HOMELESS people in York are to be offered a jab - along with a hot drink and a sandwich - when they turn up to their breakfast club.

A special outreach team from York Medical Group has been working hard to vaccinate homeless people in the community to ensure everyone has the same access to the Covid vaccine, says Dr Daniel Kimberling, Medical Director at Nimbuscare.

Writing in a column for The Press, he said Nimbuscare had supplied laptops and dongles to the team at York Medical Group, so they could check people off the NHS central record system.

“To date they have vaccinated more than 220 people and next week they’ll be setting up stall at a breakfast club in York to capture more harder to reach patients, offering a vaccine with a hot drink and a sandwich,” he said. He said efforts were also being made to ensure asylum seekers in York not only got vaccinated, but received the healthcare they needed.

Dr Kimberling said this week was Volunteers Week and he wanted to thank the "truly incredible" volunteers who had helped with the vaccination programme in York.

He revealed that during the coming weeks, volunteers would be "going the extra mile" at the vaccination centre at Askham Bar to transform some of flower beds to create a new seating area and memorial garden as a tribute to those who had lost their lives.

“Huge thanks to St Leonard’s Hospice who’ve given us a selection of pots, tools and other equipment to support this work,” he said.

“Anyone who would like to volunteer to help with the project can contact us by e mail at nimbuscare.volunteer@nhs.net. Donations of plants, compost and other materials are also welcome.

He added that staff had also been working with the Wilberforce Trust to provide better access to the centre for people with hearing and sight impairments. “Many people who’ve already been to the site will know it can be confusing for people with eye-sight difficulties and the acoustics, in the cabins especially, is not ideal,” he said. “So, our work with the trust has been really helpful – they have given us leaflets and signage in braille and we also now offer a sign language service.”