Boots store in Halifax to open Covid-19 vaccination site

The health care shop has confirmed that the town along with Huddersfield and Glocester will be one of the first to offer the vaccine.

A spokesperson said: “At Boots, we are proud of our role at the heart of UK healthcare and we can confirm that, together with the local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), Boots will initially open three COVID-19 vaccination sites, based in Halifax, Huddersfield and Gloucester. They will begin vaccinating patients in early January.

"Boots has extensive knowledge and experience of mass vaccination (having completed over a million flu vaccinations this year, for example) and we have developed a model for COVID-19 vaccination that is aligned with our exceptional safety, clinical and operational standards.

"We stand ready to do much more and our national network of pharmacy expertise is prepped to support the NHS and the government to accelerate the rollout of the vaccine.”

Covid-19 infection rates are rising in numerous parts of the UK, with the latest figures available showing that in England, there has been a 33 per cent rise in the number of patients with coronavirus in hospital between Christmas Day and 2 January.

Vaccinations being rolled out

The first doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have now been administered in the UK. Ministers have said that the NHS has the capacity to deliver two million doses a week of the Oxford vaccine, once it receives supplies from the manufacturers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the nation has the capacity to vaccinate, but that “the issue is to do with supply of the vaccine.”

“It’s not so much a manufacturing issue although that’s part of it,” he added.

“Each batch needs to be properly approved and quality controlled.”