Leisure Centre opens as town’s first vaccination venue

Mason Moore | Hinckley Reporter | 14 January 2021

HINCKLEY Leisure Centre, located in the Argents Mead park, has opened its doors today (14 January) serving a new purpose as the first vaccination centre for the town.

**Hinckley Leisure Centre (Mason Moore for The Hinckley Free Press)**

Starting this week, 132 GP practices across Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland will start providing either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations to residents who are eligible to receive the vaccination.

Eligible patients from the following GP surgeries will be able to recieve their vaccines inside the Leisure Centre:

Castle Mead Medical Centre (Hinckley)
Maples Family Medical Practice (Hinckley)
Station View Health Centre (Hinckley)
The Orchard Medical Practice (Broughton Astley)
Barwell and Hollycroft Medical Centre (Barwell)
The Old School Surgery (Stoney Stanton)
Burbage Surgery (Burbage)

***One of the sports halls being used for the vaccination centre (Supplied to The Hinckley Free Press)***

Users of these GP surgeries do not need to do anything to get a vaccination – just simply wait until to be contacted by your GP for when it’s your turn.

It is being urged that residents should simply wait as advised and not phone GP surgeries regarding this themselves, as the surgeries are busy making the appointments.

Whilst a large number of people aged 80 and over and others in a priority group were contacted about an invitation to attend a vaccination appointment in Birmingham, these messages were sent nationally by the NHS and not by local hospitals or GP surgeries.

If patients cannot get to Birmingham or feel if it would not be safe for them to travel that far out, then please await contact from your GP surgery.

Both doses of the same vaccine need to be given at the same venue, so if a patient was to head to Birmingham for the first dose, then they must return there for the second dose, as they would be unable to have the second dose locally.

82-year-old one of the first vaccinated

One of the first residents to receive a vaccination at the Centre today was 82-year-old Hinckley resident, Jane Whitlock.

**Jane Whitlock receiving the vaccine today (Supplied to the Hinckley Free Press)**

Jane said: “In the future I am so looking forward to getting out and about again, exercising and meeting friends.”

Council Leader comments

Council Leader for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Councillor Stuart Bray, said: “It’s important to provide a local venue that as many of our residents as possible can access easily so the council has worked closely with NHS partners to transform part of Hinckley Leisure Centre into a vaccination centre.

“The roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme is a positive way out of the disruption and tragedy arising from COVID-19.

“The council is keen to help in any way it can to support the battle against this virus and get everyone’s lives back to normal as soon as possible.”

Fosseway PCN ‘delighted’ to start vaccination programme

Doctor Arshad Khalid, Clinical Director at Fosseway PCN, said: “On behalf of Hinckley Central and Fosseway practices, we are delighted to start our Covid-19 vaccination programme from Hinckley Leisure Centre.

“Once underway we will secure further supplies of vaccine and accelerate delivery to our patients at the site which is local to them.

“Thank you for your patience and we look forward to welcoming you soon.”