Rotary, as an organisation, is offering its support to the Covid-19 Vaccination Roll-out programme, primarily in the form of providing support volunteers and co-ordination of some non-clinical activities at vaccination centres. This includes support of the vaccination super-centre at Ashton Gate, Bristol – but clubs such as the local Rotary Club of the South Cotswolds (RCSC) are too far away from Ashton Gate to make such support practicable or viable at that centre.

However, within our community the Malmesbury Primary Care Centre (PCC) is acting as a GP-led Vaccination Centre for a number of GP Practices within this area. It is currently understood that GP Practices at Ashton Keynes, Cricklade, Purton and Royal Wootton Bassett are sending people to Malmesbury for Covid-19 vaccination. This means that on vaccination days a large number of people are coming to the Malmesbury PCC.

The local Rotary Club of the South Cotswolds (RCSC) has been talking with the Malmesbury PCC Practice Manager about offering volunteer support – an offer which has been gratefully received. The nature of the support requirements is still evolving and is likely to include things such as initial greeting, car parking, advice giving and queue management.

The latest information available is that 980 people were given the Pfizer vaccine at Malmesbury on Thursday, 14th January. Supplies of the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine are expected next week, but the practice doesn’t yet know when or how many. Hence, the requirements for volunteer support are not yet known, but support for next week is likely to be asked for.

The Rotary Club of the South Cotswolds is the point of contact for Rotary support and will attempt to meet all requests for volunteer support from within its own membership and from other local Rotary clubs from areas that are sending people to the Malmesbury PCC for vaccination.

If anyone from Hankerton wants to volunteer to help with this you would be very welcome (you don’t have to be or become a Rotary member!) – please contact Peter Wyman on 577159.

Peter Wyman
Rotary Club of the South Cotswolds