A free shuttle bus has been set up in Lanarkshire to take those eligible for their coronavirus jag to the supercentre site at Ravenscraig.
Last Friday, Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig Councillor Kenneth Duffy shared a note of the details on his Facebook page.
He posted: “Free bus to Ravenscraig vaccine centre. From Motherwell Train Station, starts today. United Bus Company. Every 30 minutes from 07.30 to 20.30.”
NHS Lanarkshire is set to produce a vaccination centre travel guide, which will be published this week.
The health board say they are putting additional support in place to ensure that everyone who is eligible can receive their Covid-19 vaccination.
Since the start of the Covid-19 vaccination programme 229,213 people in Lanarkshire have already received their first dose of the vaccine.
To help Lanarkshire return to normal by vaccinating people as quickly as possible the health board say they are increasing the pace of their vaccination programme by adapting plans.
They now have two supercentres, seven local centres and mobile units as vaccination clinics.
If people can travel to a supercentre the health board say they will complete the programme around two months faster.
However they say they understand that these plans will not be suitable for everyone, which is why they have included local centres across Lanarkshire, for people who are unable to travel to the supercentres.
The health board are working with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) to put in place direct shuttle bus services and to amend existing bus routes to visit the supercentre sites.
More information will be published next week.
SPT has also set up a dedicated enquiry line for public transport to vaccination clinics. This is the first point of contact for all public transport enquiries. Call 0141 465 1878 (open 24 hours a day, seven days a week) or visit www.travelinescotland.com/lts/#/travelInfo
Under the current restrictions, travelling to your vaccination appointment is an essential journey, regardless of the distance.
It is no different to attending a hospital appointment. Car-sharing is also allowed to travel to an appointment, if there are no other alternatives.
They are also working with organisations to provide a number of mobile units to help serve more rural populations and for those who are unable to travel to either a supercentre or local centre; and a housebound vaccination team has been created to provide vaccinations for those who cannot leave their home.
Dr Mark Russell, lead for the Covid-19 vaccination programme in Lanarkshire, said: “Our updated plans will help us protect our communities as quickly as possible and support the wider NHS to keep other services running.
“More people being vaccinated quicker is the simplest and most important step we can take to help life get back to normal, faster. It would not be possible to do this without maximising our supercentres, so we’re asking for your help – if you can attend your appointment in a supercentre, please do so. This leaves the local centres for those who absolutely need it.
“Attending your vaccination appointment is the most important journey you’ll make this year. Which is why we are asking our local communities to make an extra effort to attend for their vaccination as soon as they are invited.
“Our plans will remain flexible and we can adapt them to meet the needs of the service.
“We are currently inviting people in priority groups 6 and 7. This is people aged 16 to 64 with eligible underlying health conditions and people aged 60 and over. We will start to invite priority groups 8 and 9 (people aged 50 to 59) in the coming days. We are asking people to be patient and wait on your appointment letter.”
Local centres are located at: Sir Matt Busby Sports Complex, Bellshill; Time Capsule, Coatbridge; Muirfield Community Centre, Cumbernauld; Fernhill Community Centre, Rutherglen; Whitehill Neighbourhood Centre, Hamilton; St Nicholas Church Hall, Lanark; and Stonehouse Lifestyles, Stonehouse.
