Covid-19: St Helens rugby league stadium to host mass vaccinations

Vaccinations will begin at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Monday

The home of St Helens rugby league club is to become Merseyside's first mass Covid-19 vaccination centre.

Led by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the Totally Wicked Stadium will become a hub for the jabs from Monday, using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The site will increase options for people in the region alongside primary care and local pharmacy outlets.

People should not to attend the stadium unless they receive an invitation.

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Prof Kevin Hardy, the centre's medical director, said described the move as "an exciting step" in the vaccine role-out.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "When the St Helens centre is fully operational, we will be vaccinating thousands of people each week."

The Liverpool City Region has seen some of the sharpest recent rises in coronavirus cases in England, with Knowsley and Liverpool itself being among the hardest hit.

Earlier this week, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram wrote to Health Secretary Matt Hancock to say he was "disappointed" the logistics and infrastructure used for mass testing in the city were not now being used to speed up the vaccination effort.

Speaking on Friday, the mayor welcomed confirmation of the new St Helens centre.

A joint statement, Labour politicians Conor McGinn, MP for St Helens North, Marie Rimmer, MP for St Helens South and Whiston, and St Helens Council leader David Baines said NHS staff had "worked tirelessly" to bring project to fruition.