Walsall NHS Trust to take part in first wave of Covid jabs
A Black Country NHS Trust will take part in the first wave of UK Covid vaccinations next week.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Walsall Manor Hospital, will be among the first 50 hospital hubs to administer jabs, as will Royal Stoke Hospital.
People aged 80 and over, alongside care home workers and some NHS workers, will be the first to receive the jabs.
The vaccination programme will officially start on Tuesday.
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Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: "Despite the huge complexities, hospitals will kickstart the first phase of the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history from Tuesday.
"The first tranche of vaccine deliveries will be landing at hospitals by Monday in readiness.
"The NHS has a strong record of delivering large scale vaccination programmes – from the flu jab, HPV vaccine and lifesaving MMR jabs – hardworking staff will once again rise to the challenge to protect the most vulnerable people from this awful disease."
The life-saving vaccine is typically delivered by a simple injection in the shoulder but there is a complex and difficult logistical challenge to deliver from the manufacturers Pfizer to patients.
It needs to be stored at -70C before being thawed out and can only be moved four times within that cold chain before being used.
NHS staff have been working over the weekend to prepare the sites and accept deliveries.
The 50 hospital hubs in the first wave:
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
East Suffolk And North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Coventry And Warwickshire NHS Trust
Royal Stoke Hospital
Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
South Tees NHS Trust
Wirral University Teaching Hospital
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
Blackpool Teaching Hospital
Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust - Wexham Park Hospital
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – William Harvey Hospital
Brighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust - Royal Sussex County Hospital
Portsmouth University Hospitals Trust
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
North Bristol NHS Trust
