An empty warehouse which has recently been built in Stoke-on-Trent has been transformed into a Covid-19 vaccination centre big enough to accommodate up to 500 people every day.
The Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust (MPFT) along with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Unitas Stoke-on-Trent turned the 12,000 sq ft unit into a huge vaccination hub within the space of just two months.
The warehouse - on the Daniel Platts Business Park in Tunstall - includes a triage area to administer vaccines, an observation area and staff welfare facilities including lockers and toilets.
It is expected to accommodate up to 500 people every day as part of the national roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccinations.
Neil Carr, chief executive officer of MPFT and senior responsible officer for the vaccination programme, said: "This site represents a major step forward in what is already a very impressive network of facilities locally that are providing vaccinations that will help defeat Covid-19.
"To begin with, the Tunstall site will concentrate on vaccinating frontline staff who work in health and social care in community settings. These include staff from local NHS trusts, local authorities and private organisations, who frequently visit vulnerable people in their own homes."
Operations manager for Unitas Stoke-on-Trent, Justin Moore, said: "We are incredibly proud of our team who were able to mobilise so quickly to deliver these works, collaborating with the designers and our supply chain partners to make this roll-out facility possible.
“The joint effort from the NHS, the city council, Unitas staff and contractors to deliver on this project has been fantastic."
Most Read
Councillor Abi Brown, leader of the Stoke-on-Trent City Council, added: "I am delighted to see the first vaccines take place at this new vaccine centre.
"This is an essential way out of the virus for us - not only to protect our loved ones, friends and colleagues but also to ensure essential services can continue and so that we can get back to normal life as quickly as possible.
"It was really important to me that people in the city were able to access this service locally so it's a huge step forward. Hope is shining through and we just need to keep working collectively to do all we can to kick coronavirus out of Stoke-on-Trent."