Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground vaccination centre is set to close this weekend.
After six months in operation, the site will give its final jab on Saturday.
Vaccinations will still continue in Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge. However, Ripon Racecourse will only be offering second doses, including to people who had their first jab at the showground and still need to receive their second.
The move comes as the government aims to give as many vaccinations as possible ahead of a potential lifting of the remaining covid restrictions on July 19.
A post on the Harrogate Spa Surgery Facebook page said:
“We would like to extend our huge gratitude to all the local GP practices, Yorkshire Health Network and volunteers involved in setting up and running the centre over the past six months.
“The vaccine uptake across the region has been fantastic. Thank you to our patients for their willingness to come forward for vaccination and their patience in waiting for their invitations to arrive.
“Clinics will continue to run at Ripon Racecourse over the coming weeks for second doses only.”
The Great Yorkshire Showground site first opened its doors on December 22.
Read more:
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Seventeen GP practices in the district and the Yorkshire Health Network, the federation of GPs, came together to look for a suitable venue to hold vaccinations.
They settled on the showground because of its size and the need to keep batches of the Pfizer vaccine refrigerated on site.
At full capacity, the centre could give up to 1,800 vaccines a day and reached its 100,000th jab in April.
Dr Chris Preece, a GP partner in Boroughbridge and Knaresborough and one of the practitioners who helped to set up the site, told the Stray Ferret previously that people had been left “very emotional” after having their vaccine.
So far, a total of 205,231 vaccinations have been given across the Harrogate district.
The figure includes 111,517 first doses and 93,174 second doses, according to latest Public Health England data.
It means the take-up for a first vaccine in the district is currently 78%, while for a second dose it is 65%.
