Region's fourth large vaccination centre opens at Darlington Arena

A fourth Large Vaccination Centre for the region will open at the Darlington Arena on Monday 1st March.

It joins the three other Large Vaccination Centres, which are at Newcastle’s Centre for Life, the NHS Nightingale Hospital North East in Sunderland, and the Arnison Centre, Durham.

There are also over 90 local vaccination sites across the region.

So far, over 904,000 people have been vaccinated in the region - all people aged over 80 now vaccinated, nine out of ten older care home residents plus large numbers of front line health and social care staff all receiving their first vaccine.

A majority of people in the 70-75 age groups have now also been offered their vaccine, as well as those who are classed as extremely clinically vulnerable.

The 'Darlington Arena Vaccination Centre' is on Neasham Road, with local transport links so people can get there easily.

People will be invited to attend by letter, and can book either online or by calling 119 free of charge between 7am and 11pm – but only people invited to book can do this.

He continued, “We have received significant support from local partners to help us ensure this site is ready and that we can provide a good experience for patients and staff. In particular our grateful thanks to staff at Darlington Borough Council, public transport providers, local police, and of course our ever-growing army of volunteers and staff.”

“We are constantly delighted by how much people want to help us with the vaccination efforts, we know it’s the way we can all have hope that we can all get back to normal and see the end of this awful situation.”

Currently, groups 5 and 6 are being invited by the NHS for their vaccine:

• Group 5: those 65 years of age and over

• Group 6: all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying healthconditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality

Prof Watson continued: “We know people are very keen to have their vaccine but remember it might be more convenient to wait for your local vaccination service run by GPs to get in touch.

"People should not be worried there is enough vaccine supply to make sure that everyone who wants to have a vaccination can do so.”