The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme is well underway and so far, more than one million people in the England have received their first vaccination – with thousands more already vaccinated in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccines are now being distributed and administered, with Boris Johnson said at Tuesday night’s press conference: “With a fair wind in our sails it should be possible to vaccinate 13 million of the most vulnerable people by mid-February.”
This may sound like a tall order, but as well as the 50 hospital hubs in England currently offering the vaccine to those on the priority list, many businesses across the UK are now donating empty spaces to help with the rapid rollout.
Supermarket chains, chemists, cathedrals and breweries are among those keen to play a role in fast-tracking the UK’s attempt to bring an end to its cycle of lockdowns. Many of these locations have unused space such as car parks and empty storage, and some also have the refrigeration facilities needed to keep the Pfizer vaccine in particular at the right temperature.
Here are some of the places to have offered their premises so far.
Supermarket car parks and refrigerated trucks
Morrisons has offered as many as 50 of its car parks to become official vaccination sites for patients to receive a jab on a drive-through basis.
Portable buildings would be up and running from three of the supermarket’s car parks from January 11, with a further 47 offered to the government, confirmed the chain’s chief executive David Potts, who said the assets of the company are “at the disposal of the country”.
Other supermarkets such as Tesco are also in talks with ministers about how they can use their logistics to help the vaccination operation. Empty warehouse space might be given to storage and refrigerated supermarket trucks could be used to help the government distribute vaccine doses as quickly as possible.
Boots
The pharmacy will open vaccination centres in its Halifax, Huddersfield and Gloucester stores in January, before ramping up the programme in the coming weeks.
Breweries and pubs
Brewers have been among the worst-hit businesses by the pandemic as repeated lockdowns forced them to close – many of them for good.
But despite a turbulent year, they’re keen to offer a helping hand. Independent craft brewer Brewdog is in talks with the UK government, offering its closed bars to convert into temporary Covid vaccination centres. The brewing giant is also potentially offering anyone who gets the vaccine at one of its bars a free can of beer – though this might not be a good idea considering that experts are warning people against consuming alcohol after the vaccine.
Major pub chains such as Young’s, Marston’s and Loungers have also offered their sites for vaccinations.
Churches and cathedrals
The Church of England has been in talks with local NHS Trusts to consider suitable spaces in cathedrals, churches and church halls to convert space into temporary vaccination centres – providing they are deemed safe and suitable venues by government.
Nightclubs
Bars and nightclubs across the UK have mostly remained closed during the pandemic in an effort to bring down rapidly rising coronavirus cases – leaving thousands of venues empty. Jeremy Joseph, owner of London nightclubs G-A-Y and Heaven has said he’s offered his empty venues to Westminster City Council for vaccination centres.
In response to a tweet directed at Boris Johnson stating empty venues could help with vaccinations, Joseph tweeted: “G-A-Y & Heaven have offered all its venues to Westminster City Council. Heaven dance floor [has] already been split into social distancing booths, when [we] made our venues Covid safe. We have, for over 10 years, worked with NHS to do HIV Testing, so we are ready to go.”
John Lewis stores
The department store has plans to offer up its empty shops to help with the mass vaccine rollout. Meanwhile, Waitrose, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, has already converted its staff leisure centres in Bracknell and Berkshire into vaccine clinics for the next six months.