Final preparations are being made to open a mass vaccination centre in Aberdeen.
P&J Live at events complex Teca will be used to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of people against Covid-19 from Monday next week.
NHS Grampian and Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership are now making the final preparations and said the venue was ideal for adapting to the ever-changing situation.
Project manager Clare Houston said: “P&J Live at Teca offers us enormous flexibility. The whole vaccination programme will have to adapt according to the supply of vaccine, approval of new vaccines and availability of staff – in this space, we will be able to expand our provision without interrupting existing clinics.
“We have consciously decided to start on a smaller scale to allow us to ‘bed in’ but have the potential to vaccinate many thousands of people each day when operating at full capacity.”
The centre will operate on an appointment-only basis, and people across the north-east are being urged to accept the time and date they are offered to get their jab.
If people are genuinely unable to attend an appointment, arrangements will be made for the vaccine to be given at a smaller community facility.
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In all cases, people should attend appointments on their own unless they require the assistance of a carer.
“While we will always try to accommodate individual choice, this is the biggest mass vaccination programme the UK has ever seen and we need people to make the necessary arrangements to attend the appointment issued,” Ms Houston added.
Nick Waight, managing director of the P&J Live, said he was pleased the team could support the “hugely important national initiative”.
He added: “P&J Live is ideally suited as a mass vaccination centre. Mobilising the venue and our teams, assisting the NHS with protecting the population will, in turn, get us all back to a more normal life in the not-too-distant future.”
Mr Waight said those coming for their vaccine that it would be a “safe and secure experience”. Free parking will be available in the underground car park and buses run every 10 minutes to and from the city centre.
Ms Houston urged people not to contact the P&J Live with booking or appointment queries, as staff will not be able to assist them.
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She added: “We appreciate the massive interest in this programme and we know people are anxious to know when they will be offered their vaccine. We are delivering the vaccination programme in line with the Scottish Government guidance, based on the recommendations for priority groups provided by the joint committee for vaccination and immunisation.”
Covid-19 safety measures will be in place at centre, as well as all other vaccination points across the region.
Appointment letters contain information on how to get to the venue, and the vaccination is classed as essential travel, and car sharing – with precaution – is permitted.
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