Derry’s Foyle Arena confirmed as COVID vaccine centre

Of the seven Trust vaccination centres being established for the staff vaccination process, three are located in the Western Trust area.

They are the Council-run leisure centre in Derry’s Waterside area, Foyle Arena, as well as Omagh Leisure Centre in Tyrone and Lakeside Leisure Centre in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.

The other four are Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, South Lake Leisure Centre, Craigavon and Seven Towers Leisure Centre, Ballymena.

Mobile vaccination teams operating from Trust centres will also take the vaccine to residents and staff in care homes across Northern Ireland.

The Department of Health confirmed the venues this evening as it set out its plans for the early deployment of the vaccine across the north after the first doses were administered earlier today.

The overall vaccine programme represents an unprecedented logistical exercise that will take many months to complete. Progress will depend on available supply across the UK, while the timescale for the approval of further vaccines will be an important factor in the wider roll-out of the programme.

The Department of Health said this evening that early deployment in Northern Ireland has three central aims: To protect vulnerable patients and residents at higher risk of severe disease and mortality; To protect staff working in high risk areas for exposure; and, To protect staff members at highest personal risk of morbidity and mortality.

The focus in the coming weeks will therefore include care home residents and staff (including supported living centres where the clinical risk is considered to be similar to a care home); health and social care staff working with patient groups at higher risk (including embedded support staff); staff working in higher risk settings; staff who are themselves at increased personal risk due to being in extremely vulnerable high risk categories or having other defined clinical risk factors.

In advance of the GP element of the programme starting, active consideration is being given to options for extending the programme to begin vaccinating over 80s in the community.

Trust staff are working closely with care homes to ensure that arrangements are as safe and effective as possible.

Anyone who is pregnant or breast feeding, or who is planning to get pregnant in the next three months, is not advised to get the vaccine.

The full roll-out of the vaccine is scheduled to continue until the summer of 2021. Further population groups will be added to the programme on a phased basis, with priority given to age and other clinical vulnerability factors.

Subject to the availability of a suitable vaccine, it is intended from early January 2021 to expand roll-out of the programme through primary care led vaccination clinics.