A town that had been "forgotten" during the Covid-19 vaccine rollout is to get its own centre after weeks of uncertainty.

The Ivy Court Surgery in Tenterden will be rolling out jabs for the town and surrounding area as early as next week.

Residents who qualify for the Covid-19 jab are currently forced to travel to Charing Surgery near Ashford.

The journey clocks in at about 25 to 30 minutes on a quiet day, but presents real problems for residents who do not drive, leaving many people frustrated.

However, on Tuesday an announcement by the surgery revealed 500 Ivy Court patients had already been vaccinated at the Charing centre, and that ‘phase two’ has already begun with the arrival of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The centre has pledged to vaccinate the “vast majority” of its over-80s group by the end of this month.

In a statement, it said: “We are now moving to a second phase of vaccination which involves the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

“This vaccine is more stable and can be moved, brought over to Ivy Court, and taken into care homes.

“Our first priority with the first limited stock of this vaccine is getting it into our care homes. This is under way this week.

“We are pre-emptively booking patients in for vaccination next week in anticipation of our next vaccine delivery.

“We do not yet actually physically have this vaccine in stock.

“We are booking vaccines in, ahead of taking delivery, so that at no time are we sitting with vaccines in our fridge for longer than absolutely necessary before being administered to patients.

“We anticipate vaccinating more than 900 patients in the course of next week.

“This does have the risk that the vaccine delivery schedule is subject to change. If a delivery is delayed, we may have to suddenly reschedule several hundred vaccines.”

The news will come as a welcome relief for many residents, who felt the lack of a local vaccination centre meant the town was missing out.

Woodchurch Road resident and carer Samantha Reed said earlier this week: “It feels like up to this point Tenterden and Cranbrook – and indeed a lot of rural areas in the county – have been completely forgotten.

“It’s all very well in theory to say that Charing can cover our area but when you think about it, it’s a very tricky drive even if you have your own car.

'It very much feels like there’s a postcode lottery right now...'

“If you’re vulnerable or elderly, which all of the current vaccine patients are, chances are that you won’t be able to drive yourself there.

“That means you’re left with either having to take two buses there, or fork out about £70 for a round trip in a taxi.

“So if our elderly residents – and we have a high proportion of elderly people in town – can’t get a carer to take them, they are left with the choice of public transport, which they are supposed to avoid at the moment, or a very expensive trip.

“It very much feels like there’s a postcode lottery right now.”

Speaking on Monday, MP Damian Green said it was “fantastic to see how well the vaccination programme has been going”.

“One point I would like to emphasise is that half of the over 80s have been vaccinated, but the other half haven’t yet," he said.

“People shouldn’t be worried if they’ve not been vaccinated, as there are still lots of people who have to get it.

“You don’t hear a long time in advance as the centres need to know if there’s enough supply first.

“Also I’ve written to the workers and volunteers at both Charing and Musgrove Park surgeries to say congratulations on the hard work they’ve been doing.

“I know a lot of people have been working 12-hour shifts and over weekends, and I think it’s well worth recognising the amazing effort they’re putting in to protect the public’s health.”

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