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Mass Covid vaccinations could begin at Ashton Gate by early December
Bristol residents will start receiving coronavirus vaccines in less than a fortnight, starting with over-50s and frontline health and care workers, local NHS chiefs have revealed.
A regional mass vaccination centre is set to be created at Ashton Gate Stadium, while GP practices will be grouped together, with one of them administering jabs for patients from the other surgeries seven days a week.
The army might be used to deploy wider community testing using rapid tests made available by the government under tier 3.
Between 75,000 and 110,000 people in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire will receive vaccines every week from December 7 until April 5, according to a report to University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Trust (UHBW) board.
Pharmacies will fill the gaps where GP coverage is low, and home visits will be carried out for housebound people, the area’s clinical commissioning group says.
At least 70 per cent of the local population will need to be vaccinated, which involves a second dose three to four weeks after the first.
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Robert Woolley, chief executive of UHBW, which runs hospitals including the BRI, Children’s Hospital and St Michael’s, told trust board members on Friday that they are gearing up to provide and administer mass vaccinations and “this is moving very fast”.
He said: “It is subject to Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority approval but if that approval is fast tracked as we expect then we are gearing up to be able to start vaccinating staff and any other priorities that are advised to us nationally in December.”
A report to the board said Ashton Gate had been identified as a potential site for the mass vaccinations and that it would be open 12 hours every day. It was the only site named in the papers.
North Bristol Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Southmead, will oversee the programme, with jobs for seasonal flu & pandemic immunisers already being advertised on their website.
The mass vaccination centre will be alongside a GP-led service.
Ashton Gate Stadium managing director, Mark Kelly, tweeted: “still no approved vaccine but when it’s available the stadium will be ready to facilitate whatever is required to support the NHS, Bristol and the community. This will have no impact on the return of fans and should if anything help the city recover”
Adam Postans is a local democracy reporter for Bristol. Main photo: Martin Booth
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