Please note that the Mile End Vaccination Centre closes on 11 February 2023. For further information on where to get a Covid vaccination if you live in North East London please visit the North East London Health & Care Partnership here.
The East London Vaccination Centre has adminstered its last COVID jab at Westfield. The star of the moment was David Donaghue who had no idea that he was to have this unique accolade.
End of an Era
The closing of the site felt quite sad for many staff. The service has been at the centre of the campaign to improve immunity to COVID in the local population. The Centre hosted numerous visits from broadcast TV companies and was at the forefront to get the message out about the benefits of vaccination, which cohorts were invited to attend at each stage, and fielding staff to be interviewed to spread the word.
Commenting on the transition to a new site, the Vaccination Centre Programme Service Manager, Janette Clark, said: ‘It’s incredible to think that together the team have administered 246,800 COVID vaccines, have vaccinated 16,118 children and young people at the Westfield Centre and also visited approximately 40 secondary schools. Over the last few weeks, almost a 1000 little people have received the Polio vaccine.
It has been an absolute pleasure to work with so many hard working and dedicated colleagues and to be part of such a special team and service. I'm absolutely delighted that many of the people that answered the call during the pandemic, and came to work here to support the country get through the crisis, have gone on to begin new and exciting careers in a variety of different roles across the NHS.
It was a wonderful moment, bringing everyone together for our final photo! And of course some of us are going on to work at the new interim vaccination centre at Mile End Hospital, so the important work to keep people vaccinated and safe in our communities and at work continues"
Setting Up Westfield
The Westfield site opened for business in January 2021 at the start of the programme to vaccinate the whole country. It was a mammoth task involving a range of staff and services: Digital, Estates, Pharmacy, Procurement, Communications, Human Resources, Training and Development as well as frontline staff and volunteers.
High Profile Visits
The Trust has enjoyed a great relationship with the Westfield Management team, security teams and media team. We kept them busy with visits from Sadiq Khan, (Mayor of London), Nadhim Zahaw, (the then Vaccines Minister), and Professor Stephen Powis, (National Medical Director of NHS England) among others. The centre also hosted online TikTok broadcasts to spread the word about vaccines to younger age groups.
The Vaccination team joined with colleagues in north east London in the Mass Vaccination event held at the London Stadium which saw 7000 people vaccinated against COVID in one day.
A Personal Welcome
The support of St Johns Ambulance volunteers and Royal Voluntary Service volunteers has been invaluable in making sure every person had a personal welcome when they arrived for their vaccination.
The Work to Vaccinate North East London Continues
Many of the staff who came forward to help with the COVID Vaccination programme have gone on to get work in new fields in the health and social care. And of course, the vaccination team will be ready to welcome people at the new interim vaccination centre at Mile End Hospital - so the important work to keep people vaccinated and protected with continue.
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