COVID Vaccination Centres to Close for a Week to Focus on Residential Care Homes

COVID vaccination centres across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes are set to close for a week to allow NHS staff to offer autumn booster shots in residential care homes, as the new seasonal vaccination campaign gets under way.  The centres will be closed from 5 to 12 September.

Two current vaccination centres operated by Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust will close and return to their original use, with staff from those centres moved to support other vaccination clinics and wider community health services.

Geraint Davies, Senior Responsible Officer for the vaccination programme from NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, said:

“This autumn, we are moving the COVID vaccination programme to a ‘business as usual’ model, in line with the approach taken every year with seasonal flu protection.

“There remains a wide range of locations for people to have their COVID-19 booster vaccination. This includes more than 40 pharmacies across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, some GP practices working together to deliver vaccinations for their patients and roving ‘pop up’ vaccination centres and mobile clinics taking vaccinations into the heart of communities. GPs will also be vaccinating care home residents and their housebound patients.”

Three centres will reopen during the week commencing 12 September:

• Luton Wellbeing Hub, The Mall, Luton
• Bedford Heights, Manton Lane, Bedford
• Midsummer Place Shopping Centre, Milton Keynes

The centres at Redgrave Children’s Centre, Luton, and Watling House, Dunstable, will not reopen, with greater provision from pharmacies and general practice hubs instead.

Further information will be available on our website at blmkhealthandcarepartnership.org/covid-19. This site will be continually updated to ensure that local people have access to accurate information about vaccination opportunities near them.