Loughbrough to host mass COVID-19 vaccination site

Charnwood Borough Council is handing over an area of its offices, currently dedicated to Ministry of Defence teams, by mid-December for an estimated nine-month period to help administer Covid-19 vaccines.

Sparked by the news of a potential vaccine coming online in the next few weeks, the plan is to use the offices to administer the vaccines to around “185,000 people in the area”. This is, of course, conditional on a vaccine being licensed.

A council spokesman stated: “We can confirm the council is in negotiations with the NHS about using its offices in Southfield Road in Loughborough as a potential Covid-19 vaccination centre.”

Nevertheless, it is a plan and still at the proposal stage.

He followed on to say: “However, clearly as a council we will do anything we can to support the battle against this virus.

“The council has supported residents and local businesses throughout the pandemic and should this proposal go ahead, we would be proud to play our part in the vaccination programme.

“The offices have capacity as many more staff are working from home and that is a trend that is likely to continue long term… Our understanding is the centre could open mid-December.”

Although the vaccine has not had complete approval or guarantee, two US-led vaccines using a large sample size were discovered to be over 90 per cent effective in protecting individuals from COVID-19.

The British Astra-Zeneca-Oxford vaccine, also in late-stage development, has reported very promising figures this week too.

Council leader Johnathan Morgan said: “We feel very excited to be at the forefront of this, and as soon as a vaccine is ready, this site will be ready to go.”