High street pharmacies to begin delivering jabs

Life-saving coronavirus jabs will begin to be delivered at high street pharmacies as the NHS accelerates the biggest vaccination programme in its history.

NHS England has announced that Boots, Superdrug and several independent stores will be the first of hundreds of community pharmacies to offer vaccinations protecting against coronavirus.

As many as 200 community pharmacies are due to come online over the next fortnight as more vaccine supplies come on stream by the end of the month. Stores capable of delivering large volumes, while allowing for social distancing, are initially being selected to give the best geographical spread.

The six pilot sites are: Boots, Halifax; Andrews Pharmacy, Macclesfield; Appleton Village Pharmacy, Widnes; Superdrug Pharmacy, Guildford; Cullimore Chemist, Edgware; and Woodside Pharmacy, Telford.

In addition ot his, jabs are now being offered at more than 200 hospitals sites along with around 800 GP-led services, with another 200 GP-run sites coming online this week.

Dr Bruce Warner, Deputy Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, said: “The NHS coronavirus vaccination programme, the biggest in health service history, has got off to a great start with more than 2.4 million jabs delivered. Pharmacy teams have been working incredibly hard throughout the pandemic and, as we accelerate the vaccination programme, they are playing a vital role in delivering the life-saving jabs to those in their communities. We know that people are very keen to get the vaccine but we are appealing to people not to turn up early so that we can maintain social distancing.”

Matt Hancock, the Health and Social Care Secretary, said: “It is fantastic that high-street pharmacies will now begin deploying Covid-19 vaccinations. Pharmacies sit at the heart of local communities and will make a big difference to our rollout programme by providing even more local, convenient places for those that are eligible to get their jab.

“Pharmacists have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, often acting as the first port of call for medical advice – and often staying open when all around have closed. I want to extend my thanks to every pharmacy for their efforts to support the national response to the pandemic and keep people safe.”