Covid-19: Northampton's new mass vaccination centre opens

People who are eligible to have the vaccine are being urged to take up their appointments at the mass vaccination centre

A new mass vaccination centre aimed at expanding the roll-out of the Covid-19 jab has opened in Northamptonshire.

The NHS said the hub, based at Moulton Park in Northampton, could enable thousands of people to vaccinated each week.

The centre will operate seven days a week from 08:00 to 20:00 GMT.

Chief executive of Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Toby Sanders, said it would create "significant extra capacity".

Nationally, more than six million people have now received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine.

In Northamptonshire, 25,587 of the 32,724 people aged 80 and above had received a first dose of the vaccine in the latest government statistics going up to 17 January.

Some 7,346 had also received a second dose.

That first dose rate of about 78% was slightly above the UK figure of 75%.

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Director of the Northampton vaccination centre programme, Chris Pallot, said: "The most relevant thing is people accept the vaccine when it is offered.

"I would implore everyone to take up the offer."

Mr Pallot said patients would be contacted either through their GP surgery or by letter, with people in the 70-75 and 75-80 age groups being targeted.

Dr Jamie Green, a GP at Delapre Medical Centre in Northampton, said surgeries had been "having trickles of the vaccine through".

"As factories start to ramp up production and as we get more and more vaccinations available we'll be in a much better position to give it more often," he said.

"My only slight concern would be whether mass vaccination centres start to take up more of the vaccine and we are left with empty vaccination centres [surgeries and smaller centres].

"Most people would like to go to their local area."

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Northamptonshire passed 37,000 since testing started.

Nearly a thousand more positive tests have been reported since Friday.

Another 20 Covid-19 deaths were recorded in the county's two main hospitals over the weekend - 13 at Northampton General and seven at Kettering General.

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