Salisbury City Hall to reopen as mass vaccination site

The Malthouse Lane venue, which has been closed since March last year, will now play a major part in the vaccine rollout.

It will provide the Covid-19 jab "on a mass scale" seven days a week - a move NHS staff hope will offer people "a faster route to receiving the vaccine".

You can see what the site looks like HERE.

More vaccine news:

• Salisbury Cathedral vaccination site: Pictures and videos
• Salisbury Cathedral hosts second day of vaccinations
• Covid-19 vaccine: All you need to know
• Find out when you could get the Covid jab
• The 19 GP-led sites set up in the Wiltshire CCG area

City Hall will operate alongside the GP-led vaccination hubs at Salisbury Cathedral, Wilton's Michael Herbert Hall, Tidworth Leisure Centre and Salisbury Plain Health Centre in Larkhill.

City Hall. Picture by Spencer Mulholland

All people currently eligible for a coronavirus vaccine, and living within a 45-minute drive of each venue, will be written to in the coming days with details of how to book an appointment.

Anyone who receives a letter will be able to choose whether to have the vaccine at City Hall, or to wait to be invited to a community vaccination clinic.

Bath Racecourse has also been transformed into a large-scale centre.

According to the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), both sites have been designed to offer people who are able to travel "an alternative, potentially faster, route to receiving the vaccine".

First large scale vaccination centres

Gill May, Director of Nursing and Quality, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG, said: “I’m delighted to announce the opening of these two large scale vaccination centres, which are the first of their kind in our region.

“Getting these two venues up and running with the help of our community and voluntary sector partners, such as St John’s Ambulance and 3SG, will allow us to provide even more opportunities for people to get vaccinated in addition to what is already being offered at our GP-led sites.

“We know that many people in line for the vaccine are still very much mobile, and also incredibly eager to be vaccinated, and we hope these new venues will help us to carry out more vaccinations and ultimately protect more families from the heartbreak that is so often associated with coronavirus.”

Vaccine appointment crucial

Details of how to book an appointment at the large-scale venues are included in the letters that are being addressed to people in the region over the age of 80.

Those over the age of 70, along with frontline health and care workers, should also receive an invitation in the coming weeks.

People are asked not to turn up at the venue without an appointment as the vaccination staff will be unable to give the jab to any person without a pre-arranged vaccine slot.

The invites to receive the vaccine are based on the Government's priority groups and those classed as being most vulnerable to Covid-19.

'Proud to play our part'

Wiltshire Council, which owns City Hall, said the launch of the vaccination site was a reason for hope.

But locals must continue to follow the rules.

Cllr Philip Whitehead, leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “We are proud to play our part in this monumental effort to roll out the vaccine as quickly and safely as possible.

“A vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel and thanks to the efforts of hugely talented scientific research teams, we find ourselves in this much more hopeful position.

“However, the rollout of the vaccine is a huge logistical undertaking involving many partners and organisations across the country and will take some time.

“In the meantime everyone must keep following the rules to keep each other as safe as possible.”

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