Hospitals To Start Biggest Ever NHS Vaccination Programme This Week

This page was updated Thursday 21 January 2021

The first phase of the NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme has started. When it is the right time people will receive an invitation to come forward.

For most people this will be a letter, either from their GP or the national NHS. This letter will include all the information you will need to book appointments, including your NHS number.

Please do not contact the NHS to get an appointment until you get this letter. Information on the vaccine is available on the NHS.UK website.

News release from NHS England and Improvement (7 December)

The NHS will begin vaccinating patients against coronavirus at dozens of hospital hubs from 7 December at the start of the biggest immunisation programme in history.

People aged 80 and over as well as care home workers will be first to receive the jab, along with NHS workers who are at higher risk.

NHS staff are working through the weekend to prepare for the launch of the programme with the first vaccinations happening from Tuesday.

There are 50 hubs in the first wave and more hospitals will start vaccinating over the coming weeks and months as the programme ramps up.

Patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient, and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay, will be among the first to receive the lifesaving jab.

Hospitals will also begin inviting over 80s in for a jab and work with care home providers to book their staff into vaccination clinics.

Any appointments not used for these groups will be used for healthcare workers who are at the highest risk of serious illness from COVID-19. All those vaccinated will need a booster jab 21 days later.

GPs and other primary care staff are also being put on standby to start delivering the jab. A small number of GP-led primary care networks will begin doing so during the following week (week beginning 14 December) with more practices in more parts of the country joining in on a phased basis during December and in the coming months.

Vaccination centres treating large numbers of patients in sporting venues and conference centres will subsequently stand up when further supplies of vaccine come on stream.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “Despite the huge complexities, hospitals will kickstart the first phase of the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history from Tuesday. The first tranche of vaccine deliveries will be landing at hospitals by Monday in readiness.

“The NHS has a strong record of delivering large scale vaccination programmes – from the flu jab, HPV vaccine and lifesaving MMR jabs – hardworking staff will once again rise to the challenge to protect the most vulnerable people from this awful disease.”

The life-saving vaccine is typically delivered by a simple injection in the shoulder but there is a complex and difficult logistical challenge to deliver from the manufacturers Pfizer to patients.

It needs to be stored at -70C before being thawed out and can only be moved four times within that cold chain before being used.

NHS staff have been working over the weekend to prepare the sites and accept deliveries.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This coming week will be a historic moment as we begin vaccination against COVID-19.

“We are prioritising the most vulnerable first and over-80s, care home staff and NHS colleagues will all be among the first to receive the vaccines.

“We are doing everything we can to make sure we can overcome significant challenges to vaccinate care home residents as soon as possible too.

“I urge everybody to play their part to suppress this virus and follow the local restrictions to protect the NHS while they carry out this crucial work.”

The 50 hospital hubs in the first wave are:

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
East Suffolk And North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Coventry And Warwickshire NHS Trust
Royal Stoke Hospital
Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
South Tees NHS Trust
Wirral University Teaching Hospital
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
Blackpool Teaching Hospital
Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust - Wexham Park Hospital
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – William Harvey Hospital
Brighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust - Royal Sussex County Hospital
Portsmouth University Hospitals Trust
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
North Bristol NHS Trust