New mass Covid vaccination centre due to open at Peterborough’s Showground

A mass Covid vaccination centre will open at Peterborough’s Showground as part of the latest expansion of the vaccine rollout across the country.
Vaccinations will be given at the Showground in PeterboroughVaccinations will be given at the Showground in Peterborough
Vaccinations will be given at the Showground in Peterborough

The Showground hub is on the list of centre’s that NHS England said will be opening from tomorrow, but a statement from Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust said its further centres ‘will roll out in the coming weeks, including at the East of England Arena and Events Centre in the near future’.

The confirmation of the new Peterborough vaccination centre came as it was announced that the NHS will pay GPs an additional £10 for every Covid vaccination they deliver to someone who is housebound as part of the drive to protect the most vulnerable people as swiftly as possible.

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The extra payment comes as vaccine centres including Elland Road football ground, home to Premier League side Leeds, prepare to open their doors as the NHS Vaccination programme, the biggest in health service history, continues to accelerate this week.

The openings will mean there are more than 100 of the large-scale centres offering the life-saving jab, along with more than local 1,000 GP services, almost 200 run by High Street pharmacy services and over 250 hospital hubs.

Other sites due to come online this week include Chesterton Indoor Bowls Club, Cambridge, East of England Showground, Peterborough, and Watford Town hall.

People aged 70 and over can arrange to be jabbed at a Vaccine Centre or pharmacy service or wait to be contacted by their local GP service or hospital.

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GPs are also visiting those who cannot leave home to ensure that they are also protected.

They will receive an additional £10 on top of the standard vaccination fee for all every housebound person they vaccinate.

Some GP services working in towns and cities have been vaccinating more than 100 people with conditions such as dementia, each day.

GPs and healthcare teams in rural areas have been driving through heavy snow to protect housebound people in rural areas.

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The NHS vaccination programme, the biggest in health service history, and has seen more than 10 million people jabbed in England in a matter of weeks.

This means that the NHS is on track to offer all those in the top four priority groups, decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, a jab by the middle of this month.

Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and NHS medical director for primary care, said: “Tremendous efforts have been made by GPs across the country to ensure we vaccinate those people who are in the priority cohorts as determined by the JCVI.

“Since the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use and we began administering it on 4 January when Brian Pinker became the first person to receive the jab, my colleagues across the country have been prioritising the vaccination programme roll out which is our biggest chance of beating this virus.

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“Please remember the NHS will be in touch with you when it’s your turn to be vaccinated.”

The £10 per visit additional funding recognises the extra staff time and complexity of vaccinating the housebound.

The supplement also applies retrospectively to any vaccinations which have already been administered to people at home.

Priority groups for vaccination in this initial phase were determined by the government following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and cover people aged 70 and over, the clinically extremely vulnerable, NHS workers and care home residents and staff.

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Millions of letters have already been sent out to those eligible to get their jabs at the major vaccination sites across the country.

Nobody needs to contact the NHS, as people will be invited when it is their turn and people cannot get vaccinated by just turning up.

If anyone has already received a jab since the letter was sent out or would prefer to wait to be invited to attend a hospital or GP service, they can simply ignore it.

The NHS made history when Maggie Keenan became the first person in the world to be protected against coronavirus outside of a clinical trial when she received the Pfizer vaccine at Coventry Hospital on the 8 December.

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The NHS was also the first health system to deliver the new Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine when Brian Pinker, 82, was jabbed on January 4.

The sites due to open next week are:

Chesterton Indoor Bowls Club, Cambridge

East of England Showground, Peterborough

Hemel Hempstead Hospital, Hemel Hempstead

Norwich Community Hospital , Norwich

Old Laws Court, Lowerstoft

Whitemore Lakes, Lichfield

Elland Road Stadium, Leeds

Hull City Hall, Hull

Alderley Park Conference centre, Macclesfield

Chester Race Course, Chester

Bucks University Aylesbury Campus, Aylesbury

St John Shopping Centre, Preston

The Mall, Burnley

The Mill Arts & Events Centre, Rayleigh

Saxon Court, Milton Keynes

Watford Town Hall, Watford

Watling House, Dunstable

Angel Centre, Tonbridge