More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A shopping centre and a church in a Kent town are to feature temporary coronavirus vaccination centres where adults can get their jabs without an appointment.
The drop-in clinics will be available at 40/42 Fremlin Walk in Maidstone tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, and at Maidstone United Reformed Church in Week Street on Saturday.
Online pharmacy Pharmacy2U will run the Fremlin Walk centre from 8.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 7pm on both days, allowing people to get jabbed around doing a spot of shopping.
It will offer the Pfizer vaccine on both days but the AstraZeneca vaccine is only available tomorrow.
It is just one of 40 venues Pharmacy2U are offering vaccines at across the UK.
Mark Livingstone, chief executive of Pharmacy2U, said: "We are incredibly proud at Pharmacy2U to help play our part in protecting the most vulnerable people against Covid-19 and supporting the incredible effort the NHS has put into the vaccination programme.
"The continued launch of our sites marks a huge step in increasing the number of people that will have access to the vaccine and we feel privileged to be able to do so and help ease some of the huge pressures that the NHS are currently under.
“Our vaccination centres and fully trained first-aiders will be supporting pharmacists to give patients these vital vaccinations, providing an essential service to help prevent the spread of this terrible virus.
"We’re working closely with the national and regional NHS teams to deliver further vaccination sites for patients in areas that need them most.”
Maidstone Borough Council and the NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group have also teamed up to set up a pop-up vaccination walk-in clinic.
It will be held from midday until 6pm on Saturday at the Maidstone United Reformed Church.
Anyone aged 18 or older will be eligible, although proof of age will be required at the church.
Both first and second doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine will be available on the day.
National guidance is for the second dose to be a minimum of eight weeks after the first.
MBC council leader, Cllr David Burton, said: “The ‘walk-in’ clinic in Week Street this Saturday is the perfect opportunity for anyone in the town centre area to grab a jab as nobody needs to book.
"I would encourage everyone who hasn’t done so already to go and have their Covid vaccination this weekend.”
"The Covid vaccines are saving lives, protecting people, and allowing us to regain some of the freedoms we’ve missed over the last 18 months.
"MBC is supporting this campaign and asking everyone to get the jab as soon as they can."
Dr Navin Kumta, clinical chairman of the NHS Kent and Medway CCG, added: “It’s important that everyone eligible in Kent and Medway receives the Covid-19 vaccine and that is why we have been organising extra clinics across the county.
“It’s not too late to get your jab and the clinic in Maidstone provides easy access for everyone over the age of 18.
"No-one needs to make an appointment – just turn up and get a jab.”
Latest figures from Public Health England this week show three quarters of adults in the UK have now received both doses of one of the Covid-19 vaccines.
More than 86 million doses have been administered in the UK, with 47 million receiving a first dose and just under 40 million receiving both doses.
Covid testing sites for people without symptoms were used this year, but the majority of those in Kent closed in June.
Run by Kent County Council, the sites remaining open are in Ashford at the Eurogate Business Park, Thomson Road, and Sessions House in County Hall, Maidstone.
