We are pleased to announce that part of Unity Schools Partnership’s head office in Park Road, Haverhill, has been converted into a vaccination centre.

The centre, which will open to the public on Saturday 13th March, will offer the life-saving vaccine initially to people aged 55 and over as part of the biggest programme in NHS history which has already seen more than 18 million people vaccinated in England.

Tim Coulson, Chief Executive of Unity Schools Partnership, said: “We are delighted that some of our office space in Park Road has been taken over as a vaccination centre and are excited to see local people given protection from coronavirus.

“We pay tribute to the great work of NHS colleagues, volunteers and everyone involved in managing such an amazing job of rapid vaccination right across the country.

“This has certainly been the case in Haverhill, a town where many of our secondary, primary and special schools are based, and we are pleased to support this continued effort.”

The new centres bring the total number of vaccination centres opened by Essex University NHS Foundation Trust to 13. The centres across mid, south and north Essex and Suffolk are among more than 1,600 sites offering the vaccine nationally.

Dr Ed Garratt, Chief Executive, Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, said: “The opening of these new centres will undoubtedly strengthen the vaccination drive, which is already going incredibly well and will enable everyone in phase one priority groups to be offered a vaccination by the mid-April.

“I’m incredibly proud of what the staff and volunteers have achieved so far and know their continued hard work will help us in our fight against Covid-19.”

People aged 55 and over and unpaid carers are receiving text messages from the NHS this week inviting them to book an appointment via the national booking service nhs.uk/covidvaccination. The text message will be sent using the Government’s secure Notify service and will show as being sent from ‘NHSvaccine’.

The NHS is urging people only to come to the vaccination centre if they have a booked appointment and to arrive no more than five minutes before their booking.