UK opens the world’s first drive-in Covid-19 vaccination centre

The world’s first drive-in coronavirus vaccination centre has been opened in Greater Manchester, England, allowing individuals to safely remain in their cars as they receive the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

After the first batch of the vaccine arrived in Tameside, the area’s GPs worked with the local council to set up a primary-care network so as to rapidly inoculate residents. To do that, they have established a drive-through centre, with the first locals, aged 80 and older, receiving their doses on Friday.

Speaking at the launch of the site, Dr Asad Ali and Dr Ashwin Ramachandra, the co-chairs of the Tameside and Glossop CCG, said: “Our staff have been working around the clock to prepare for the launch of the biggest immunisation programme in our country’s history.”

While local officials have supported the set-up as a safe way of delivering the vaccine, they’ve urged people who need the vaccine to have someone else drive them to the centre, so they don’t have to operate the car themselves after getting the jab. 

As more supplies arrive in the UK, medical staff will begin opening and running larger vaccination centres to cope with the scale of the inoculation campaign, with Tameside alone already planning four similar sites. 

The UK was the first country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine and, within one week, more than 137,000 people had been administered their first dose. Subsequently, several other countries, including Canada, the US and Saudi Arabia, also approved the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, while the European Medicines Agency is expected to give the vaccine its backing in the coming days. 

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