HEALTH officials are offering free transport to a mobile vaccination hub in a bid to help boost the up-take of the Covid-19 vaccination.
Stockton Borough Council and NHS Tees Valley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have joined forces to make it easier for communities in The Clarences to get to and from a mobile vaccination clinic in Stockton Town Centre.
The 12-seater shuttle bus, with wheelchair access, will collect residents from The Clarence’s Community Centre at:
9:30am, 11:30am and 3pm on Wednesday 25, Thursday 26 and Friday 27 August.
The bus will drop off at the mobile vaccination clinic at Parliament Street Car Park, Stockton and wait for people to be vaccinated, for up to an hour and a half, before returning them to their collection point.
Anyone living within The Clarences, who wishes to access the mobile vaccination clinic for a jab, is eligible for the shuttle bus service including any dependants – space will be available for pushchairs if collapsed.
Dr Janet Walker, medical director, NHS Tees Valley CCG said: “We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get to the mobile vaccination site at Parliament Street Car Park, Stockton.
“However, we recognise that The Clarences is quite an isolated community and that not everyone has access to their own transport.
“The free shuttle bus is a great initiative which we hope will encourage as many people as possible to get on board and come for their jab.”
The mobile vaccination clinic, run by health staff from Hartlepool and Stockton Health GP Federation, has the capacity to provide approximately 600 vaccinations a day.
Both first and second doses of Pfizer vaccine will be available, it must be a minimum of eight weeks between doses, no appointment is needed and no formal identification required.
An on-board team of immunisers, support staff and nurses from NHS Tees Valley (CCG), Stockton Borough Council’s Public Health Team and Hartlepool and Stockton Health, will be on hand to answer questions or address any issues of vaccine hesitancy.
Councillor Bob Cook, Leader of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, added: “Here at the Council we are more than happy to support the NHS in the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine – and this is a great initiative.
“It’s vital that everyone has access to the vaccine and I’d urge anyone who might have otherwise struggled for transport to hop on board the bus at The Clarence’s Community Centre at one of the specified times.
“Infection rates in the area are rising rapidly across the Stockton-on-Tees Borough and the vaccine offers the best form of protection from serious illness.”