Harrogate’s covid vaccination centre at the Great Yorkshire Showground is set to close next month.
The site, along with the vaccination centre at Ripon Races, is run by Yorkshire Health Network, a federation of the 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district.
The final jabs will be administered at Ripon Races tomorrow. The clinic will be open to people aged 12 and over and walk-ins will be accepted between 8.30am-12.30pm and 1.30-5pm.
The showground site will continue until March 12.
The site first opened in December 2020 to support the first vaccination rollout and administered 117,000 jabs in its first six months of operation.
It reopened in December 2021 as part of the covid booster campaign.
Tim Yarrow, operations manager at Yorkshire Health Network, confirmed that the site would close on March 12. He said:
“After March 12 we will be offering a scaled back service on more of an ad-hoc basis, hopefully still at the showground.”
Vaccinations at the site will continue until March, with walk-in appointments available.
A spokesperson for Yorkshire Health Network added:
“Vaccination clinics are due to be held at the Yorkshire Event Centre until at least the middle of March,
“However, with some adults and vulnerable children likely to still require access to the covid vaccine, the Yorkshire Health Network is currently looking at future provision beyond this date, with arrangements to be confirmed soon.
“If patients still require first, second or booster doses, they can book appointments via the NHS Booking Service online or call 119, or visit the NHS website to see local arrangements for walk-in clinic.”
Vaccination centre to open at Harrogate hospital
A vaccination centre is set to open at Harrogate District Hospital this weekend as part of the ramping up of covid booster vaccines.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust confirmed today that it hopes the site will open on Saturday.
It will provide another booster option for over-18s, who can currently receive jabs at the GP-run Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and Ripon Races or one of several pharmacy sites in the district.
Dr Matt Shepherd, deputy chief operating officer at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“The trust is responding as quickly as possible to the national ask to rapidly expand and support the covid-19 booster programme.
“We are currently establishing a vaccination centre for the public at Harrogate District Hospital where we can provide them with covid-19 booster vaccinations.
“The centre is aiming to be open from Saturday, December 18, and members of the public can book their vaccination via the national booking service.”
Following the announcement of the speed-up in the booster programme, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the House of Commons that some non-urgent and elective surgery “may be postponed until the new year”.
The Stray Ferret asked Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust whether any non-urgent appointments would be delayed as part of the booster vaccine programme.
In response, Dr Shepherd said:
“We are also reviewing our services to see what treatment we could potentially defer for a few weeks to provide more staff to the community vaccination programme.
“Currently we are not considering delays to surgery, urgent or cancer work. We will of course keep any disruption as minimal as possible and will contact any patients as soon as we can if their care is going to be deferred in any way.”
News that the hospital will provide vaccines follows Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcement on Monday that every adult in Britain will be offered a booster jab by the end of December, as he warned there was a “tidal wave of Omicron coming”.
As part of the effort, the showground site has extended walk-in booster jabs until Christmas Eve.
The showground site, which is run by Yorkshire Health Network, a federation of the 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district, is also offering walk-in clinics for 12 to 18-year-olds from 2pm to 4pm tomorrow and 2pm to 4pm on Monday next week.
So far, 74,680 booster vaccines have been given in the Harrogate district, according to government figures.
Knaresborough vaccine site cancels all appointments for today’s clinicThe vaccination centre in Knaresborough cancelled all appointments for today’s clinic due to staff problems.
The site, run by Homecare Pharmacy Services at the former Lidl supermarket, needs to have a pharmacist present at all times to oversee injections.
But the pharmacist scheduled to attend today was unable able to make it so the clinic was cancelled.
Jason Baskind, managing director of Homecare Pharmacy Services, told the Stray Ferret:
“We did not have too many people signed up today but we did have to cancel the clinic today. Most people did get a notification but unfortunately some did not.
“The pharmacist was not able to attend so it cannot go ahead. As part of our contract we have to have a pharmacist on site.
“But we will be back tomorrow and for the rest of the week, including the weekend.”
The vaccine centre reopened last weekend and administered 1,800 jabs after supply shortages forced it to close for almost a month.
The site, which is now able to give both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, is set to re-open tomorrow for the rest of the week.
It aims to give an average of 1,000 jabs a day.
Hi-vis vests donated to volunteers at district’s vaccination centresYorkshire firm Clad Safety has donated 125 hi-vis vests to volunteers at local vaccination centres.
The jackets have gone to Harrogate Easier Living Project (HELP) volunteers who are currently working at the Harrogate and Ripon centres.
HELP support those in the local area who are elderly, disabled or suffer from mental illness. Since the pandemic began, HELP volunteers have supported locals who are shielding or isolating on more than 6,000 occasions.
HELP volunteer Phil directs the traffic at the Ripon vaccination centre.
Clad Safety makes workwear and PPE and is Yorkshire based.
Neil Trevvett, Managing Director at CLAD Safety said they wanted to showed their support to the local charity.
“We have seen how HELP’s volunteers have been providing the local community with vital support including shopping, running errands and phone befriending over the pandemic. When they approached us for support to supply branded hi-vis vests for their volunteer marshals we were delighted to provide them with these items.”
Frances Elliot, CEO of HELP’s parent charity, Harrogate and District Community Action, said:
Harrogate district records another 23 covid cases“One thing we have seen shine through over the past 12 months is how the local community has come together to support one another. This generous donation from CLAD Safety epitomises this amazing community spirit. We are extremely grateful to them for supporting our work.”
A further 23 covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district. It is the same number of cases as yesterday.
It takes the total cases since March up to 7,006, according to today’s Public Health England figures.
Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate (latest data, February 10th) stands at 104.5 per 100,000 people.
The North Yorkshire average is 108,1 while the England rate is currently 156.8.
No further deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.
Read the Stray Ferret on Monday for interviews from the Great Yorkshire Showground vaccination centre.