Government reveals details of the North East’s first mass Covid-19 vaccination centre

Downing Street has confirmed that mass vaccination hubs at seven sites across England will begin operations next week, as the Government attempts to meet the target of vaccinating 14 million people across the UK by February.

The hubs will be set up in London, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Surrey and Stevenage.

The Centre For Life in Newcastle city centre has been selected by the Government as the first mass vaccination centre in the North East and is expected to be staffed with a combination of NHS staff and volunteers.

Other venues across the country include the Etihad Tennis Centre in Manchester, the Epsom Racecourse in Surrey and London’s ExCel convention centre.

Details of how the Centre For Life site will operate are yet to be announced but are expected to be confirmed in due course.

It is understood that there are further facilities under consideration should the Government see the need to expand the vaccination programme even further, however it is not unknown if anymore will be opened in the region.

The latest announcement comes after supermarket chain Morrisons confirmed that it would be offering the car parks of stores to the Government to turn into vaccination sites.

It follows the start of the roll out of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, which took place on Monday, January 4 and saw 82-year-old Brian Pinker become the first to receive it outside of clinical trials.

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