Newport to have its own vaccination centre
Newport will have its own vaccination centre in a key development in the coronavirus recovery effort.
As many as 15 vaccination 'hubs' will be set up in Shropshire in the coming weeks, to host large amounts of vaccinations at once.
Several will be in Telford & Wrekin including one in Newport itself, it has been confirmed.
Town mayor Peter Scott said that two potential sites that could host vaccinations have been identified in Newport, but that the final decision has not yet been made.
He spoke after confusion was caused by letters that were sent out to people in Shropshire advising them to travel for vaccinations in Bristol, Birmingham or Cheshire.
Councillor Scott said that while people are allowed to travel to be vaccinated, they are also entitled to wait until centres closer to home are up and running.
"You can still wait until ours are open in the next two to three weeks. There will be one in Newport and the Telford International Centre," he said.
"If you choose to travel (which you can) remember you will need two doses a few weeks apart. Please remember you can wait for the local sites to open if you don't want to travel.
'Things are improving'
"People have been rightly worried about vaccinations and testing.
"It is safe to say that things are improving. All the residents of Newport and myself want is to be properly and fully informed. Knowledge is everything."
MP for the Wrekin, Mark Pritchard, said that three sites would initially be used across Shropshire but that this would be scaled up to 15 soon.
David Evans, joint accountable officer for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups, said: “Some eligible local people have received letters over the weekend offering them the opportunity to book an appointment at one of the new centres.
"They can of course take up the offer, but we want to reassure everyone that they can still choose to receive their vaccination closer to home and do not need to travel out of the county unless they wish to.”
On the Government's online coronavirus case tracker, which can be viewed at coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map, 'Newport north' and 'Newport south' had 31 and 32 cases respectively in the week up to January 6.
