Employees of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust have been thanked for their hard work as the mass vaccination hubs at Barbara Castle Way, Blackburn and Charter Walk Shopping Centre, Burnley officially close.
The two centres were the last
remaining vaccination centres out of the seven mass sites established across the Lancashire and South Cumbria region during the pandemic.
The sites administered over 4.3 million vaccines across Lancashire and South Cumbria including first, second and booster doses with 86% of high-risk and eligible people taking up the offer of their vaccine. The team also administered up to 28,500 vaccines to people in their own homes or via pop-up clinics.
Tony McDonald, Executive Director of
Integrated Care, Partnerships and Resilience, visited colleagues at both sites to acknowledge their hard work and support over the last two years and thanked them for their exceptional contribution to our COVID response.
He said: “The vaccination programme and the role of the mass vaccination centres were pivotal in supporting and protecting our communities. The can-do spirit and contribution from partner organisations involved was truly exceptional.”
Jane Scattergood, Senior Responsible Officer for 
the Lancashire and South Cumbria COVID-19 vaccination programme added: “We are pleased to be able to close the mass vaccination centres as this means we have reached the stage where the vaccine programme can be managed within existing NHS services.
“The ongoing COVID-19 vaccination programme will continue to be delivered within primary care, either in GP surgeries or pharmacies, or in settings managed by them.”