Selby Covid vaccination hub hailed a success – Watch the video guide
Hundreds of patients have received a dose of Covid-19 vaccine at the newly opened vaccination centre for Selby.
The hub, run by Selby Town Primary Care Network to serve a population of nearly 50,000 people, opened its doors to its first patients last Friday (February 12).
About 1,800 people in the over-70s age group received a dose of the vaccine across two clinics held at the newly converted Summit Indoor Adventure Centre on Friday and Saturday.
The centre has been purpose-designed to replace Posterngate Surgery as the vaccination hub for people served by Escrick Surgery, Beech Tree Surgery, Posterngate Surgery and Scott Road Medical Centre.
It will initially have capacity to vaccinate up to 5,000 people a week, rising to 7,000 as the vaccination programme progresses.
Dr Nick Jackson, Clinical Director of Selby Town Primary Care Network, said the successful launch of the centre was dedicated to Dr Kath Hodkin, a GP partner at Scott Road Medical Centre and the Primary Care Network’s vaccine clinical lead, who has been instrumental in getting the hub off the ground. Dr Hodkin has been unable to finish working on the move to the Summit site due to illness.
Dr Jackson said: “The successful launch of the centre is a testament to the dedicated work of Kath and others in our Primary Care Network, particularly our operations manager Richard Gregory.
“Since Selby District Council handed over the centre to us at the end of January, an intensive programme of conversion and testing has taken place to ensure we were able to start vaccinating people on Friday.
“These careful preparations by our staff and volunteers meant the launch of the new centre, which has been designed for hundreds of people to pass through every day, went smoothly – and it was great to see so many people happy to be getting their vaccines.
“Everyone at Selby Town Primary Care Network wishes Kath a speedy recovery.”
Thousands more people will be invited to the centre in the coming weeks and months by the local NHS to receive their first and second doses of the vaccine, as the rollout of the programme expands to accommodate various age groups.
The NHS is inviting eligible people in a phased basis as supplies of the vaccine allow, and everyone will be offered a vaccine in due course.