Unique West Midlands venues helping distribution of vaccine

Pop-up vaccination services in mosques, mobile vaccination vans, football arenas, museums and cinemas are just some of the ways where people have been able to benefit from the life-saving coronavirus vaccination.

The West Midlands delivered the world’s first vaccine outside of a clinical trial as part of the largest vaccination programme in the NHS’s history, when Margaret Keenan received the jab at University Hospital Coventry in December.

Since then, the vaccination programme has been rolled-out to a number of more unusual partnerships that have helped to accelerate the vaccination programme in the Midlands.

The Jamia Masjid Bilal and UKIM Madinah Masjid mosques, the Gurdwara Nanaksar Thath and the Wednesfield Seventh Day Adventist Church in Wolverhampton and the Aisha Mosque in Walsall are some of the religious venues to give the vaccine.

Other centres have included football stadiums such as Villa Park and venues such as Telford International Centre, Ludlow Racecourse and Shrewsbury Indoor Bowls Centre.

The booking service for vaccinations can be accessed at nhs.uk/COVID-vaccination. Those who cannot go online can call 119 free of charge.

'Invaluable support'

Alison Tonge, the regional director responsible for the rollout of the vaccination programme at NHS England and NHS Improvement in the Midlands, said: “The West Midlands has some of the most diverse populations in the country, so it’s vital that we take the vaccine out into communities to ensure everyone has easy access to the vaccine.

"So, on behalf of the NHS in the West Midlands I would like to thank every one of our community partners and volunteers for their invaluable support in taking the vaccination service to places where people are most comfortable.

"These are places which are not only familiar to people but also have proved pivotal in providing social distancing, infection, prevention and control measures that you find in a clinical environment as well.

“We are very grateful that so many people have come forward to help us enable those who are eligible to get vaccinated. It’s been a fantastic demonstration of community spirit and a monumental effort resulting in more than 1.8 million people receiving the lifesaving vaccine.

“The vaccines are both safe and effective, so if anybody who is eligible but hasn’t been vaccinated yet, I’d urge them to go online or call 119 and get themselves booked in.”