Today (September 25), the Worthy Farm Glastonbury Festival site in Pilton will be hosting a different type of party - a thank you to the vaccination team in Shepton Mallet.

Since December 2020, the local vaccination programme has worked hard to vaccinate the people of Somerset.

While a team of dedicated NHS staff have led on the response, none of this would have been achieved without the commitment and support from an army of volunteers who have been involved in the programme since the start.

To recognise the contribution of these volunteers, the Shape Mendip primary care network (PCN), has decided to do something special.

Today, local volunteers, vaccinators, clinical leads, local NHS, council and site staff and will gather together at Worthy Farm for an evening of music and celebration.

The venue, which has been kindly donated by the founder of Glastonbury Festival, Michael Eavis, will be a fitting place for the team to celebrate and it is hoped that Michael will pop by during the evening to say a few words to the volunteers.

Emma Fynn, Mendip PCN project manager and Covid vaccination operations lead, said: "I wanted to create a way for everyone to come together so we could recognise the invaluable contribution the volunteers have made to the programme.

"To date the Shape Mendip site has delivered more than 55,000 vaccinations and this number is growing all the time.

"This amazing achievement has only been possible because of the incredible support received from the local community.

"From marshals and administrators to vaccinators, our army of volunteers who are made up of furloughed council staff, local community members, students, retired GPs as well as other medical staff have worked tirelessly to support the roll-out and ensure local people can get vaccinated."

This event comes at a pertinent time as the vaccination programme starts rolling out the next stage, delivering Covid booster jabs to those in eligible groups within Somerset.

In line with the guidance set out by the JVCI on Tuesday September 14, those eligible for the booster (individuals will need to have had their second vaccination at least six months ago) will be invited for their jab by letter and text.

There will be no need for people to contact the NHS until they have received their invitation, which will direct them to book through the National Booking System (NBS), either online or by calling 119.

The volunteers will, of course, be on hand to support the next stage of the programme in Somerset, and it is hoped that this "thank you" for their contributions so far will be a very special evening of celebration.