Mass vaccination centre opens in Wembley Park

Mary Heaword, 99, gave the thumbs up after receiving the vaccination at the Olympic Office Centre, in Fulton Road, on Monday (January 18).

A further 10 mass vaccination centres have opened across England, with more than a million over-80s invited to receive their jab.

The centre will deliver thousands of the life-saving jabs each week and offers an alternative to GP-led and hospital services that are already set up across the borough.

Letters have been sent to people aged over 80 who live up to a 45 minute drive from the new centre, inviting them to book an appointment either by phone or online through the national booking system.

Those who have already been offered an appointment by their GP, are asked to keep that appointment.

Staff and members of the public outside the Olympic Office Centre, Wembley, north London, as ten further mass vaccination centres opened in England (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Pippa Nightingale, lead for the vaccination programme in northwest London, said she was "incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication" that went into opening the centre.

“The borough of Brent has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and we are pleased that today we are able to launch our first vaccination centre here,” she said.

Cllr Neil Nerva, Brent’s lead member for public Health, culture and leisure, said: “As the UK’s most diverse borough we were hit particularly hard in the first wave of the virus so I am really pleased that Brent has been chosen for one of the first new mass vaccination centres."

National medical director at NHS England Stephen Powis outside the NHS Covid Vaccine Centre in Wembley (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England, urged those who have received the vaccine to continue to follow social distancing measures.

“It will stop you getting severe illness but we don’t yet know how good the vaccines are at stopping the transmission of the virus – that is data that will become apparent as more people get vaccinated,” he said.

“So my advice, get the vaccine if you are offered it, but continue to stick to those social distancing guidelines.

“That’s the way we will prevent lives being lost and it’s the way we will take pressure off our hospitals.”

More sites will open across northwest London in the coming weeks.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan visiting the Olympic Office Centre, Wembley, where vaccinations began on January 18 (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

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