Covid: York to get national mass vaccination hub

The centre will be based at a former park and ride site in Moor Lane in York

A national hub for Covid-19 vaccinations is to be opened at a former park and ride site in York.

The centre, at Moor Lane car park, will offer jabs to people who live within 45 minutes travel time to the city.

New portable buildings have been erected and the first injections are due to be offered from Monday.

York GP Prof Mike Holmes said people would receive a letter inviting them to attend the centre and priority groups would get their vaccinations first.

The site will be managed by Nimbuscare, an organisation representing 11 GP practices across York.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Prof Holmes, who is a director of Nimbuscare, told a City of York Council meeting that 8,000 extra appointments would be available during the first phase of the operation.

"We're also running our own booking system which we'll make available for health and social care staff," Prof Holmes said.

"We're working with our local Clinical Commissioning Group to ensure that booking link gets distributed to employers across health and social care in a systematic way."

NHS staff would also be eligible for vaccination, he said.

The meeting also heard that all of York's care home residents are set to have received the vaccination by early next week and a total of 12,000 vaccinations have already been carried out in the city.

Housebound residents are expected to be vaccinated soon and Prof Holmes said the Askham Bar site received 1,200 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday.

According to the latest figures, York has seen 657 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days - higher than the English average of 622.