As it appeared: Coronavirus: 37, 475 patients in UK hospitals

A RAF veteran was among hundreds of people over the age of 80 who received the Covid-19 vaccine at Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire today.

Former flight sergeant Louis Godwin described the reception of the Pfizer / BioNTech jab as ‘absolutely wonderful’.

The rural cathedral is hosting a vaccination center for five GPs in the area, with the aim of vaccinating more than 1,000 elderly residents and staff.

Mr. Godwin remembers that after the war he had a jabs in Egypt, which dropped me off for a week.

“This one, the doctor told me ‘well it’s done’ – and I thought he did not start!”

The veteran pilot, who has 12 great-grandchildren, said the pandemic could not be compared to the war.

“It was completely different because it divided people.

‘The vaccine is nothing, you feel nothing … so someone who needs one and can get one, I would say, go ahead and do it fast.

“That’s the only way we’re going to hit the virus.”

Patients stood around the monasteries for a short time on Saturday before entering the cathedral where they were treated to a music program on the famous Father Willis organ.

“It’s a bonus to be in such an iconic, wonderful place,” said Dr Dan Henderson, co-clinical director of the Sarum South Primary Care Network.

“It’s great to get the vaccine out there and get it in people’s arms and know that it’s hopefully the beginning of some kind of normality again.”