CLACTON Hospital will open as a mass coronavirus vaccination centre this week, NHS bosses have confirmed.
The hospital, which is run by Anglian Community Enterprise and located in Tower Road, is one of six mass vaccines centres opening in the east from today.
Each centre can vaccine hundreds of people a day and thousands each week.
This will enable the vaccination programme to expand as further vaccine supplies become available.
The six new centres are among a series opening nationally this week as the NHS accelerates the number of sites which can distribute the first dose of the jab.
People in the top four priority groups including people aged 70 years old and over, and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, are being invited to book an appointment at the vaccination centres through the national booking service.
The centres will also be vaccinating health and care staff who are being urged to get their first dose as soon as possible to protect themselves and others.
The six new mass vaccination centres opening this week are at:
- Chelmsford City Racecourse
- Colchester United Jobserve Community Stadium
- The Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
- Former Riverwalk School, Bury St Edmunds
- Clacton Hospital
- Alastair Farquharson Centre, Thurrock Community Hospital
Nigel Leonard, Executive Director of Strategy and Transformation at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), which is coordinating the large vaccination centres across Mid and South Essex and Suffolk and North East Essex, said: “The opening of these centres will have a huge impact on our ability to accelerate vaccinations to the people of Essex and Suffolk and protect those most at risk as quickly as possible.
“I would like to thank my NHS colleagues, partners and everyone involved for their incredible work and dedication to enable these centres to open as quickly as possible.”
- Colchester United's Jobserve Community Stadium is also becoming a mass vaccine centre
The NHS is urging people only to come to a vaccination centre when invited to do so, to help ensure that priority groups are served first and to maintain safe social distancing at every venue.
Please arrive no more than five minutes before your appointment.
NHS staff are also visiting those who are housebound and unable to travel to their local service or vaccination centre.
For more information, visit eput.nhs.uk/news-events/coronavirus/coronavirus-vaccine.
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