A Sutton Councillor has applauded a GP surgery for their efforts to roll out the coronavirus vaccine to thousands of Sutton's most vulnerable. 

Councillor Mo Saqib thanked 'health heroes' in Wallington, after a receptionist at Wallington Family Practice told him that her team had to ring up 2,000 over-80s.

It comes as seven mass vaccination centres open across England in a drive to ramp up the rollout of coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

There are almost 1,000 vaccination sites in place across the country - the vast majority GP-led - with 80,000 people trained to deliver jabs.

Around two million people in the UK have now been vaccinated against Covid-19 as the Government aims to hit a target of vaccinating around 15 million at highest risk by the middle of February.

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Councillor Mo Saqib said: “I was at Wallington train station and got talking to a resident who told me her 91-year-old mother was having trouble getting her Covid jab appointment.

"I promised to take it up and made a few phone calls later that day. 

The receptionist I spoke to at Wallington Family Practice was clearly stressed but, bless her, you could tell she was doing her absolute heroic best to stay on top of things. 

"I’m informed that the 91-year-old mother has now been booked in, which must be a relief for the family, so a huge thank you to the receptionist!

“This one example just shows you that despite government’s severe mishandling of the pandemic, Sutton’s incredible NHS and social care workers are the reason we will get through this. 

"On behalf of Sutton, I can only say a massive, massive thank you to them all!”

The NHS is giving GPs an extra £10 for every care home resident that they vaccinate this month as part of a drive to protect them.

A further 200 new GP and hospital vaccination services are expected to open this week, while a handful of pharmacies will also start piloting administering injections.