Merseyside is getting a mass vaccination centre, it has been confirmed.
St Helens Rugby League Ground, the Totally Wicked Stadium, will be the site of the first large-scale Covid-19 mass vaccination centre in Merseyside and Cheshire.
The stadium, formerly known as Langtree Park, has been thought of as a potential site for the large-scale administering of vaccines for some weeks now and today that news has been confirmed it will become fully operational from Monday to serve people from Merseyside and Cheshire.
Led by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the centre will be using the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to help protect people against the virus.
When fully operational, the centre will be administering vaccines to thousands of people each week - beginning with the most vulnerable groups.
The venue is an additional option for the people of Merseyside to choose when they are contacted to have their vaccine, alongside primary care and local pharmacy venues.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
Professor Kevin Hardy, Vaccination Centre Medical Director, said: “This is an exciting step in the national COVID-19 vaccination programme and great news for the people of Cheshire and Merseyside that the first large-scale vaccination centre is opening in the area.
"When the St Helens centre is fully operational, we will be vaccinating thousands of people each week and it means that we can move through those priority groups at a greater pace and ensure that we can protect many more people as soon possible.”
In a joint statement, St Helens North MP Conor McGinn, St Helens South and Whiston MP Marie Rimmer and St Helens Council leader David Baines welcomed the news.
They said: "We are delighted with the confirmation that the first mass vaccination site in Merseyside at the Totally Wicked Stadium in St Helens will become operational on Monday.
"Since Saints’ stadium was identified in late December as a potential site to provide mass vaccination capacity for Cheshire and Merseyside, our NHS and CCG staff have worked tirelessly alongside St Helens Borough Council and St Helens RFC in a national, regional and local effort to get this up and running swiftly and safely. We are proud of all their efforts and grateful to them for everything they continue to do.
Find vaccine centres near you
"As our hospitals continue to be under severe pressure, and we see record numbers of deaths from Covid-19, we urge people to continue to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives."
They added: "We know that this has been a difficult time for everyone in our community.
"We hope that the continuing roll-out of the vaccine nationally, and the part being played in it by local people at this iconic site in our town, will bring optimism and a sense of pride to everyone across our borough.”
Vaccination will be by appointment only and members of the public are asked not to attend the stadium unless they have been contacted by the NHS. Those in the Government’s priority groups will be contacted first and given the option of the St Helens venue.
