Liam Byrne, Labour’s shadow Mayor of the West Midlands, has issued a cross-party letter addressed to the Prime Minister calling for vaccines to be issued across our community pharmacies.

The letter, co-signed by Liam Byrne and MPs from Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs calls on Boris Johnson’s government to utilise community pharmacies in the race for mass vaccination.

The call comes with the understanding that approximately 90% of UK residents live within a 20-minute walk of a community pharmacist, 70% of people have visited their community pharmacist since March and that they are already administrating the flu vaccine.

 

Liam Byrne MP, shadow Mayor of the West Midlands, said:

“The NHS is working miracles under a massive amount of sustained pressure and it is time that the thousands of community pharmacists standing ready are used.

“We cannot expect vulnerable people to take long journeys using public transport to attend super-centres full of people they don’t recognise. We must allow them to take a short walk to a trained medical professional they already know and trust, so that we can take pressure off of the NHS.

“There is no time to lose. Just like Dunkirk, and we must call up the 1,000 boats of community pharmacy, to help save the nation.”

 

The letter goes onto add:

‘Adding community pharmacies would add thousands of trained vaccinators to the battle against Covid, and thousands of new settings in which vaccinations can be safely administered. This could dramatically cut the time it takes to vaccinate everyone who needs it and allow us to lift the national lockdown faster.’ 

 

Those that have signed:

Debbie Abrahams - Labour Member of Parliament for Oldham East and Saddleworth

John Cryer - Labour Member of Parliament for Leyton & Wanstead

George Howarth - Labour Member of Parliament for KnowsleyDaisy Cooper - Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for St Albans

Dan Jarvis MBE - Labour Member of Parliament for Barnsley Central, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region 

Adam Holloway - Conservative Member of Parliament for Gravesham

Julie Elliott - Labour Member of Parliament for Sunderland Central

Lilian Greenwood - Labour Member of Parliament for  Nottingham South

Rachel Hopkins - Labour Member of Parliament for Luton South

Kate Osamor - Labour Member of Parliament for Edmonton 

Andrew Rosindell - Conservative Member of Parliament for the Romford

Derek Twigg - Labour Member of Parliament for Halton

Bell Ribeiro-Addy - Labour Member of Parliament for Streatham

Virendra Sharma - Labour Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall

Stephen Timms - Labour Member of Parliament for East Ham

Lloyd Russell-Moyle - Labour Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown

Stella Creasy - Labour Member of Parliament for Walthamstow

Janet Daby - Labour Member of Parliament for Lewisham East

Siobhain McDonagh - Labour Member of Parliament for Mitcham and Morden

Peter Dowd - Labour Member of Parliament for Bootle

Claudia Webbe - Labour Member of Parliament for Leicester East

Zarah Sultana - Labour Member of Parliament for Coventry South

Tony Lloyd - Labour MP for Rochdale

Barbara Keele - Labour Member of Parliament for Worsley and Eccles South

Jack Dromey - Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Erdington 

Yvette Cooper - Labour Member of Parliament for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford

 

Contact:

Oliver Longworth - olongworth@gmail.com