Member News
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has teamed up with a local council and bus company to help people who are supporting the elderly and vulnerable get the coronavirus vaccination.
The Mayor is working with Hartlepool Borough Council and Stagecoach North East to use buses that are normally part of the Tees Flex fleet, the on-demand bus service introduced by the Mayor, to get home care workers from the town to the University Hospital of North Tees for their coronavirus jab.
The move is the latest step taken by Mayor Houchen to support the vaccination effort locally.
As the national effort to get the lifesaving jabs into people’s arms ramped up in early January, Mayor Houchen urged people from across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool to join a ‘Jab Army’ of volunteers to support the local vaccination centres.
Mayor Houchen also urged businesses to guarantee time off for staff who want to volunteer as steward volunteers at a vaccination centre.
The latest support will mean those who work in home care are protected as they provide a critically important service to older and vulnerable local people across Hartlepool.
This is not the first time Mayor Houchen has made the Tees Flex buses available during the coronavirus pandemic.
During the first wave Mayor Houchen worked with the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust so that the Tees Flex buses could be used to help vulnerable patients get to and from hospital during the coronavirus pandemic free of charge.
Mayor Houchen said: “With three vaccines now going into people’s arms, there really is light at the end of the tunnel.
“Getting the vaccination into the arms of everyone who needs it is a national effort the likes of which we’ve not seen since the Second World War, that’s why I am doing all I can to support efforts locally; to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.
“What better way to us to use some of the buses from our Tees Flax fleet than to support the vaccination effort.
“Our NHS heroes are working tirelessly across Hartlepool, as they are across the region, to get people vaccinated, and I’m pleased the Tees Flex buses are playing theirpart in the effort to get the lifesaving jabs to local people.”
Shane Moore, Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “Home care workers are doing a fantastic job supporting our elderly and vulnerable residents, so we are delighted to be working with the Mayor and Stagecoach North East to use the buses to help them get quickly and easily to North Tees for their coronavirus vaccination.”
David John Parker, Stagecoach North East, said: “We’re really pleased to be delivering this bespoke transport solution with Tees Flex. This facility ensures the timely vaccination of home care workers, which in turn significantly assists in the wider program for our communities.”
