Lanarkshire will soon have two supercentres open seven days a week to administer the Covid-19 vaccination.
From Monday, March 8, the facilities will have the combined capacity to vaccinate more than 50,000 people each week.
They will be open all week at the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell and the Alastair McCoist Complex in East Kilbride, working alongside seven local centres and mobile units to deliver the vaccination programme.
The seven local centres will be located at Bellshill, Coatbridge, Cumbernauld, Fernhill, Hamilton, Lanark and Stonehouse.
And the news comes as NHS Lanarkshire also announced that 200,000 doses of the vaccine have already been administered.
Dr Mark Russell, lead for the Covid-19 vaccination programme in Lanarkshire, said: “Both the public and NHS Lanarkshire want our residents vaccinated quickly, so to help increase the pace of our local programme we are amending our current plan to vaccinate people as fast and as safely as possible.”
The amended delivery model will mean an increase in pace of vaccination while keeping the programme safe, effective and efficient.
Dr Russell added: “The new model will start as we move through priority group 6 and will remain in place for the other groups.
“Initially, all appointments will be at the supercentres. People can choose to reschedule their appointment to one of the local centres, however there will be a wait for these.
“We would strongly encourage people who can attend their appointment at a supercentre, to do so. This will protect the local centres for those who cannot travel. Travelling to a supercentre will enable people to receive their vaccination sooner than they would otherwise.”
Back in January soldiers from the Leuchars based Royal Scots Dragoon Guards were drafted in to open the Ravenscraig facility before handing it over to the NHS at the weekend.
But the centre was blighted by so called ‘ghost patients’ with hundreds of people failing to turn up to get the Covid-19 jab.
And according to an insider, only 250 people turned up one Monday and the centre was closed the following day.
NHS Lanarkshire then announced it would be open at weekends only until Monday, March 8 under the new model.
For people who struggle with transport to attend their appointment, arrangements are in place with Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire and Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire to provide volunteer transport.
People can call the national helpline on 0800 030 8013 (available 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week) and be directed to a local operative who will provide details.
People with mobility issues can use SPT’s bookable ‘MyBus’ service. Registration is required before booking and advance booking is recommended, as capacity is limited due to physical distancing requirements. For more information call 0345 128 4025.
