NEARLY half of the county’s population has now received a first Covid-19 vaccine dose, and all over-50s could be offered the injection by the end of the month, health bosses have heard.

Planning Director Sam Tilley told Clinical Commissioning Group governors that 50- to 54-year-olds could start being called up for their jabs next week and second-dose scheduling is being planned.

She also said coronavirus infection rates were “improving”, with Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire both at around 50 cases per 100,000 people.

Mrs Tilley added they were proceeding with “a note of caution” and were aware the easing of lockdown measures “may have an impact on this downward trajectory”.

She said: “As of midnight (Tuesday) where we have vaccinated just of 208,000 people, so now we’re in striking distance of hitting that 50 per cent mark. It’s a massive achievement all round.”

Ninety-two per cent of patients aged 65 and over had received a vaccination, while the rate stood at 80 per cent among 60- to 64-year-olds.

“For the 55-to-59 cohort, which commenced only this week, we are now up above 45 per cent, so we are expecting the 50-to-54 cohort to open up next week with the ambition that all our over-50s will be vaccinated by the end of March,” Mrs Tilley said.

“We are expecting vaccination supply to increase from next week so there will be a further ramp-up in activity. This also includes the commencement of second doses, so that is now fully part of our programme as we go forward.

“We’re also now looking at the planning that we need to do in terms of rolling out the programme to the under-50s which, as you can anticipate, is rather a large group.”

She said infection rates showed an “improving picture”.

“For Telford and Wrekin were are at a rate of 51 cases per 100,000 of population and 49.8 for Shropshire,” Mrs Tilley said.

“We have seen some good improvements in those figures over recent times and we obviously hope that continues.

“We are proceeding, though, with a note of caution and the awareness that, as lockdown measures ease, that may have an impact on this downward trajectory.

“All our planning and work at the moment is with that caveat in mind.”

Telford and Wrekin Public Protection Director Liz Noakes agreed that caution was needed, as the borough had seen a “long, slow and bumpy” decline in infection rates.

“Those ‘bumps’ have been outbreaks,” she said.

“We’ve had a number of outbreaks in workplaces in the last few weeks and months.

“Everybody needs to still follow the rules as before and we need to work with workplaces to make sure they are Covid-secure, report cases and isolate workers as necessary.”

Julie Davies, performance director for both Shropshire CCG and Telford and Wrekin CCG, said “acute demand and capacity meetings” were now taking place weekly “just to continue to monitor underlying trends” and their impact on hospital places.

“There is still some anxiety around the workplace and, as schools go back and we gradually get out of lockdown, what that does and what that residual Covid demand is going to look like while we wait for the full effect of the vaccination programme to be felt,” she said.