Vaccinations start at Black Country Living Museum as Midlands hits million jab mark

The Victorian-era museum, made famous as the set of hit TV series Peaky Blinders, will kick off by jabbing mainly health and social care staff.

The Tipton Road-based site, in Dudley, will open its doors to other priority patients on Tuesday.

Letters have already been sent out to people aged over 80, living within the vicinity, inviting them to book a jab.

Those eligible for a vaccine will receive a letter and should not contact the health service, NHS England said.

You cannot get a vaccine just by turning up, and those given a time slot are asked not to arrive early to prevent queues and overcrowding.

Other sites roped into the vaccination effort include a race course, a show ground, a football stadium and a former Ikea store.

Sir Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive said: "The whole of the NHS has mobilised to set about delivering this huge Covid-19 vaccination programme, and as more supply becomes available, we're able to expand its reach and scale."

Andrew Lovett, museum chief executive, said the people who get the jab were helping the NHS “in the most important public health initiative it has ever undertaken”.

He added: “By hosting the vaccine centre at the museum, we’re able to support the NHS in providing immunisation for the local community.”

Midlands hits million mark

The Midlands has become the first region in England to administer more than one million first doses of coronavirus vaccine, new figures from NHS England show.

The data also shows London still lags behind all other regions in terms of the total number of jabs given, having delivered around 641,000 since December 8.

The capital also delivered the lowest number of first doses in the last seven days.

Between January 17 and January 23, 219,350 first doses were administered in London compared to 362,976 in the Midlands.

It comes after Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said on January 18 it was “vital” that vulnerable Londoners be given “life-saving” vaccines as quickly as possible, and that he “fully expected” numbers to increase.

The capital has a lower average age than the rest of the UK, according to data from Trust for London.

Around 3 per cent of London’s population is over 80, compared with 6 per cent in south-west England.

The NHS England data shows that a total of 5,970,175 vaccinations, including first and second doses, have been administered in England since December 8.

Regional breakdown shows the next highest number of jabs delivered after the Midlands was in the North East and Yorkshire, with 905,794 first doses and 71,725 second doses, making 977,519 in total.

This is followed by the South East, with 881,901 first doses and 76,288 second doses making 958,189 given in total, and the North West, where a total of 829,130 jabs have been administered, including 765,617 first doses and 63,513 second doses.

In the East of England, there have been 734,392 jabs in total, of which 680,812 were first doses and 53,580 second doses.

And in the South West, 632,406 first doses and 53,508 second doses – a total of 685,914 – have been given.