Change of opening hours at cathedral vaccination site

Opening hours at the Blackburn Cathedral COVID-19 mass vaccination site are being reduced from this week.

The change is being made to free up some NHS staff to work in hyper-local pop-up vaccine services in neighbourhoods across Lancashire & South Cumbria.

From Monday 7 March the opening hours are:

• Monday to Saturday – 9am to 6pm
• And Sunday – 10am to 4pm.

Jane Scattergood, Chief Nurse and senior responsible officer for Lancashire & South Cumbria, said:

“There is still a portion of our population who have not come forward for a COVID-19 vaccine or a booster yet. As soon as you are eligible, please do come forward.

“We will continue to do all we can to protect the communities we serve. It is just as important to get vaccinated now as it was on day one of the programme, and it has never been easier to walk in and get your jab while you are out and about.

“I also want to take this opportunity to again say a huge thank you to all our staff and partners who are working hard on the delivery of the vaccination programme.”

The NHS is working with local partners including local authorities and community/faith leaders to offer hyper-local clinics in areas where vaccine uptake is lower, with the aim of making it as convenient as possible for people to come forward and get protected.

In Blackburn with Darwen in recent weeks, mosques and a church hall have hosted pop-up Covid vaccination clinics, and the NHS vaccination bus toured areas with low vaccine take-up.

Blackburn with Darwen’s Director of Public Health, Prof Dominic Harrison, added:

“We’ve been working very closely with the NHS locally to identify how we can support residents who have been feeling less confident about having the Covid vaccine to make the decision to get their jabs.

“As we learn to live with Covid long term, the vaccine remains our strongest line of defence. Immunity from vaccination gives us much more protection against reinfection than immunity from a previous Covid infection. Even though a large proportion of our local population has had Covid now, it is still important to protect yourself against needing hospital treatment in the event of reinfection in the future by getting your jabs.”

Some local residents can also now get a COVID-19 vaccine from the comfort of their own homes – the NHS in Lancashire & South Cumbria launched its Vaccination at Home service last month so that anyone who is shielding or doesn’t feel comfortable using the existing vaccine services can now book to be vaccinated at home.

Like the hyper-local pop-up clinics, this initiative adds to the wide range of options available with the aim of offering a COVID-19 vaccine to as many residents as possible – you can simply book online at www.healthierlsc.co.uk/VacAtHome or by calling 0300 790 6856 (between 10am and 8pm daily).

On completion of a quick questionnaire, someone from the vaccine programme outreach team will be in touch to arrange a convenient time to visit and administer the jab.

For further information, visit www.healthierlsc.co.uk/getmyjab