The Mayor of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Councillor Lesley Bambridge, paid a special visit to Shakespeare Barn Covid-19 vaccination centre on Wednesday 14^th December to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of NHS staff and volunteers involved in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. 

Cllr Bambridge said: “My heartfelt thanks go to each and every member of the vaccination team who have played such a vital role in helping to protect thousands of King’s Lynn residents from getting seriously ill from Covid-19 and giving hope of a brighter future.”

The first large-scale Covid-19 vaccination centre opened at King’s Lynn Corn Exchange on 1^st February 2021 where 46,209 vaccines were administered before the centre moved to Shakespeare Barn on 20^th August 2021. Since then, a further 55,588 vaccines have been delivered, bringing the total number of vaccines up to 101,797.

It was recently announced that the temporary vaccination centre at Shakespeare Barn will close permanently at 4pm today (15^th December) as Mike Passfield, Clinical Operations Director for the large-scale vaccination centres run by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust across Norfolk explains: “Following a successful campaign to protect local people from Covid-19 over the last two years, some of our temporary large-scale vaccination centres will close between 15th – 30th December 2022 after completion of the autumn booster programme. This is in line with the timing of the national autumn booster programme.

“We’d like to thank all our amazing staff and volunteers for their dedication, compassion, and hard work that has helped to protect thousands of local people from Covid-19.” 

Retired nurse Carole Woodlow is one of thousands of healthcare professionals who returned to the NHS to support the coronavirus effort. Having already clocked up 37 years working at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, Carole joined Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust’s Covid vaccination team in 2021.

She said: “I was keen to join the Covid vaccination programme as I was inspired by what my colleagues had done during the pandemic and wanted to do something to support the NHS.

“I joined the team on 1st February 2021 when we opened the vaccination site at the Corn Exchange in King’s Lynn - there was such a buzz, and the adrenaline was certainly flowing when we were vaccinating 400 to 500 people a day.

“In August 2021 we moved to Shakespeare Barn, and I’ve vaccinated people of all ages, from 100-year-olds down to 5-year-olds.

“One of my highlights was when we celebrated the NHS’ birthday and had a party in the Corn Exchange where we danced to Abba’s Dancing Queen. The previous Mayor of King’s Lynn, Cllr Harry Humphrey, attended and it was a wonderful feeling to be a part of that.

“What makes me most proud now is walking down the high street in King’s Lynn and seeing more people walking about and being normal again and knowing that I’ve done something towards that.”

The well-established Covid-19 vaccination programme in Norfolk will continue to operate from alternate locations so that those eligible for a vaccination will be able to receive these via pharmacies and other local services closer to people’s homes, including outreach programmes which provide vaccinations in community locations, care homes and for the housebound.

In addition to these services, a smaller Covid-19 vaccination service will operate from Connaught Hall in Attleborough. 

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Editors’ notes

Those who have recently recovered from Covid should still come forward for their vaccination as having had the virus does not give the same levels of protection.

Anyone over 18 and those aged 5-17 who are in a clinical risk group (or live with someone who is immunosuppressed) who have had Covid will need to wait four weeks before being vaccinated, or 12 weeks for those aged 5 to 17.

Norfolk large-scale vaccination centres

Our large-scale vaccination centres are open seven days a week from 8.30 am to 4.00 pm and late evenings at some of the following locations:

• Norwich - City Hall, accessible via Bethel Street, Norwich NR2 1NR - closed on 24th, 25th, 26th & 27th December (open 28th & 29th December) & closing permanently at 4pm on 30th December.

• Attleborough - Connaught Hall, Station Rd NR17 2AS - moving to a very limited evergreen offer from 16th December when it will be open Monday to Friday only 8.30am to 4pm. Closed on 24th, 25th, 26th & 27th December (open on 28th, 29th & 30th December), closed 31st December, 1st & 2nd January & open on 3rd January.

• Harleston - Paddock Road Surgery, Paddock Road IP20 9AT - closed on 24th, 25th, 26th & 27th December (open 28th & 29th December) & closing permanently at 4pm on 30th December.

Information on evening openings is available on www.norfolk.gov.uk 

Contact:

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust’s Communications Team via ccs.communications@nhs.net