Stadium to host mass vaccinations
THE John Smith’s Stadium on Leeds Road, Huddersfield, has been chosen as the place where Kirklees folk will receive their coronavirus vaccination, The Examiner can reveal.
The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/ BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for mass vaccination.
Britain’s medicines regulator, the MHRA, says the jab, claimed to offer up to 95 per cent protection against Covid19 illness, is safe to be rolled out.
Pfizer said the first doses are already on their way to the UK, with 800,000 due in the coming days.
An insider told The Examiner: “It’s very exciting news. Hundreds of people across Kirklees will receive their jabs at the stadium over the coming months and this will become thousands in due course.
“Football stadia are an obvious vehicle for this kind of testing being large, central places with plenty of parking space.
“Originally there was talk of army involvement but not at this stadium.
“Initially the vaccinations will be carried out inside the stadium and outdoors ultimately.”
On Monday it was reported that military personnel had begun setting up a mass vaccination centre at the Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol used by Bristol City football club.
And the insider said there’s a possibility that the Etihad Stadium used by Manchester City may be used for similar purposes too.
Kirklees councillor Bernard McGuin, who sits on the board at the stadium, said: “I was told that the stadium was being used for health reasons and I can only welcome the news that vaccinations are going to take place at this location.
“It’s public, wide open and has plenty of spaces for cars and it will mean extra income for the stadium, which has been struggling of late given the pandemic.”