Where are the seven vaccination mega-centres opening today in England?

The ExCel exhibition complex in the capital’s Docklands will be split so half of it can be used for vaccinations.

(Getty Images)

Mass vaccination hubs at seven sites across England – including sports venues and London’s ExCel convention centre – are set to open today.

Hubs will be set up in London, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Surrey and Stevenage.

The sites where tens of thousands of Covid-19 jabs will be given a week are:

• The NHS “Nightingale” centre at the ExCel exhibition complex in the capital’s Docklands which will be split so half of it can be used for vaccinations.

• Epsom racecourse in Surrey

• Robertson House in Stevenage

• Centre for Life in Newcastle

• The Etihad Tennis Centre in Manchester

• Ashton Gate stadium in Bristol

• Millennium Point in Birmingham

The centres will offer jabs to people aged 80 and above, along with health and care staff.

They are expected to be staffed with a combination of NHS staff and volunteers and will be joined later this week by hundreds more GP-led and hospital services along with the first pharmacy-led pilot sites, taking the total to around 1,200, NHS England said.

The Government is aiming to vaccinate almost 14 million vulnerable people by the middle of February.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said they are on course to meet the target, with more than 200,000 people being vaccinated every day in England, a third of over-80s there already jabbed, and all adults expected to be offered an injection by the autumn.

Announcing the news earlier this month, Boris Johnson said the country was now in a "sprint" to vaccinate the most vulnerable faster than the virus can reach them.

The Prime Minister stressed in the Commons: "We are in a tough final stretch made only tougher by the new variant, but this country will come together and the miracle of scientific endeavour, much of it right here in the UK, has given us not only the sight of the finish line, but a clear route to get there.

"After the marathon of last year, we are indeed now in a sprint - a race to vaccinate the vulnerable faster than the virus can reach them and every needle in every arm makes a difference."

He made the comments after announcing England’s third national lockdown and emphasised that people must stay at home under the new restrictions, apart from for certain exemptions such as work, exercise, essential shopping, healthcare or meeting a bubble member, in order to give those administering the vaccine a "head start".

He told the Commons: "Every needle in every arm makes a difference. As I say, we're already vaccinating faster than every comparable country and that rate, I hope, will only increase.

"But if we're going to win this race for our population, we have to give our army of vaccinators the biggest head start we can possibly can.

"And that is why to do that we must once again stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives."

Read More

PM vows ‘escape’ from lockdown as he unveils mega-vaccination centres

MPs set to vote on England’s lockdown measures

Tory urges PM to ditch ‘PC’ form-filling for Covid jab volunteers