NEARLY 50 people skipped their jabs at a Tavistock surgery as Covid-19 infections across Devon reached a new high, it has emerged.
Darren Newland, practice manager at Abbey Surgery in Plymouth Road said 47 residents had failed to show up at a weekend vaccination session without offering staff a reason why.
Abbey Surgery, along with Tavyside in Tavistock and Yelverton surgery, have been responsible for vaccinating patients in their areas during the worst of the pandemic’s spread.
Mr Newland, whose surgery has been coordination the effort, said the failure of the 47 to show up meant that the same number of patients who wanted their jab had to wait.
He said the surgeries were waiting for official guidance on how much they would be involved in the Government’s drive to give as many people as possible their booster vaccinations following the emergence of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Staff have previously been told that their part in the vaccination programme would end early next month as they concentrated on regular surgery work.
Mr Newland said those who had not turned up for their jabs would not be given a second chance of receiving it at the surgery.
Instead, he said, they would be sent to mass vaccinating centres such as those in Plymouth, where there were said to be increasing queues of people waiting to get jabbed.
He said: ‘It was all sorts of people, from all age groups. It’s now their responsibility to get their booster vaccination if they want one.’
Latest figures show a total of 8,092 new cases across Devon, 3.6 per cent (283) more than in the previous week. Every district has a higher infection rate than the national average. The average rate in Devon is now 664 per 100,000 of the population. Nationally, it is 440. Torridge has 1,059 infections per 100,000 — almost two and a half times higher than the UK average. Just three weeks ago, Torridge saw cases more than double.