Drive-through vaccine centre set to open in Lothians next week

The facility will become the first of its kind in Lothian when it opens at Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh, on Wednesday.

Teams of vaccinators will be able to deliver the life-saving vaccinations to patients while they remain in their own car.

QMU is the third mass vaccination centre to open in Lothian, following the EICC and the Royal Highland Centre. It will initially be capable of vaccinating approximately 720 people per day at 12 stations.

Colin Briggs, Director of Strategic Planning, NHS Lothian, said: “The opening of our third mass vaccination centre and our only drive through is a significant moment for NHS Lothian and for East Lothian.

“A lot of planning has gone into the preparation of the QMU site to ensure that the venue runs as smoothly as possible. It has taken a lot of work, in a short time to get us to this point and I’m really proud of all of the work and effort from all of our teams.

“We have now vaccinated the vast majority of our first priority groups, including frontline health and social care staff; care home staff and residents and people over the age of 80.”

It comes as NHS Lothian reached the milestone of delivering the vaccine to more than 100,000 people, amid criticism over the speed of the rollout.

The health board said Lothian GPs had delivered a quarter of all vaccines given in surgeries across Scotland and some practices have had a 99% uptake of vaccine in offer in the over 80s.

Mr Briggs added: “We have reached a major milestone this week in the programme, with over 100,000 people vaccinated across Lothian, along with thousands more expected in the coming weeks.

“It is due to the hard work undertaken by our staff and partners that this has been achieved and we thank them for their efforts.

“Our message has been clear from the start – if we wish our lives to return to normal we need to vaccinate as many people as possible. This will help save lives and provide protection to all our communities.

“When you do receive an appointment, we really would urge you to keep it, even if it is at a centre which is not closest to your home. We need to move fast to provide protection to as many people as possible and the easiest way to do that is for people to keep their original appointment where possible.”

People aged between 75-79 and those most clinically vulnerable will continue to be given appointments to be vaccinated by their GP, while those aged between 70-74 and 65 to 69 are now being invited to mass vaccination sites and smaller community venues for their injections, depending on their need.

On February 15, a vaccination centre with 32 stations will be created at Edinburgh Park in the former Royal Bank of Scotland building, followed by another site at the Royal Highland Centre which is expected in March.

Smaller community clinics will deliver vaccinations in the local area for people with complex needs or who, for other reasons, cannot travel to a mass centre.