Two pharmacy-based community vaccination centres are opening shortly in Whalley Range ward and will soon start administering Covid-19 vaccines in partnership with the NHS rollout.
Kapoor Pharmacy Services have teamed up with Whalley Range Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club to create a bespoke temporary facility at the clubhouse at 135 Kingsbrook Road.
Councillors Aftab Razaq and Angeliki Stogia visited the centre this afternoon to check how the fitout work was progressing. Aftab says “It’s quite a transformation – the team here have managed to create a clean, safe medical environment inside the clubhouse in just a short period of time”. Angeliki adds “Whalley Range is lucky to have not one but two local centres opening in our ward – it will really help older residents who don’t have cars or have understandable concerns about using public transport, as there may well be a vaccination centre within a short walk of their home”.
The second facility will be operated by Everest Pharmacy from their base at 117 Withington Road. In both cases, residents need to wait to be contacted by their GP or until they receive an NHS letter informing them that they are eligible, before they can book an appointment to receive the vaccine.
Local resident Mr Bashir Chaudhry is in one of the groups with highest priority to receive the vaccine, and he has an appointment to receive his first injection at the Cricket Club next week. He says “It’s a great relief to be offered the vaccine, but also a big help to receive it in a local centre only a short distance from where I live.”
Aftab and Angeliki with Mr Chaudhry, and the team preparing the new centre on Kingsbrook Road