STAFF at three surgeries are to give nearly 7,000 residents their Covid-19 jabs in a bid to halt the spread of the new variant Omicron.

Abbey surgery staff had asked people wanting the jab to stay away until they received the booster vaccines. But practice manager Darren Newland has confirmed that 6,750 vaccinations have been promised to Abbey, Tavistock’s Tavyside surgery and Yelverton surgery.

He admitted that they knew nothing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to accelerate the booster campaign until he announced it in a broadcast last weekend.

But he said that they were getting their Pfizer booster supplies and would be adminstering them to patients by January 8.

Mr Newland said: ‘The phones are going crazy because we’ve put out a message that we are getting the vaccines.’

Mr Newland said that they had asked people via social media not to queue up for their jabs at the surgery, although a small number of patients had turned up on Monday hoping to be vaccinated.

He said that although staff were tired after nearly two years of carrying out vaccinations on top of their other duties, they were still keen to get people jabbed in an attempt to halt the spread of the new variant of the virus, Omicron, which has already hospitalized people in the UK.

He said: ‘They are tired, but the centre staff are up for it, although they will not be working on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

‘Yes, we will cope and get a normal service out as well. There will be nurses on duty all the time and the doctors will be doing what they normally do, so if anybody needs to talk to a doctor because of a problem, that will still be possible, although more minor matters may have to be put on hold for a while.’

Mr Newland, whose surgery has been coordinating the vaccination programme with colleagues at Tavyside in Tavistock and Yelverton, added: ‘When Mr Johnson’s announcement was made on Sunday, we did not know that was coming. We did have people queuing up for vaccinations on Monday, but it was only a few.

‘Nobody knows how serious it (the new variant is) at the moment, although our infections were down last week in comparison to the previous two weeks. Hopefully, we may get off lightly in the South West.’

That contrasted sharply with centres across the UK, where people anxious to get their jabs queued for up to five hours before receiving their vaccinations. Long queues have been reported in nearby Plymouth.

NHS officials in Devon, meanwhile, said vaccination sites were already experiencing exceptionally high demand. People attending are being asked to come prepared to queue and use public transport where possible, due to pressure on car parking.

NHS Devon’s chief nurse Darryn Allcorn said: ‘It is vital that people listen to the message that two doses is not enough to give you good protection against the Omicron variant. We do need a third, booster dose to bring our immunity back up. We already have people in hospital in the UK who have the Omicron variant and scientists cannot say that it is less severe than other Covid-19 variants.’

Steve Brown, Devon’s Director of Public Health, added: ‘Taking up third or booster vaccination is vital, and I would encourage everyone who is eligible to do so as soon as possible. I also urge everyone to heed the national guidance around the wearing of face coverings, now a requirement in most public places, especially in confined, indoor and crowded spaces; to work from home if you can; and to social distance as much as possible.’

The NHS says there are around 150 covid patients in hospital in Devon and most who are seriously ill in intensive care are unvaccinated.

Public Health Devon said they were working with schools in their last week of term to help prevent the spread of the virus.

A spokesperson said: ‘Directors of Public Health across the region collectively asked schools in October to encourage the wearing of face coverings in communal areas of school, for example, because case rates in the region were, and have remained high. The national guidance has changed in response to Omicron, and therefore we will be reinforcing this with schools for the last week of term.’