North Yorkshire health leaders "as ready as possible" for another pandemic
They've been talking as we mark five years since the first Covid lockdown
Health leaders in North Yorkshire say the COVID lockdowns are still having a big impact on people's mental health.
This week marks five years since the measures came into force to try and stop the spread of the virus.
Peter Roderick is the Director of Public Health at York City Council: "The mental health impact is well documented, we can see that with our really young, our covid babies who didn't get that face to face interaction and the socialisation that you really need in the first few years and then our teenagers who didn't have friends around them at that really crucial time."
"It knocked a lot of education and a generation of people who didn't take face to face exams within that period and had different types of assessment and didn't go into school and get that social interaction and some of the benefits of that."
Meanwhile a new plan has been drawn up to help North Yorkshire prepare should their be another pandemic. "No plan survives contact with reality and in many ways it's about resilience within the system and having a well functioning NHS. So I'd like to say we are as ready as possible, but we're ready for an event which is very unpredictable."
His comment come as around 7.5 million people in England are to be asked to book their spring Covid-19 jab.
NHS England said the national booking system for the vaccination campaign opens today.
Eligible people will be able to get their jabs between April and mid-June.
People over the age of 75, residents in care homes for older adults and those with weakened immune systems will be eligible for the jab.
Officials said the virus continues to circulate and can be "highly dangerous" to these groups.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England's national medical director, said: "The latest weekly NHS statistics show there are still more than 1,000 people in hospital with Covid each day, showing that this continues to be a serious illness, particularly for older people and those with weakened immune systems.
"Previous immunity - either from having the virus or from a previous vaccination - can wane over time, so it is vital that those who are at higher risk top up their protection - with new evidence showing those who have received a Covid jab are 40% less likely to be admitted to hospital with the virus in the following two months.
"This spring, the NHS is offering the Covid-19 vaccine to protect those that are at highest risk of getting seriously unwell if they catch the virus - so if you are aged 75 or over, in a care home for older adults, or if you or your child have a weakened immune system, please do make an appointment for your vaccine as soon as possible.
"We are contacting everyone who is eligible for the jab via text, email, NHS app messages or letters, but you don't need to wait for an invite to book - just visit the NHS website, use the NHS app or call 119 now to book your appointment."