Further shot in the arm for Covid fight as chemist joins programme
A DERBY pharmacy will be administering Covid-19 vaccines from the start of February.
Staff at Allestree Pharmacy in Duffield Road will be administering Covid-19 vaccines to those in the top four priority groups from Monday, February 1.
They will be using St John’s Methodist Church in Birchover Way as their vaccination hub, at which patients will receive their vaccines.
Patients will receive letters from the NHS and will not be able to book appointments. They are also advised not to call to ask when their appointment may be.
Saeed Sarab, manager of Allestree Pharmacy which is part of the Imaan Healthcare group, said vaccines will be administered from 8am until 8pm every day of the week, depending on supply of vaccines.
Mr Saeed told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We are extremely pleased to announce that Allestree Pharmacy has been chosen to organise the opening of a Covid Vaccination Centre in Allestree.
“The centre will be located at St John’s Methodist Church on Birchover Way and will open from Monday February 1.
“All those eligible to be vaccinated will receive a letter from the NHS explaining the booking process.
“We ask everyone to not contact their surgery or the pharmacy for any bookings and to await their letter.
“Due to the urgency of the task, we have so far been unable to make any announcements, however, now that our plans have been approved, we will be releasing regular updates on our Facebook page.
“We are very excited and proud to be given this opportunity and look forward to welcoming you to the centre.”
It is likely the pharmacy will be using the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines due to the easier process of storing them, compared to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines which need to be kept at -70 degrees celsius.
The Covid vaccines are adminsitered in the same way as the annual typical flu jabs which pharmacies regularly give.
Two other Derbyshire pharmacies, one in Hatton and one in Horsley, are also set to distribute Covid-19 vaccines soon.
They will join two new hospital hubs at Kingsway Hospital in Derby and Walton Hospital in Chesterfield.
These are added to the Royal Derby Hospital and Chesterfield Hospital, along with 16 community sites run by GPs, including Derby Arena.
The new sites, including Allestree Pharmacy, represent an aim to further step up the vaccine rollout and hopes to hit the mid-February deadline for giving jabs to all those in the top four priority groups, in which there are nearly a quarter of a million people in Derbyshire.