Cambridge’s first mass vaccination centre was launched last week (28/01) at the Grafton Shopping Centre.

The new site is capable of vaccinating thousands of people in the coming weeks with around 500 Covid-19 jabs being provided per day.

The hub consists of six vaccination stations and is being operated by around 25 NHS staff and volunteers.

The medical director at Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, Dr David Vickers has said that the new centre will “provide a major boost to our plans to offer protection to those who would benefit most as quickly as possible.”

The hub is offering the vaccine to eligible patients within a 45 minute radius. Appointments last around 30 minutes, as is standard for Covid-19 vaccinations, to allow for 15 minutes of observation post-vaccine to ensure patients have no immediate adverse reactions.

An anonymous student told Varsity about their experience at the Trumpington Medical Centre, praising the efficiency of the service as “100 percent on schedule.” They added that the staff were “incredibly friendly and helpful” and said that they felt “completely safe the entire time.”

The anonymous student received the Pfizer vaccine and reported “no side effects.” The student said, “I am so relieved to have received the vaccine” having been “incredibly careful” since the start of the pandemic.

The Grafton Centre large-scale vaccination hub is the second of many new centres being rolled out in Cambridgeshire. Mass vaccination centres are now open in Peterborough and Huntingdon, with another in Wisbech due to open today (05/02). 

Vickers said that “further centres will roll out in the coming weeks.” Prior to these hubs, vaccinations were only available at local hospitals and local services such as GPs and pharmacies.

In addition to these vaccination centres, a rapid Covid-19 testing centre opened on Wednesday (03/02), to further tackle the virus.

The latest government data suggests that 92.9% of the 75-79 age bracket, and 88.2% of the over-80 population in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, have received the first dose of the vaccine.

The vaccine is being rolled out to priority groups in line with the advice from the national Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI).

The first dose of the vaccine has now been administered to over 10 million people in the UK in less than two months. This figure puts the UK on target to partially vaccinate all individuals in the top four priority groups by mid-February, when the vaccine can then roll out to the remaining priority groups.

The UK has offered the Covid-19 vaccine to around 15% of its population, and many more vaccination centres are expected to open across the country to alleviate pressure on GPs delivering the vaccine.