Vaccines have dominated the conversation on Cheshire's Covid-19 fightback this week.

And, following the release of NHS England data at a regional level for the first time, this edition of the Local Democracy Reporting Service's Weekend Feature will focus exactly on that topic.

How's the roll out going?

'Very well', according to Cheshire East leader Sam Corcoran, with those sentiments echoed by Andrew Wilson, chair of the NHS Cheshire clinical commissioning group — the body responsible for the delivery of the vaccine programme.

The county currently has 23 vaccine sites online, with 18 of these in primary care networks — e.g. GP surgeries — four in hospitals, and one in a Macclesfield pharmacy.

Because of this wide network, leaders announced on Friday that both Cheshire borough's had already vaccinated around 10 per cent of residents.

Yesterday (Friday), Cheshire West and Chester Council Leader, Louise Gittins, tweeted: "Vaccination alert!! Calculator has been busy all night and I think about 31,000 people have been vaccinated across Cheshire West."

Later on, she also tweeted that '72 per cent of our over 80s have been vaccinated'.

Cllr Gittins added that the figures was a 'guesstimate' and 'not official', and also praised the work of the Cheshire West integrated care partnership NHS Cheshire clinical commissioning group — the body organising the county's vaccine programme.

Data from NHS England backs that up — with the 201,000 doses already administered in Cheshire and Merseyside more than the levels in Greater Manchester — despite it having a population more than four times larger.

The roll-out also could be accelerated, with CCG chiefs saying they were 'looking at all the options' when it came to opening a mass vaccination site.

Director of Strategy and Partnerships, Tracey Cole, said: "We are looking at all the options. What is the best way to provide this vaccine across Cheshire is one that fits with our population. 

"We have not ruled that out… There are further discussions today with partners with what those options are. If we need those [mass] sites we will put forward to have them.

"They need a massive amount of staff and there are a number of things to consider."

Why we need to temper the good news

Even with the positive start, there's a long way to go.

Hospitals are under huge pressure, as they have been all year, with a video from Susan Gilby, CEO of The Countess of Chester illustrating how desperate the situation has become.

Dr Gilby said: "Over 270 patients are requiring care in beds in our hospital as a result of Covid-19 disease.

"That is 180 per cent more than required our help in the first wave of the pandemic.

"We have moved whole surgical services out of the Trust and into other hospitals in Liverpool.

"We are currently unable to staff these wards without the support of our paediatric nurses and doctors who normally only look after children.

"I have never in my 29 year career in medicine seen a situation where we have had to ask children's nurses to care for the elderly.

"Please, we want to be here for you when you need us, we are here, we will find a way to look after you.

"In the meantime while we roll out the vaccination programme, which we are doing with tremendous success, I am pleading with you — please follow the rules."

With this in mind, that same NHS England data shows the scale of jabs needing to be done.

Below is a chart outlining how many Cheshire and Merseyside residents have had one dose of the vaccine — it's 29 per cent.

However, one dose does not equal full protection, which is why every patient gets a second jab 12 weeks later.

This next chart shows how many residents have had two doses — it's just four per cent.

With 96 per cent of Cheshire and Merseyside yet to be fully protected from the virus (as of January 21), it becomes easier to see why suggestions of lifting restrictions are somewhat premature.

That's also because there is limited evidence to suggest that having the vaccine prevents you from transmitting the virus yourself — so social distancing and human contact regulations will still be necessary while the roll-out continues.

After months of pain, isolation, and bereavement, hearing that the light at the end of the tunnel is a bit further away can be hard.

However, NHS staff are confident that, with a bit more work on keeping to the rules for a few more weeks, we will reach that light.