Around 10,000 health and social care staff have been vaccinated at Watford FC’s grounds.

The West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust kickstarted its vaccination programme to staff members on January 4, and much of the process was distributed with the help of Watford FC at the Team West Hertfordshire sanctuary.

Near mid-January (January 14) over 3,000 jabs were distributed to the trust’s staff members, and now this has expanded to around 10,000 jabs.

Latest figures from NHS data also reveals that nearly-three quarters of people aged 70 and over in Hertfordshire and west Essex have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

By January 31, 206,291 people in Hertfordshire in total had been jabbed, an increase of 35 per cent from January 24.

Of those, 135,077 were aged 70 or over – equating to 71 per cent of the population in that age group, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

The latest update shows:

• 25,995 given to people aged between 70 and 74 – 39 per cent of the age group

• 42,085 given to people aged between 75 and 79 – 89.5 per cent of the age group

• 66,997 given to people aged 80 and over – 87.4 per cent of the age group

The figures cover people vaccinated in the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care System area ¬ a collaboration between local NHS services and councils aimed at improving health care.

Across England, around 5 million people aged 70 and over had received their first dose of the vaccine by the end of January, covering 67 per cent of the age group.

Meanwhile, the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been pushing a series of messages from religious representatives and NHS workers fighting the pandemic, in order to educate people about the benefits vaccinations provide.

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Theresa Maunganidze, the matron for the Watford General Covid-19 testing centre, has encouraged BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) colleagues to make informed choices about the vaccine.

She said: “I’m just reaching out to all our BAME colleagues out there who are contemplating to taking the vaccine. I do want to encourage you if you do need a bit more information log on to the NHS website, the public health website the Pfizer website, will give you more information. So it’s really, really, important that you get the correct information so that you can make an informed decision.

“The BAME network is willing to give you support, so do reach out to the BAME network, we also work with the pastoral care who will also provide you with that extra bit of support, extra bit of guidance, the trust will also offer you anonymity.”

“But you are well looked after, and there are people to talk to about your concerns.”

This comes after Hertfordshire County Council published a report concluding that vaccination deniers and those hesitating should be addressed at a “local level”.

BAME groups were among other groups - including certain religious backgrounds, older age groups, people with lower levels of education and men – that are less likely to trust government and health care systems and may require more persuasion.