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Two mass walk-in Covid vaccination clinics to open in Canterbury for over-18s this weekend
14:53, 17 June 2021
updated: 14:55, 17 June 2021
Two new walk-in Covid jab clinics will be in operation this weekend in an effort to vaccinate thousands of over-18s in Canterbury.
The existing jab centre at the city's Sea Cadet site will be turned into a walk-in hub on Saturday, while Augustine Hall at Christ Church University will play host to a mass clinic on Sunday.
No appointments are required and anyone from the area aged over 18 will be able to attend.
Up to 1,000 people are hoped to vaccinated with the Pfizer jab each day.
Saturday's session, in Vauxhall Road, will run from 10am to 5pm and is to offer first and second doses.
Meanwhile, Sunday's session at the university, off the city's ring-road, will only be for first doses and will run from 8.30am to 7pm.
Those who receive a vaccination at either clinic are advised to visit the online national booking service a few days after their first jab to book their second dose.
Health bosses warn there may be queues outside the clinics - therefore people are advised to eat before they arrive, wear appropriate clothing and observe social distancing rules.
Paula Wilkins, chief nurse at NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “Now that the final group of people are being invited for their jabs, we’re keen to vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Even if you were invited for a jab a while ago, you can still come along.
“Canterbury has seen a rise in the number of Delta variant cases recently so we are concentrating our efforts in the town centre this weekend. We very much hope that the clinic will be a success and we will then be able to roll out similar models in other areas across Kent and Medway.”
For the first two weeks of the month, Canterbury played host to three surge testing sites due to concerns over a rise of the Covid-19 variant first detected in India.
In Kent and Medway, almost 1,090,000 first doses and more than 792,000 second doses have been delivered since the programme began six months ago.