OUT IN THE FIELD: Why are some people being vaccinated and others more vulnerable aren’t

We were contacted by a worried 96-year-old resident recently curious as to why she had not received an invitation to be vaccinated while her much younger neighbours had.

Social media too is full of concerns from those in the priority group of over 80s who haven’t been called by their GP surgeries to attend for an appointment. We have asked the question but the answer keeps coming back that everyone must wait their turn and for that all important invitation. A quick glance at the very comprehensive pages of the Sussex Care and Health website pages only reiterates the message that the NHS in Sussex continues to make good progress with the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme and staff are working to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

So far in Eastbourne there are three vaccination clinics – at The Beacon, Hampden Park Medical Centre and Princes Park Medical Centre. Each clinic serves patients from different surgeries across the town. The Sovereign Centre will be the fourth clinic in the town but we are not yet sure which priority group will receive an invitation to go to the seafront venue or which GP surgeries will come under its umbrella. I wish we could provide more answers but at the moment it’s just a case of remembering don’t just turn up, wait and the NHS will contact you when it’s your turn. And as and when that call comes through we should all take it up.

There was something on social media recently about the numbers of Covid related deaths are turning into names and those names are people we know. More and more younger people are ending up in intensive care because of this wretched virus so we should all remember that none of us is immune and Covid doesn’t discriminate. At risk of sounding like a broken record: stay home, save lives and protect the NHS.

Sad news to report this week of the death – the day before his birthday – of Paul Strydhorst, who was a regular contributor of photos he had taken to the Herald Facebook page. Welsh-born Paul had been in Eastbourne for a number of years and worked within the catering industry. He had a wicked sense of humour and touched so many people’s lives.

Heartfelt tributes have also been paid to Michelle Jeffery who worked at Eastbourne Academy and passed away this week leaving a young family. A Gofundme page has been set up by Michelle’s friends to help support her family. It seems that too many people are being taken too young.

It was also sad this week to hear of the death of Eastbourne historian and retired pathology consultant John Surtees. If you have ever read a book about the history of Eastbourne, it is likely to have been penned by John Surtees. He had a fantastic thirst for the history of Eastbourne and a wonderful collection of old photographs and what he didn’t know about the town wasn’t worth knowing. He contributed a great deal to researching and recording local history, giving several talks to groups. He was always a cheerful and approachable person with a wealth of knowledge and stories. He will be greatly missed.