Heavy snowfall proves no barrier as 100-year-old Leeds great grandmother Margaret Marshall puts on her wellies to get Covid-19 jab

The deluge across the city proved no barrier to Mrs Marshall making her appointment to get the injection after an anxious wait

The YEP reported earlier this week how Mrs Marshall's relatives were frustrated at not being able to get answers as to when she would receive it despite 40,000 people in the city already being vaccinated.

Everything appeared to be going smoothly after the great-grandmother received confirmation that she would get the vaccination at Alwoodley Medical Centre on Thursday afternoon.

The appointment then looked in jeopardy due to heavy snowfall throughout Yorkshire.

But it went ahead as planned after Mrs Marshall's son Weir braved two-hour traffic jams from his home in Wetherby to collect Mrs Marshall from her home in Roundhay.

Mrs Marshall received the AstraZeneca at the medical centre at 2pm.

Weir told the YEP: "When we saw the weather we thought it was going to be just her luck to have to cancel the appointment.

"She was still very keen to get it done so we decided to go through with it no matter what.

"In the end it went very well. Everything at the medical centre was very well organised.

"We saw a lot of pensioners in their wellies going in one door and then out of the other.

"It's a big relief to finally get the first jab out of the way. It will be an even bigger relief to come back in 12 weeks for the next one."

Dr Martin Sutcliffe, GP at Alwoodley Medical Centre, said: “Mrs Marshall’s turn for vaccination arrived as she was on the latest invite list as we steadily make progress in inviting people on the priority list as guided by the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI).

"She received her invite through our new text message-based system and was then able to use a link to go online to book her appointment.

"We want to reassure people that if you are unable to use online services or do not have a mobile phone our teams will contact everyone by calling you or a relative.

"General Practices have unique knowledge of their patients and usually know who best to contact about an individual - be that the individual, child, neighbour or other carer.

"We will also do this for people who don’t respond online to the text message - an action which family and friends can help with.

"We will ensure no one is left behind, but you can help our practice if you book your appointment online as instructed by the text message you receive from us."

Mrs Marshall celebrated her 100th birthday last May.She served the city as an ambulance driver during World War Two and has been a popular community champion in Roundhay for many decades.

She was transport manager for the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service over a number of years.

The widow was also a volunteer for meals on wheels for the elderly.

Dr Sutcliffe urged people over the age of 80 and their relatives not to worry if they have not yet been contacted about the vaccine.

He said: "You might know others over 80 who have been invited for their vaccination already, but that does not mean that you or your relative are a lower priority.

"GPs and other practice staff are working hard to vaccinate everyone in this group as quickly as possible and, during January and February 2021, many more people will be invited in.

"Our teams are working incredibly hard to book these clinics when we have confirmation of the vaccine deliveries - please be kind to them.

“Setting up these clinics has been a huge challenge involving all our practices that form our primary care network.

"Our teams have risen to the challenge impressively whilst simultaneously maintaining normal services.

"I am incredibly proud of the teams’ achievement and want to extend my thanks to the entire team for bringing this together so successfully as well as volunteers who have helped us such as those who were our recent snow heroes.”