Kingston’s Hawks Road NHS site in Norbiton will be the first large scale COVID-19 vaccination centre for the borough, Kingston Council announced on Friday.
The site, one of over 1,000 now established across England, is expected to open by the end of January.
Dr Nazim Jivani, local GP and Clinical Lead for Kingston Borough said: “Our teams have done an amazing job working quickly to get ready to meet the tough logistical challenges of offering the vaccinations.”
Only those with an appointment will be able to access the site and residents will receive an invitation to make an appointment from their GP or the NHS.
For most people, this will be in the form of a letter and the letter will contain information on how to book a vaccination slot online or over the telephone.
Once invited for an appointment, residents should make sure they turn up for both the first and second dose.
Kingston Council’s Director of Public Health, Iona Lidington, urged those residents who are not yet registered with a GP to do so as soon as possible to ensure they are on the list for a vaccine.
The site forms part of the largest vaccination programme in the UK’s history.
When asked if the borough could expect further vaccination sites over the coming months, a spokesperson for the council said: “We do not have any further details to share on vaccination sites at present.”
Kingston has a temporary COVID-19 vaccination centre at Kingston University’s Health Centre which was one of the first in the capital to offer the Pfizer BioNTech jab.
The borough also has two asymptomatic testing sites at Chessington Sports Centre and Kingston University and another four sites which are used for testing those with symptoms.
Leader of Kingston Council, Caroline Kerr, reiterated that people must adhere to government advice.
She said: “The vaccine is only one of the weapons in our armoury in combating the virus and until it has taken full effect we must still follow all the national guidelines.”
The latest coronavirus information including how to book a test or the vaccine, can be found on the NHS website.
Photo by Hakan Nural on Unsplash.
