Proud day for Dorset as hub carries out mass vaccinations
The centre will deliver 9,500 jabs a week
Nurses in Dorset say it’s a proud day as they start vaccinating at the county’s biggest hub so far.
Bournemouth International Centre welcomed it’s first patients yesterday for the COVID-19 jab.
The centre will deliver 9,500 jabs per week when it’s running at full speed. Nurses will be working there 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Dawn Dawson is the director of Nursing for Dorset HealthCare. She was one of many nurses doing jabs yesterday morning. One woman broke down in tears when she had the jab.
She said:
“I think it’s a very emotional event for lots of people who have potentially been very frightened and very scared and potentially not able to see loved ones.
“I think for people they’re overjoyed, quite emotional but it’s such a proud, proud day for all of us.
“This has been an enormous undertaking and we are incredibly proud and excited to be providing this important new service. We’re really experienced in providing vaccination services, including flu jabs and school immunisations, and we will use that skill to give our patients a positive, safe and efficient experience at the vaccination centre.”
The centre will take bookings through a national system and people will receive a written invitation to book when it’s their turn, according to the national prioritisation by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
The large vaccination centre is one of several places people can get their jab - if you already have an appointment through your GP, or at a local hospital hub, you should attend that appointment.
This will prevent wasted appointments that the NHS cannot fill at short notice.