A ‘huge modular building’ will soon be installed at the York vaccination centre at Askham Bar.
Tens of thousands of life-saving jabs have taken place under canvas at the site since it opened in December 2020. But the marquees are now being dismantled to make way for the next stage of the project.
Dr Mike Holmes, chair of Nimbuscare, the primary care group overseeing the vaccination programme in the city, told YorkMix Radio: “It’s kind of mixed feelings, really: the tent has been a phenomenal thing.
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“It’s been with us for over a year. And it’s served this city well.
“It was quite an emotional moment. It came down earlier this week. And, you know, I think we’ll miss it.”
But nothing stands still, Dr Holmes told Ben Fry and Laura Castle on the Breakfast Mix.
“We’re going to put in a huge modular building, supported by Portakabin again. What that’s going to enable us to do is to put a lot more services in there.”
The vaccinations will continue “but we’re also going to be able to do our children’s ambulatory treatment hub, we’re going to be putting in extra investigations for respiratory conditions, we’ll be doing health checks, and who knows? We’re in constant discussions with our local NHS and local authorities.
“The concept of this sort of health village as a legacy of our Covid campaign on on the site of Askham Bar feels like it’s coming to fruition. And I’m genuinely excited and optimistic about that.”
Children and the jab
Dr Holmes was encouraged by the drop in the rates of Covid-19 after they rocketed due to the Omicron variant.
And he told Ben and Laura that the reduced isolation period for people who test positive “feels like the right direction of travel”.
He said there were ongoing conversations about vaccinating children aged five to 11.
Children of this age who are clinically vulnerable or live with someone who is immunosuppressed can now receive paediatric doses of the Pfizer jab following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) last month.
“There’s a load of questions around who exactly is going to be able to access the vaccine?” Dr Holmes said.
“And how do we do it? There are far more primary schools than there are secondary schools, and we’ve got to be able to manage our resources.
“So is it more effective for parents to bring kids into a centre, where we can do everybody more efficiently, than it is for us to go out to every single school?
“So there’s details to be worked out and more information will as always come out in due course.”