and Masham Surgery website said.

The post said days may vary, but volunteers are likely to be required on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

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Two sessions will be held at the site from 8am until 1.15pm and 1pm to 6pm. Ten volunteers will be needed per session.

All personal protective equipment and hi-vis will be provided and no DBS check is required.

Duties will include directing traffic and guiding people inside the site.

Anyone interested should contact Mashamshire Community Office on mco@visitmasham.com.

An urgent call has been made for Ripon to have its own covid vaccination centre to serve the city and surrounding areas.

Ripon City Council heard last night it was “unacceptable” for older people to have to travel to Harrogate or York, particularly as the government has pledged nobody should have to travel further than 10 miles for inoculations.

Councillors at last night’s virtual full council meeting said Ripon should not miss out and suggested Hugh Ripley Hall could become a vaccination centre.

They unanimously supported a motion by council leader Andrew Williams, who said:

“We currently have a situation in which elderly people are having to travel to the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate or the centre in York as the nearest places where they can be vaccinated.

“This is clearly unacceptable.

“The government told us that people would not have to travel more than 10 miles to receive their vaccine, so we need to take urgent action to ensure our citizens and the thousands more who live in areas to the north of Ripon do not have to make a long journey — which in itself adds to the risk of spreading the virus.”

At a Downing Street press briefing on January 7, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people in the UK would not have to travel more than 10 miles to receive a vaccination.

Ripon is 12 miles from Harrogate and 26 miles from York.

During the same briefing, the PM unveiled plans for another 1,200 vaccination hubs to open across the country.

Covid testing takes place at Ripon coach park each Wednesday — but could this be a potential location for a vaccination centre if Hugh Ripley Hall is unsuitable?

It was agreed the council will contact Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, offering Hugh Ripley Hall on Skellbank as a possible location for a dedicated Ripon vaccination centre.

Councillor Pauline McHardy, who worked as an NHS nurse for 41 years, told the meeting:

“The hall is a good location, everybody knows where it is and there is sufficient space for social distancing.”

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Councillor Stuart Martin, whose wife April was seriously ill and hospitalised with coronavirus last year, said:

“I’m not an expert on what the NHS requires to set up a vaccination centre, but I fully support offering Hugh Ripley Hall in the first instance.

“If the hall doesn’t meet their requirements, they should look at other options in Ripon, such as putting a temporary building on a car park.”

Councillor Stephen Craggs, whose business is located close to the coach park where the NHS has been carrying out Covid tests on Wednesdays, said:

“We need to ensure that Ripon is not overlooked again, when it comes to providing a place where people living in this area can receive their vaccination.”

Covid vaccinations due to be given at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate tomorrow will be rescheduled because of the weather.

North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is rescheduling all its Saturday appointments because of lying snow, freezing conditions and further snowfall expected.

Instead, all appointments will be moved to the same time on Sunday, at the same venue.

GP practices, which are rolling out the vaccine to patients across the Harrogate district, are today contacting all those who have appointments to advise them of the changes.

A spokesperson for the CCG said the changes were being made to ensure the safety of those attending:

“Snow is forecast for the Harrogate district through the early hours of tomorrow morning. The majority of people who’d been invited to have their COVID jab tomorrow are elderly and many will be frail.”

The Met Office has issued another weather warning for snow overnight on Friday and into Saturday morning. It warns of a chance of travel disruption, with vehicles likely to become stranded, as well as the risk of slips on icy services.

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It’s nearly 16 miles from Pateley Bridge to the covid vaccination centre at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate.

So for rural communities in the Nidderdale and Washburn valleys with limited public transport and a high proportion of older people, getting there can be difficult.

Nidderdale Plus community hub in Pateley Bridge is playing a key role in solving this and helping the government achieve its aim of vaccinating the over 80s as soon as possible.

Helen Flynn, the executive director of Nidderdale Plus, a charity that works in partnership with local authorities to provide services to the community, told the Stray Ferret:

“For some people, the prospect of travelling to and from Harrogate for their appointment could be daunting.

“There are those who live on their own; some have stopped driving and a number may not have a member of a family bubble to accompany them to and from the vaccination centre.”

Older people living in rural Nidderdale and the Washburn Valley can travel by mini-bus for vaccination in Harrogate.

With Nidderdale and the Washburn Valley covering half of the total land area of the Harrogate district, a logistical issue had to be addressed.

It was rapidly solved when Nidderdale Plus called on assistance from Jill Quinn, chief executive of Dementia Forward, to secure the use of a mini-bus that had not been used for some time because of covid restrictions. Ms Flynn said:

The vehicle, with its volunteer drivers, makes regular journeys from Nidderdale and the Washburn Valley to Harrogate, collecting people en-route.

To ensure social distancing is maintained, the minibus takes a maximum of three people at a time for vaccination, and a rigorous cleaning regime involving anti-bacterial ‘fogging’ of all surfaces is carried out after each use.

Ms Flynn added:

“Jill lives in Pateley Bridge and was happy to help.

“Our aim is to ensure that all people aged 80 and above living in this area have no reason to worry, either about getting to and from Harrogate or their vaccination.

“As the vaccination programme progresses to target different age groups, the minibus will remain in use to help those aged 70 and above in the Nidderdale and Washburn valleys and others seeking assistance.”

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Bryan Ayers, who lives in Hampsthwaite, has already used the service. He said:

“The transport service for my covid vaccination was magnificent, I don’t know what I would do without the help as I do not drive myself and I have no relatives who can help me.

“When I got to the site it was really well organised both with clinic staff and the volunteers were very good, I hardly had to wait any time at all.”

Mr Ayers added:

“My driver was very friendly and just waited for me, I could not have asked for a better service.  I have had no side effects of the vaccine at all so far.”

A further 37 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the Harrogate district, today’s figures confirm.

The number of positive tests in the last 24 hours brings the total for the area to 4,127 since the pandemic began.

The rate of positive cases per 100,000 people in the district now stands at 93.7, a rise from yesterday’s figure of 86. However, it is still below the average for North Yorkshire of 142.2, and for England of 354.9.

Nationally, data from Public Health England shows that 32,725 people tested positive for covid-19 in the last 24 hours, and 570 people died within 28 days of testing positive.

Five patients were admitted to Harrogate District Hospital with the virus in the seven days to December 20, compared to 10 in the previous seven days. Only one patient diagnosed with covid-19 has died in the district in the last 14 days.

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In line with national guidance, families have been able to spend Christmas Day together within a limit of three households. Tomorrow, rules for tier two come back into force, including no household mixing indoors.

This week, a new vaccination centre opened at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate. Up to 900 people per day could be given the vaccine, with those aged over 80, care home residents and healthcare workers among the first to be invited to appointments.