Boots hopes to give vaccinations from next week at sites in region

HIGH STREET pharmacy Boots says it hopes to offer vaccinations at several sites in England from next week to help with the Government rollout, with two of the first three sites announced as West Yorkshire branches.

The health and beauty retailer is one of several businesses that have offered their facilities to the vaccine programme and says it is “proud” to be supporting the NHS.

So far more than 1.1 million people in England have been vaccinated, with the Government pledging to provide jabs to 14 million by February.

A spokesperson for Boots said three vaccination sites will be set up initially – in Halifax, Huddersfield and Gloucester – but the store is working with the

Government to expand its operations.

Operations at the sites are provisionally set to begin on January 11 and jabs will be administered by trained Boots colleagues, who will then continue to monitor the progress of patients.

“At Boots, we are proud of our role at the heart of UK healthcare and we can confirm that, together with the local clinical commissioning groups, Boots will initially open three Covid- 19 vaccination sites, based in Halifax, Huddersfield and Gloucester,” the spokesperson said.

“Boots has extensive knowledge and experience of mass vaccination, having completed over a million flu vaccinations this year, and we have developed a model for Covid- 19 vaccination that is aligned with our exceptional safety, clinical and operational standards.

“We stand ready to do much more and our national network of pharmacy expertise is prepped to support the NHS and the Government to accelerate the rollout of the vaccine.”

Other businesses such as supermarket chain Morrisons, professional sports clubs and hospitality venues in London have also offered facilities to assist with the rollout.

It comes as the vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University is rolled out across GP surgeries in England.

In a Downing Street briefing yesterday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We’ve now vaccinated 1.26 million people in England, 113,000 in Scotland, 49,000 in Wales and 46,000 in Northern Ireland.”