Final big push as walk-in vaccine clinics set to open at Foyle Arena in Derry

Professor Sir Michael McBride welcomed the “Big Jab Weekend” initiative at Foyle Arena and the other vaccination hubs to improve vaccine take-up.

It will see the mass vaccination centres once again offering vaccine first doses to all eligible age groups for two days only, tomorrow and Sunday.

At Foyle Arena the vaccines will be available from 9am to 7pm on both days and this will be the first time the centres reopen since the end of July to administer first doses of the Pfizer vaccine to all adult age groups on a walk-in basis.

The Western Trust is set to wind down its three Mass Vaccination Centres after nine months of intensive activity.

The Big Jab Weekend will be the last chance for anyone aged 18 and over to get their first jab at a mass vaccination centre in Northern Ireland.

Western Trust Director Performance & Service Improvement, Teresa Molloy, said: “To date the Western Trust has led an incredibly successful local Vaccination Programme with 85% of our population in the Western Trust area receiving their first vaccine to date. No appointment will be needed at the vaccination centres this weekend or at the ongoing walk-in clinics – just turn up and get your jab at a time that suits you. It couldn’t be easier.”