COMBATING CORONAVIRUS: BRIGG AREA INCLUDED IN NEW MASS VACCINATION CENTRE'S CATCHMENT AREA

The Brigg area is included in the area being served by a new major mass vaccination centre established to help combat the Coronavirus, Covid-19.
Brigg's Coun Rob Waltham, the Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, has welcomed the facility launching on Monday (March 15) at the Baths Hall, Doncaster Road, Scunthorpe. It will offer up to 1,000 free 'jabs' a day.
Coun Waltham said: “The delivery of the vaccine has been excellent nationally, internationally, in fact; we have a world-leading programme and we are at the front of that in North Lincolnshire.
“Every vaccine gives us hope and the advent of the opening of this mass vaccination site will drive the roll-out further and faster.”
The new vaccination centre will be operated by Safecare Network and will be open between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week.
The vaccination will be offered to those who live within a 45-minute drive of the Baths Hall (taking in Brigg and all surrounding towns and villages) and will be in the priority order as identified by the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI).
People aged between 56 and 59 are currently being invited to book their appointment, with those aged 50-55 due to be invited in the coming weeks.
Appointments are staggered to allow for social distancing and people are being asked not to turn up early to avoid creating queues. Everyone will receive a health status check and a pre-vaccination assessment before they have their jab.
Many inoculations for the 60+ age group have been carried out in Brigg, with more to follow over the coming weeks.
Brigg Blog is among those who have received an initial 'jab' at our own Riverside Surgery, as a registered patient of this practice on Barnard Avenue. A second injection will follow in due course.
People have received letters from the NHS instructing them to go online and book a test at one of the centres indicated.
However, having been told on the website that Grimsby and Lincoln were the nearest available, we telephoned the NHS helpline and were informed that we should await a call from Riverside for a local appointment. This was received a few days later and we reported just an hour later for injection No 1 at the surgery.
Anyone from Brigg using the new centre at the Baths Hall can take a Hornsbys No 4 bus from the town as far as the top of Mary Street then undertake a short walk up Oswald Road and down Doncaster Road. There are public car parks off Mary Street and Laneham Street. Sainsbury's store car park is close to the Baths Hall, on the other side of Doncaster Road.
Covid-19 vaccination picture credit: North Lincolnshire Council www.northlincs.gov.uk