Melton Covid vaccination centre to close down

The portable building in the Burton Street car park which has administered the Covid vaccines since the summer

The temporary building was set up in the Burton Street car park in July to replace the sports hall at Melton Sports Village, which had been used to administer jabs from the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Vaccines will still be available for town residents after Sunday at the Melton Pharmacy, in Barker Crescent.

A spokeswoman for the Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board (LLRICB) said: “We can confirm that the Covid vaccine clinic at Burton Street car park will be closing and the final day of opening will be Sunday December 4.

The sign outside the Melton Covid vaccination centre

"We have reviewed current vaccine uptake and capacity and concluded that we will no longer need the current level of capacity in Melton in the New Year."

The centre will still be giving jabs this week, on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, from 9am until 4.30pm, and on Sunday.

The portable building will be removed after the weekend, which will free up dozens of car parking spaces in the busy shopping period building up to Christmas.

On the use of Melton Pharmacy for jabs from next week, the LLRICB spokeswoman added: “This means around 1,000 vaccines a week will still be available in Melton from an accessible site so there is more than sufficient capacity to meet the needs of local residents.

“Additional sites are also available through the National Booking Service.

"We can also supplement any local capacity with targeted mobile vaccination services if the evidence from the data indicates there is a need for additional support.

“We are keen that as many of those eligible are vaccinated and urge people to get vaccinated as soon as they can, especially with the festive season coming up, when we spend more time socialising.”

She added: “Autumn boosters are available for people aged 50 years and over, and those aged five years and over in clinical risk groups.

"The autumn booster is also being offered to front-line health and social care staff, those who care for vulnerable individuals and families of individuals with weakened immune systems.”