The Mass Vaccination Centre at the Lincolnshire Showground is preparing to give its last covid vaccinations and shut its doors after more than a year of constant operation.

Since it opened in early 2021, the site at the Lincolnshire Showground – one of two Mass Vaccination Centres in Lincolnshire – has played a major part in the county’s covid vaccination programme.

“What the team at the Showground have achieved is truly phenomenal and I want to thank all of them who have been involved over the last year or so for making such a difference to the lives of so many people,” comments Rebecca Neno, Director of Covid and Influenza Vaccination Programmes, NHS Lincolnshire CCG.

“The closure of the site at the Showground is testament to the success of the covid vaccination programme and the support shown for it by Lincolnshire people.  It also reflects the return to some kind of life as normal, although the NHS in the county will maintain its capacity to offer covid vaccinations both locally in Lincoln and around the county, to ensure that everybody who is eligible for and wants a covid vaccination can get one,” adds Rebecca.

Although covid case numbers are currently falling, which is in no small part thanks to the protection getting vaccinated provides, the experience of the last two years suggests they could rise again.

“And this is why, in addition to maintaining the appropriate capacity to vaccinate, we also need to have the agility to respond to changing case numbers.  Whilst our fixed vaccination sites will continue to play an important role, being able to set up pop-up vaccination sessions at short notice will also remain key and many of our team from the Showground will support these sessions and other vaccination sites going forwards,” explains Rebecca.

“Not only do pop-up sessions allow us to focus on specific areas and take the vaccinations out to people, our experience of running them over the last year or so suggests that people like the flexibility of being able to choose to turn up without an appointment and get vaccinated.

“So pop-ups will remain a key part of what we offer, including in and around Lincoln, and you can get more details on the pop-ups we’re running, as well as other useful information about the vaccination programme in Lincolnshire on our Grab a Jab page.

“On the other hand if you would prefer to have the certainty of booking an appointment for your covid vaccination at our other sites, you can still do this using the National Booking System or by calling 119.”