Vaccination hubs at the Showground and Ripon Racecourse will no longer be needed from August – with other local pharmacy sites set to play a larger role in the vaccination rollout.
120,000 jabs have now been administered at the Yorkshire Events Centre at Harrogate Showground and the site at Ripon Racecourse since December.
The NHS National Booking Service is now offering COVID vaccines to those aged 36 and over and doctors say the time is now right to assess the infrastructure and future capacity that’s required to support the vaccination programme.
- Harrogate vaccination centre at the Yorkshire Showground will close on 13 August 2021
- Ripon vaccination centre at the Ripon Racecoure will close on 31 August 2021
Dr Ian Dilley, a GP Partner at East Parade Surgery in Harrogate and the Clinical Director of the Mowbray Square Primary Care Network said:
With the huge number of people now vaccinated in the local area, we feel August is an appropriate end date. We need to be mindful of the other pressures that will be placed on doctors’ surgeries as we head towards autumn and winter, and the annual flu vaccine campaigns that GP practices need to provide.
We also need to enable our kind hosts at the Yorkshire Events Centre and Ripon Racecourse to provide their own events as restrictions continue to be eased and more public events are permitted.
NHS North Yorkshire CCG Clinical Chair, Dr Charles Parker, said:
Other local vaccine centres / providers are already up and running and, together with the regional hubs, there will be more than enough capacity in the system to vaccinate those people who still need to be vaccinated.
We continue to encourage people to come forward and have their vaccine when invited and, , book their appointment slot through the NHS National Booking Service online or by ringing 119.
The primary care networks will continue to operate vaccination clinics from both the Harrogate and Ripon sites for the next three months, and all patients who receive a first dose at one of the sites will be able to return to the same place for their second vaccination. Patients will automatically be invited for their second dose so there is no need to contact their GP practice.
