Vaccine traffic causes parking restrictions on Knaresborough’s Chain Lane

Vehicles look set to be prevented from parking on a stretch of Chain Lane in Knaresborough following an increase in traffic travelling to the vaccination centre.

Chain Lane is a busy road in a residential area that also operates as a bus route.

It has been the site of Knaresborough’s biggest vaccine centre at Chain Lane Community Hub, run by Homecare Pharmacy, since September.

North Yorkshire County Council has proposed an order to stop traffic parking from January 17 after it found vehicles parking on the road were causing a danger to the public.

The parking restriction will cover the section of Chain Lane from Princess Terrace, near the bus stop, past the community hub and down to the turning for Eastfield.

The council’s notice said:

“Parked vehicles obscure visibility from the vaccination centre and cause issues with vehicles passing safely given the number of buses and parked vehicles causing a need to give/take far more frequently.”

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The temporary order is expected to be in place until July 16, 2023. But the council added if the vaccination centre closed before then, the order would be lifted.

Staff at the vaccination centre said they were unaware of the move.

Steve Cullerton, operations director, said:

“I can imagine it is problematic for locals, especially at the beginning when we were at our busiest. But it’s calmed down a bit now so hopefully the new order won’t be too inconvenient for people coming for a jab.

“I don’t think it’ll have a huge impact, we always tell people to park responsibly or go do some shopping in town first and park there, then come to us.”

The county council said signs will be put up to indicate the length of the restriction and where it is in place.

Elderly queue for two hours in rain for booster jabs at Knaresborough

Several readers have contacted the Stray Ferret to say they had to queue outside in the rain for up to two hours on the opening day of the new Knaresborough vaccination site.

The pharmacy-run site relocated today to Chain Lane Community Hub. As well as administering first and second doses of the covid vaccine, it is also giving booster jabs.

Three women got in touch to describe long queues outside the clinic, with some as old as 80 standing outside for long periods.

Carol Harrington said she arrived at 12.30pm and received her vaccine just after 2pm. She said:

“Everyone was elderly, some were in wheelchairs others with sticks. Some people were really struggling, so they took them inside.

“It was awful, I understand it was the first day and they may fix it but it really wasn’t good.

“My husband struggles to walk so I’m worried for when I have to bring him.”

‘Distressing to see’

Another lady who asked not to be named, said she was there from 11.30am to 1.45pm. She said:

“I was quite distressed to see so many people stood in the queue. I think I’m fairly fit for someone over 80 but I was surrounded by people that weren’t. There was one lady who had to get a chair and we kept moving it along the line.

“I kept asking the volunteers but no-one had any answers.”

Tracy from Ripon, who asked not to use her full name, said she was asked to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with no social distancing. She said despite everyone wearing masks she didn’t feel safe.

“I was waiting for 50 minutes. Asking vulnerable people to stand shoulder-to-shoulder so they can avoid the rain isn’t OK. I’d much rather get a little damp then get too close to someone in a pandemic.

“I’ve felt safer in busy supermarkets.”

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‘Tomorrow won’t be the same’

The site, run by Homecare Pharmacy Services, opened in the car park of the former Lidl in Knaresborough in February but said it wanted to move to larger premises for winter.

The site will be one of the main hubs for booster jabs in the district, alongside Ripon racecourse.

Its managing director, Jason Baskind, acknowledged the claims from today’s visitors:

“It’s a new site and it’s a case of learning about the mechanics of the car park. We will be learning from today, all the team tried to keep the queues as small as we could.

“There are absolutely lessons to be taken. Perhaps we overestimated what we could do on day one. It’s about maximising the capacity whilst keeping queues small. I am very hopeful tomorrow won’t be the same.”

Ripon Racecourse to reopen as vaccine centre

Ripon Racecourse will reopen as a covid vaccination centre and Knaresborough’s York Road site will relocate for the vaccine booster programme.

The rollout of third doses to around 30 million people across the UK began this week.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for the NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said Ripon Racecourse will reopen as a vaccination centre and that Knaresborough’s York Road site at the former Lidl supermarket will move to the town’s Chain Lane Community Hub.

Speaking at a meeting of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum today, Ms Bloor said these sites would help increase capacity and that other venues were being confirmed by NHS England.

She said:

“We are going to have a mix of venues delivering the booster programme – some of our practice sites will be delivering the vaccines and in addition there will also be a number of community pharmacy sites across North Yorkshire.

“The community pharmacy sites are managed by NHS England and are currently undergoing a site assurance process.

The old Lidl vaccination site in Knaresborough is relocating to the Chain Lane Community Hub from Tuesday. It will mean this site can significantly increase capacity.

Ripon Racecourse closed as a vaccination centre in July after being used for the first phase of the rollout, while Knaresborough’s York Road site is still being used.

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The rollout of booster jabs follows a recommendation from the government’s vaccine advisers, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which said third doses should be given at least six months after a person has had their second – with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab recommended.

The recommendations come amid concern about waning immunity, with JCVI saying that it wanted to take the precautionary approach of boosters to ensure the most vulnerable people maintain high levels of protection.

Those eligible for the booster jabs include over-50s, younger adults with health conditions and frontline health and care workers.

Patients will be invited on a priority basis and they have been urged not to contact the NHS, but to wait to hear from the health service.

Ms Bloor added:

“The booster programme will be delivered as it was in phase one with the most vulnerable being invited first, so care home residents will be prioritised.

“Cohorts one to nine, in order, will be invited for a booster no earlier than six months from their second dose. The boosters will be by appointment only and there won’t be a drop-in service at this point.