Covid-19: Vaccination centres open again for first jabs

Northern Ireland's regional Covid-19 vaccination centres are offering first doses to over-18s this weekend for the first time since July.

The Department of Health hopes the Big Jab Weekend campaign will increase vaccination rates amid rising cases.

This weekend will be the last chance for adults to get their first vaccination at one of the mass centres.

People aged 16 and 17 will be able to access the centres for their first vaccine dose until the end of August.

Walk-in pop-up clinics and some pharmacies will also continue to offer vaccination services to over-16s.

by BBC Newsline's Mark Simpson, at the SSE Arena

The one thing the Department of Health was hoping for was bright, early morning sunshine to encourage people to go out and get vaccinated.

Instead it was dull and damp in Belfast.

Nonetheless, more than 100 people were waiting in the rain outside the SSE Arena - where more than 300,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered since March - when doors opened at 08:00.

The first people arrived more than an hour earlier, with an umbrella.

In Ballymena, there has been a queue most of the morning outside the vaccination centre at Seven Towers Leisure Centre.

At 11:00 there were more than 50 people in the queue.

The Big Jab Weekend has been organised with mass vaccination centres open on Saturday and Sunday in Belfast, Londonderry, Craigavon, Enniskillen and Ballymena. Omagh's vaccination centre is open on Saturday only.

By the end of the weekend, health officials hope to be counting in the thousands rather than the hundreds.

More than 150,000 adults in Northern Ireland have yet to be vaccinated.

Northern Ireland has the lowest vaccination rate in the UK with around 14% of the adult population still to get a first dose.

On Saturday, the Department of Health reported four more coronavirus-related deaths and another 1,612 cases of coronavirus.

The department said a total of 2,401,296 Covid-19 vaccines had now been administered.

On Friday, the department had reported 2,397 further cases and nine further coronavirus-related deaths.

That is the highest number of coronavirus cases Northern Ireland has recorded in a single day since the pandemic began.

The mass vaccination centres are:

Mass vaccination centres are set to wind down operations soon.

The SSE Arena's lead nurse, Maggie Magowan, called on people to come for a jab if they have not already.

"This is the last time that we're going to be offering the chance of a first dose of a vaccine in this centre. We're open 8am to 8pm, we really encourage you just to come down."

The first and deputy first ministers have urged everyone eligible to get their first vaccination this weekend.

"The vaccine is key in allowing us to return to all of those aspects of life we hold dear but more importantly, the vaccine is saving lives," said Paul Givan. 

"And, the more people who are vaccinated, the better equipped we are to deal with the virus."

Michelle O'Neill said they wanted to see as many people as possible vaccinated.

"The majority of people in hospital with Covid-19 are those that have not been vaccinated so I would urge everyone to come forward and get their first dose as soon as possible," she added.

Earlier this week, the vice chancellors of Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University said they strongly encouraged all staff and students to take up the vaccine.

"Our shared focus is on the resumption of a full on-campus teaching and research experience and we look forward to re-connecting with staff and students," they said.

"We welcome the Northern Ireland vaccination programme's Big Jab Weekend initiative to boost vaccination uptake and make it as easy as possible to take this simple step."

Patricia Donnelly, head of Northern Ireland's vaccination programme, said there would still be opportunities for people to be vaccinated when mass vaccination centres wind down.

However, she said these opportunities would become "inevitably more limited" as the focus of the programme switched to booster jabs.

Maggie Magowan, lead nurse at the SSE Arena vaccination centre in Belfast, encouraged over-18s to "come down for the last time".

"For anybody who is over 18 who has not yet come forward this is the last time that we're offering the chance of a first dose of a vaccine in this centre," she said.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Michael McBride had said the high number of Covid-19 cases reported on Friday was "very concerning".

"Whilst we know only a small percentage of the individuals who have tested positive will end up in hospital, a small percentage of a large number is still a large number who will end up in hospital," Sir Michael said.

He welcomed the fact people were still coming forward for testing and urged anyone who has not been vaccinated to do so this weekend.

About 86% of the adult population in Northern Ireland have so far had one dose.

Sir Michael said that figure would rise to 90% if 52,000 more people got vaccinated.