Health Secretary praises people in Dudley for doing an 'amazing job' rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine

A third of residents in Dudley have now been vaccinated against the virus as the focus shifts to protecting the over 60s in the area.

Now Mr Hancock has praised everyone involved in the rollout for doing an "amazing job" to ensure those eligible receive their jab.

He said: "I want to thank everyone across Dudley who have worked so hard to get the vaccination roll-out going so effectively.

"A massive thanks to all involved – it's going incredibly well, a third of people are now vaccinated already and we're now inviting the over 60s to come forward and get vaccinated.

"I also want to pay tribute to the NHS locally who are doing an amazing job, to the officers at the council who are working hand in glove, and to the local volunteers and the local MPs in the area – Marco Longhi, James Morris and Mike Wood – for working incredibly hard to get the message out that it's good for you to get vaccinated.

"Because we know that it protects you from ending up in hospital or dying of this dreadful disease, it helps you protect your community because it reduces the chance you will spread it to others obviously and it will help us all get out of this and on the road back to freedom."

The Health Secretary was full of praise for Dudley North MP Marco Longhi – who volunteers at the vaccination centre at the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) with his wife.

And the owners of the site, along with volunteers helping with the vaccination efforts, were also praised. The vaccination centre is now vaccinating more than 1,000 people per day.

Mr Hancock added: "I want to particularly give a shout-out to Marco Longhi and his wife who both volunteer at the vaccination centre at the Black Country Living Museum. Massive thanks to them and massive thanks to everybody involved and a big big [slice of] gratitude to the Black Country Living Museum who have given over their museum to do these jabs. It's a huge team effort and I'm very very grateful."