UK government targets seven new vaccination "megacentres" to aid in rollout

The number of vaccination centres in the UK - public buildings that have been selected to temporarily house infrastructure to allow for vaccinations against coronavirus - is set to increase sevenfold in the coming days as ministers draft up new plans to vaccinate a greater number of people.

A few dozen of these centres were set up in the weeks prior to the first rollout of a coronavirus vaccine by the NHS to be manned by volunteers to reduce wait times and queuing for those in priority groups to receive their jabs.

Read more: NHS to prepare dozens of vaccination centres for mass inoculation

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said seven new "megacentres," including the Excel Centre in London, Millenium Point in Birmingham and Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol are to be converted to help increase vaccine output.

The Johnson government hopes that 50 of these centres will be up-and-running across the country as soon as possible.

Over 2 million vaccines have been distributed in the UK, more than double the numbers for the rest of Europe combined since the Pfizer vaccine was first rolled out in early December.

These first vaccines were administered to both the elderly and frontline workers, who are most at risk from the virus.

In addition, the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford was rolled out in early January and its developers hope to distribute one billion doses by the end of the year.

The UK's health secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News the rollout of both vaccines should allow the UK to reach its weekly vaccination targets of around 2 million inoculations.

He added: “The rate-limiting factor at the moment is supply but that’s increasing and I’m very glad to say that at the moment we are running at over 200,000 people being vaccinated every day."

Read more: EU regulators give green light for Moderna vaccine rollout

Boris Johnson's government hopes to have 14 million people vaccinated by February 15, in order to cover the four main priority groups assigned by scientific advisors.

A plan of action is expected to be revealed to the public later this week detailing how these goals will be accomplished.

Vaccinations are to be available at over 1000 sites by the end of the week. There are plans to increase capacity in the coming weeks by bringing in the 50 vaccination centres as well as an additional 200 pharmacies that will also offer inoculation.

Hancock said he hopes every adult in the UK will have been offered a  vaccine by Autumn.

He added: “We’ve got over 350m doses on order. They’re not all here yet and we’re rolling them out as fast as they’re delivered. We’re going to have enough for everyone over the age of 18."

Read more: Boris Johnson threatens England with tougher restrictions to battle coronavirus

The UK recently entered another national lockdown - its third in ten months - to combat a record rise of 5000 cases per week, despite the availability of coronavirus vaccines.

The Health Secretary declined to comment if restrictions would be lifted by mid-February, insisting they be gradually lifted before the end of March.

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