Two more Covid-19 Vaccination Centres are opening in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
The two centres, based at Elgar House in Hereford and St Peter’s Baptist Church in Worcester, begin vaccinating frontline health and social care workers as well as the most vulnerable patient groups this week.
This is a significant development in the growing vaccination programme across Herefordshire and Worcestershire following the opening of the Artrix Theatre in Bromsgrove last week.
The site at St Peter’s Baptist Church in Worcester is being run by SW Healthcare and begins vaccinations today (Monday 1 February). SW Healthcare, who also run the Artrix Vaccination Centre, is a federation of GP practices in Worcestershire.
Wye Valley NHS Trust, who run Hereford County Hospital and community services across Herefordshire, will manage the site at Elgar House which opens tomorrow (Tuesday 2 February).
David McDowell, Operations Manager for the site at St Peter’s Baptist Church, said: “This vaccination centre will further increase our local capacity to deliver Covid-19 vaccines, building upon the brilliant work of our GP-led teams, and those at the newly-opened Artrix in Bromsgrove. These have been instrumental in helping us to introduce the vaccine in Herefordshire and Worcestershire so far, and we look forward to doing our part in driving this programme forward.
“We will be inviting patients based on the JCVI priority list, targeting the most vulnerable patients first – so we’re asking patients not to attend the centre if they haven’t booked an appointment. GP-led teams will also be continuing to invite patients to attend local vaccination sites, so those patients who are unable to get to St Peter’s can wait to be called forward by their GP.”
Erica Hermon, Elgar House Vaccination Centre Manager, added: “We’re proud to be able to play our part in the largest vaccination programme ever rolled out in the country which will benefit health and care staff, patients and members of the public across Herefordshire. We have already been vaccinating health and care staff from a hub at Herefordshire County Hospital so we’re pleased that we can now join our primary care colleagues in offering the vaccine to the wider public as well.
“A lot of hard work has gone into getting Elgar House ready and I would encourage patients and the public to play their part and have their vaccination when they are invited to. Over the coming weeks we will be inviting the priority groups to receive their vaccines directly. Please wait until you receive your invitation – there is no drop-in service. In the meantime, it is crucial that everyone continues to follow the national guidelines to keep themselves safe.”
Other sites in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Covid-19 vaccination network include:
- GP-led vaccination services– these are led by Primary Care Networks of local GP surgeries working together. There are 17 of these sites covering all areas of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. They have initially concentrated on patients aged over 80 and some are now inviting patients aged over 70
- GP-led teams working to protect care homes residents vaccinating inside the homes, as well as visiting housebound patients
- Hospital Hubs – protecting hospital staff, care home staff and some hospital patients
- Community pharmacies – one has now opened in Redditch with more planning to open in the coming weeks.
Last week, figures published by NHS England showed that 107,690 first vaccinations have already been administered across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, including 44,113 (90%) of residents aged over 80 years.
