Mass vaccination centres open up
THREE new mass vaccination centres are opening in Devon and Cornwall today as the fight against coronavirus is ramped up.
The biggest immunisation programme in the history of the NHS will see thousands of vaccinations carried out at Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park stadium, Stithians Showground, near Truro, in Cornwall, and Westpoint, Exeter.
The new centres will mean there is a network of 49 mass vaccination sites across England. Nationally, a total of 6,353,321 people have received their first coronavirus vaccine, yesterday’s latest Government figures show. In addition, 469,660 have had their second dose.
The new local vaccination centres will kick off by jabbing mainly health and social care staff today before opening their doors to more patients tomorrow.
The NHS vaccinated over 140 people every minute last week and hopes to do more people this week as more jabs become available.
GPs and their teams on the Isles of Scilly have also started vaccinating residents against Covid-19.
THREE new mass vaccination centres are opening in Devon and Cornwall this week as the fight against coronavirus is ramped up.
The biggest immunisation programme in the history of the NHS will see thousands of vaccinations carried out at Plymouth Argyle’s Mayflower Grandstand at Home Park, Stithians Showground, near Truro, in Cornwall, and Westpoint, Exeter.
The new centres will mean there is a network of 49 mass vaccination sites across England. There are also 70 pharmacies offering the jab, as well as more than 1,000 GP surgeries and 250 hospitals.
Nationally, a total of 6,353,321 people have received their first coronavirus vaccine, yesterday’s latest Government figures show. In addition, 469,660 have had their second dose.
The new local vaccination centres will kick off by jabbing mainly health and social care staff today before opening their doors to more patients tomorrow.
The NHS vaccinated over 140 people every minute last week and hopes to do more people this week as more jabs become available.
A team of Network Rail staff including engineers, project managers and signallers helped set up the new mass vaccination centre at Exeter. Workers from the company unloaded around 100 pallets of equipment from articulated lorries and set it up inside the main building at Westpoint exhibition centre last week. They assembled furniture, laid out signage and constructed vaccination pods to ensure the facility would be ready to open tomorrow.
Nick Millington, director of safety at Network Rail, said: “We are so proud to have played a part in helping set up this hugely important vaccination centre in Exeter.
“Throughout the pandemic, colleagues right across Network Rail have worked tirelessly to help keep our trains and stations running safely for the benefit of our passengers, and we were delighted to have the opportunity to continue contributing towards overcoming Covid-19 away from the tracks.”
Mr Millington said it was also “immensely rewarding” to help build the Nightingale Hospital in Exeter last year.
Darryn Allcorn, chief nurse at Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We’re very grateful to all the people from Network Rail who volunteered to help set up the vaccination centre at Westpoint. It was a fantastic effort by all, and our new centres mean we are on track to further increase the scale and pace of the vaccination programme in Devon.”
In Cornwall, the vaccination centre at Stithians Showground will be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Containing two pods, the vaccine centre is situated in a large marquee on the agricultural ground. From today, one pod will be in operation, vaccinating up to 500 people a day, with the second one following soon afterwards, meaning 1,000 vaccines will be administered every day. Those who are aged 80 and over as well as health and social care workers will be the first cohort to receive the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine at the site, with other vulnerable groups following.
Anyone attending an appointment at the vaccine centre will be greeted by volunteers who will marshal car parks and register them when they arrive.
Rob White, clinical lead for the Covid-19 vaccination programme and NHS Kernow Governing Body member, said: “This marks a significant day in Cornwall’s commitment to vaccinate as many people against Covid as safely and efficiently as possible.
Jenna Payne, general and company secretary of Stithians Showground, said: “We feel really proud to have played our part in the largest vaccination programme that the NHS has ever delivered.”