Covid-19 vaccinations have begun - here's where your nearest NHS vaccination centre is
Tuesday 8 December marked the first day of the biggest vaccination rollout in British history.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdA vaccination against Covid-19 will be available to select members of the public, with the first people being immunised against the disease which has fundamentally affected life across the globe for almost a calendar year.
Vaccinations will be administered at dozens of hospital hubs; people aged 80 and older, care home workers and NHS workers who are at higher risk are at the front of the queue for the jabs.
Here is everything you need to know:
Who was first to get the vaccine?
The first member of the British public to receive the vaccine was 90-year-old grandmother Margaret Keenan, who became the first person in the world to receive Pfizer’s Covid-19 jab as a patient.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdKeenan, known to family and friends as Maggie, received the jab from nurse May Parsons at University Hospital in Coventry at 6.31am.
"I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19,” she said. “It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year.”
When will I get the vaccine?
In England, vaccines will be available initially in up to 50 Hospital Hubs across England.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdBut while the beginning of the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine is undeniably good news, it may be some time until it is widely available to members of the public not falling into high risk groups.
Sir Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, has said there is “every prospect” that by spring the high-risk vulnerable groups, as identified by the medical experts, will all have been vaccinated.
But Sir Simon added that it will take “some weeks and months as vaccine supply becomes available for GPs and hospitals and pharmacists to reach all of the most vulnerable”.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdGP surgeries in England have been told to be ready to start staffing GP-led Covid-19 vaccination centres by 14 December.
The first to receive the vaccine in these centres will be those aged 80 and over, as long as other risk factors, “clinical or otherwise”, have been taken into account.
Where is my nearest vaccine hub?
In England, vaccines will be available initially in up to 50 Hospital Hubs across England.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdChris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said hospitals in England have identified appropriate places to conduct the vaccinations.
He said the ideal place is close to a car park and separate from any other clinical area where there might be a risk of Covid-19 infection.
Staff will be working out the best arrangements in a socially distanced way and there will be timed slots to minimise queueing.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe full list of 50 Covid-19 vaccine hubs in the first wave of vaccinations has been revealed, and the full list is as follows:
- Blackpool Teaching HospitalBrighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust – Royal Sussex County Hospital
- Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
- Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – William Harvey Hospital
- East Suffolk And North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
- Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust – Wexham Park Hospital
- Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
- Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Denmark Hill
- King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Princess Royal University Hospital
- Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- North Bristol NHS Trust
- North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
- North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
- Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Portsmouth University Hospitals Trust
- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Royal Stoke Hospital
- Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
- Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust
- South Tees NHS Trust
- St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
- The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
- University Hospitals Coventry And Warwickshire NHS Trust
- University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
- University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
- Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
- Wirral University Teaching Hospital
- Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
NHS staff have been identifying people in the key target groups and lists have been passed to appointment bookers who have been making phone calls to arrange appointments.
Some hospitals are focusing on people who are due to come in for an outpatient appointment, or those who are currently receiving care in hospital.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdMr Hopson said people aged over 80 should not be worried if they do not receive a call or a letter this week, adding that the vast majority will not be vaccinated until early 2021.
He expects there will be communications in the coming weeks telling people how quickly medical teams are getting through those who are over 80.
A version of this article originally appeared on our sister title, the Yorkshire Evening Post