The Covid-19 vaccination programme across Leeds and West Yorkshire has taken a big step forward this week as a large new vaccination centre in the region, at Elland Road, opened as an additional choice for those receiving their invitation letter to get vaccinated from the NHS.
In the space of several weeks, the Centenary Pavilion, well-known by Leeds United supporters, has been transformed into a state-of-the-art vaccination centre, optimised to stream the local population through their vaccination journey in less than 30 minutes.
The centre will officially open on Monday 8th February to the local community of Leeds and those travelling up to 45 minutes, but it has been operating as a hospital hub for the past two weeks, prioritising the vaccination of frontline workers.
Dr Phil Wood, Chief Medical Officer for Leeds Teaching Hospitals said; “We’re delighted to open Elland Road to the first priority groups of the general public. The centre will be a hugely positive benefit to the vaccination programme both now and over the next few months, and an additional choice for people as they are invited to get their vaccine.”
Leeds United player Kalvin Phillips recently had a look at the new Covid-19 vaccination centre when he was at Elland Road, and was able to meet some of the staff on duty and learn more about the hub and the incredible work being done by the NHS to vaccinate those in the city and the surrounding areas.
Transforming the Centenary Pavilion into a vaccination centre has been a truly collaborative partnership across Leeds, involving the NHS and support from Leeds City Council, IT specialists, security teams and Leeds United Football Club. The first group from the general public this week will be those in priority cohorts 1-4, which includes those over 70 years of age, as part of the government target to have these priority groups vaccinated by mid-February.
Elland Road is one of 23 vaccination hubs across the city that people will be invited to make an appointment at in addition to their GP practice. The centre will work alongside services provided by community pharmacists, NHS trusts and 19 GP practice networks (PCNs), which have already administered tens of thousands of vaccines to people at the greatest risk from Covid-19.