From Monday 8 March 2021, our covid-19 vaccination programme is changing

We recognise that people have concerns that the new plans will not be suitable for everyone, which is why we have retained local provision across Lanarkshire.

The two supercentres will, together, have capacity to vaccinate more than 50,000 people each week. Lanarkshire has had a high incidence of covid-19 and our new plans will allow us to protect our communities as quickly as possible.

We are amending our delivery model in preparation for the changes in vaccine supply. This model allows us to be flexible and we can easily increase our pace of delivery when vaccine supplies allow. It means that we can increase our pace of vaccination while keeping the programme safe, effective and efficient.

All appointments will initially be at either Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell or the Alastair McCoist Complex in East Kilbride. Supercentres will be open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm.

Travelling to a supercentre will enable people to receive their vaccination sooner than they would otherwise.

We would strongly encourage people who can attend their appointment at a supercentre, to do so. This will protect the local centres for those who cannot travel. People can change their appointment if they need to by following the instructions on their appointment letters.

The local centres will be located at:

• Sir Matt Busby Sports Complex, Bellshill
• Time Capsule, Coatbridge
• Muirfield Community Centre, Cumbernauld
• Fernhill Community Centre, Rutherglen
• Whitehill Neighbourhood Centre, Hamilton
• St Nicholas Church Hall, Lanark
• Stonehouse Lifestyles, Stonehouse

Local centres are planned to open from 25 March on a rotational basis. This means that local centres will be open from Thursday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm (one centre each day). Each centre will open at least once every two weeks on different days to allow better choice.

These plans for the local centres are a starting point, rather than a definite ongoing position. They remain flexible to meet the needs of the service.

We are also working with organisations to provide a number of mobile units to help serve our more rural populations and for those who are unable to travel to either a supercentre or local centre.

By concentrating our efforts on two large sites we can ensure that our programme runs as efficiently and effectively as possible. It will also help keep our staffing levels safe and more stable and keep our vaccine wastage to a minimum.

Under the current restrictions, attending a vaccination appointment is essential travel. Car-sharing is also allowed to travel to an appointment, if there are no other alternatives. National guidance advises to keep the number of people in the car to a minimum, sit as far apart as possible, wear a face covering and keep the windows open.

For people who struggle with transport to attend their appointment at a large clinic, we have arrangements in place with Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire and Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire to provide volunteer transport. People can call the national helpline on 0800 030 8013 (available 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week) and be directed to a local operative who will provide details.

We are currently exploring amending public transport routes to supercentres with SPT.

Supercentres are being used across Scotland and our sites are safe to attend. The appointment system manages the number of people attending at any one time and our centres are well managed with one-way systems, physical distancing and regular hand sanitising.

These new plans will also allow a number of our temporary vaccination staff to return to their roles in the wider NHS to help keep other services running. And with more people being vaccinated quicker, this will also reduce the impact on our hospitals. We need to balance the delivery of the vaccination programme with the remobilisation of other NHS services and ensure we have the staff to do both.

Planning for second doses has also started. People who are aged 80 or over will receive their second dose from their GP, the same as their first dose. People who are housebound will receive their second dose by home visit. For people aged under 80 they will receive their initial appointment at one of the supercentres. They can then reschedule their appointment to a local centre, if they prefer. We will remain flexible in our plans and have the option to increase capacity at local centres if we need to.

We hope that everyone will appreciate that this is the largest ever vaccination programme and there is a national drive to vaccinate people as quickly as and safely as possible. This is an important step in our route out of the pandemic.