The NHS launches three more large scale Covid-19 vaccination centres in King's Lynn, Attleborough and North Walsham this week as part of the biggest vaccination programme in NHS history.  The centres will be located at:

• King's Lynn Corn Exchange, Tuesday Market Place, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1JW from Monday 1 February 2021
• Connaught Hall, Station Road, Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 2AS from Wednesday 3 February 2021
• North Walsham Community Centre, New Road, North Walsham, Norfolk, NR28 9DE from Saturday 6 February 2021

The centres provide an additional option to the large scale vaccination centre in the Castle Court Shopping Centre, Norwich and the vaccination hubs already successfully delivering vaccinations in local hospitals and by GPs across the county.

Dr David Vickers, Medical Director, Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust which is co-ordinating delivery of the large vaccination centres across Norfolk and Waveney said: “We are delighted to be launching large vaccination centres in King's Lynn, Attleborough and North Walsham; joining the centre already successfully delivering this life saving vaccination at the Castle Quarter Shopping Centre in Norwich.  Further centres will roll out in the coming weeks.

“The centres are capable of delivering thousands of vaccines in the coming weeks and provide a major boost to our plans to offer protection to those who would benefit most as quickly as possible.

“We’d like to say an enormous thank you to our amazing staff and volunteers for their incredible hard work, and also to colleagues at the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk, Alive West Norfolk, the Trustees of Connaught Hall, and North Walsham Community Centre for letting us use their premises for this vital vaccination programme.”

Letters are being sent out by the national booking service to people in the priority groups as determined by the national Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) who live up to a 45 minute drive from the centres, inviting them to book an appointment at their closest centre either online or over the phone.

We’d encourage everyone to book an appointment when they receive a letter but if anyone has already received a jab since the letter was sent out please disregard it. 

If people would prefer to wait to be invited to attend a hospital or GP service, they are able to do so, or if they already have an appointment booked for their vaccination with a hospital or GP service they can choose to keep the appointment with their hospital or GP.

Melanie Craig, Chief Executive, NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group added: “NHS staff are doing an incredible job to deliver what is the largest vaccination programme in our history, at the same time as providing vital services for people who need our care.  A significant number of Norfolk and Waveney’s most vulnerable patients have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and this new centre will accelerate progress even further.

“Please don’t contact the NHS to seek a vaccine; we will contact you. When you are contacted, please attend your booked appointments. It is vital that you do not attend the King's Lynn, Attleborough or North Walsham vaccination centres if you do not have an appointment as you will not be able to receive a vaccination.

“I urge people across Norfolk and Waveney to continue following all the guidance to control the virus and save lives – that means staying at home as much as you can, and always remembering ‘hands, face and space; it’s also vital for people that have had a dose of the vaccine to continue following the same guidance.”

ENDS

Editor's notes:

Covid-19 vaccinations are now being delivered across Norfolk and Waveney – by appointment only - through:

• Hospital Hubs at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust and the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• The Vaccination Centres at: Castle Quarter Norwich; Corn Exchange King's Lynn; Connaught Hall Attleborough, and the Community Centre North Walsham with more centres coming on line in the comings weeks
• Local Vaccine Services – provided by GPs and Pharmacies – for more information on these services contact the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group via nwccg.communications@nhs.net

Finding and parking at the Corn Exchange Kings Lynn

• The Corn exchange is positioned on the historic Tuesday market Place in the centre of King's Lynn. From all major routes follow the signs for King's Lynn Town Centre and once in the centre follow the theatre mask signs on the brown tourist signposts. If using a sat nav please use the postcode PE30 1JW
• Parking: an area of the Tuesday Market Place car park (sat nav: PE30 1JJ) has been cordoned off for the use of people attending the vaccination centre. Parking in this will be free of charge.
• By train: The Corn Exchange is approximately a 10 minute walk from the train station. Cross the road directly outside the front of the station which takes you through the bus station and into the town centre. Once in the town centre turn right then left at Snappy Snaps and right at Marks and Spencer. This will bring you to the Tuesday Market Place where the Corn Exchange can be seen to your left. For train times visit https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/
• By bus: The main bus station is approximately an 8 minute walk to the theatre. For bus time tables and routes please visit https://www.firstgroup.com/suffolk_norfolk/; https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/east/norfolk-landing-page; or https://www.nationalexpress.com/en
• By bicycle: There are bike racks available on the Tuesday Market Place, directly outside the theatre. Bike racks are also positioned outside the adjacent building (Fraswer Dawbarns Solicitors).

Finding and parking at the Connaught Hall, Attleborough

Connaught Hall can be found on Station Road, Attleborough, Norfolk (sat nav: NR17 2AS). The Hall has 88 car parking spaces available, all free of charge for people visiting the vaccination centre.

Attleborough train station: The line runs between Cambridge in the west and Norwich in the east.

The station is within walking distance of Connaught Hall – approximately 0.1 miles.

Finding and parking at the North Walsham Community Centre

The North Walsham Community Centre is located on New Road, North Walsham, Norfolk (sat nav: NR28 9DE).  There are 8 parking space at the centre, with additional parking at the New Road car park close by (charges apply).

North Walsham railway station is on the Bittern Line, and is 16 miles from Norwich, between Worstead to the south and Gunton to the north. The station is approximately 0.5 miles from the North Walsham Community Centre.

Who will deliver vaccinations?

The Department for Health and Social Care recently changed legislation to allow a wider group of people than usual to administer vaccines, including more health care professionals as well as others who have completed the clinical training needed to administer vaccines. 

Initial priority groups determined by the Joint Committee on Vaccine and Immunisation (JCVI) being invited initially to attend Vaccination Centres:

• all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
• all those 75 years of age and over
• all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals