COLCHESTER’S troops will be ready to help with the rollout of coronavirus vaccines if and when called upon, an MoD source has said.

More than 5,000 UK Armed Forces personnel are currently deployed to support the response to the coronavirus across the UK.

They are assisting with 70 different tasks ranging from schools testing to the rollout of vaccines.

Colchester Garrison is home to 16 Medical Regiment who have already deployed to help with Covid-19 efforts in the Falklands during the crisis.

A spokesman for the MoD in Colchester said the town’s troops would be ready to help wherever needed over the coming months.

The MoD has already deployed ten military planners to assist the Vaccine Task Force, with more than 150 personnel deployed across the UK to support organisational and logistical components of the programme.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “The new year will see new levels of armed forces support to overcoming this pandemic.

“Thousands of service personnel are working throughout the United Kingdom, wherever they are needed to assist the civil authorities.”