Shrewsbury vaccination centre closes after more than 4,000 jabs

Shropshire Council said the vaccination centre in the Darwin Centre delivered almost 4,500 jabs while it was open.

The walk-in vaccination clinic opened on the top floor of the centre in December in response to the Government’s target to offer every eligible adult a booster jab by the end of the year.

Between December 17 and January 29, the vaccination team gave 213 jabs for 12-to-15 year olds, 522 first doses, 866 second doses, and 2,806 boosters.

High footfall in the town centre meant the walk-in clinic was popular with Christmas shoppers and saw queues of people waiting to grab a jab.

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for adult social care and public health, said: "Having a walk-in clinic at the shopping centre was key to ensuring every eligible adult in Shropshire was offered a booster vaccine to protect themselves against the Omicron variant. The feedback from the public was so positive, we decided to keep the clinic open into the New Year to reach as many people as possible.

"The vaccine remains our best defence against Covid-19 so I am delighted that we were able to reach so many people in such a short period of time. It is vitally important as you are less likely to become seriously ill from the virus if you are fully vaccinated.

"I would like to say thank you to the Shropshire Council staff who worked tirelessly to get the clinic up and running within a matter of days and supported throughout. I am so pleased that we were able to support the vaccination programme and work alongside our brilliant NHS colleagues."

As of January 24, more than 1.1 million vaccine doses – including first, second, third and booster doses had been given in Shropshire.

More than 85 per cent of eligible adults across the county have now received their booster jab and 82 per cent of the eligible population have received at least two doses.