Long queues formed outside Watford’s largest ever vaccination clinic as people prepared to receive their first coronavirus jabs.
Thousands of the Pfizer vaccines are due to be distributed to anyone over 18 at today’s vaccination clinic in Vicarage Road, which will be open until 9pm this evening.
Watford Borough Council says the ‘Super Sunday’ clinic is designed to support the town’s efforts to reduce infection rates, protect people from new variants of the virus and "save our summer".
Plenty of people turned out for their vaccine this morning, with hundreds of people queuing outside Vicarage Road from 10am as they waited to get their jab.
And many more are set to come over the course of the day, with around 4,000 jabs ready to be distributed.
Whilst people are now unable to book their vaccines, anyone is allowed to turn up although those without bookings should be prepared for a wait.
A follow-up clinic will also go ahead in around eight weeks.
What can I expect at the vaccination clinic?
On arrival people will be able to enter the vaccination clinic via the queue from The Hornets Shop down through Occupation Road - the council says you do not need to provide ID or be registered with a GP when turning up for a jab.
When arriving at the front of the gate, marshals will be on hand to provide you with a form and answer any questions you may have.
Once you are let inside, you will either be guided to a table or be asked to wait until it is your turn to get the vaccine.
A one-way system is also in place which people will have to follow throughout the centre.
After receiving the vaccine, you will be asked to sit on a chair for around 15 minutes whilst being monitored to ensure you are ok – during your visit you will also be offered a free donut and a bottle of water.
Asif Fazey, Board GP Watford and Three Rivers and Locality Chair of NHS Herts Valleys CCG, said around 4,000 vaccines will be distributed during the course of the day.
He said: “It will be very busy, we are expecting to do about 250 to 300 each hour, so the next few hours will be very busy.
“We are all set up, we have done a smaller version of this clinic in Watford so we know what we are going to do, so it’s very exciting.
“We started planning for this 10 days ago and behind that there was a lot of hard work by a lot of people from the council to the volunteers. Last night I was excited, and I couldn’t sleep properly.”
Plenty of marshals are on hand to help you when getting your vaccine, with Watford Mayor Peter Taylor among volunteers today.
Mr Taylor said: “I am really looking forward to today. I know the NHS, football club and GP practices have put in a huge amount of effort and we are expecting thousands of people to come to Vicarage Road and it will make a massive difference in the town.
“We have got hundreds of volunteers today to make sure it runs smoothly and I would encourage anyone who is in two minds to come down, we all need to play our part if we want to have a good summer and have Covid rates low again.”
West Watford councillor Nigel Bell, who was also volunteering, added that he was “pleased to see so many fantastic volunteers” and felt that getting the vaccination centre going was a “great effort”.
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