New leisure complex to be vaccine centre

The new South Lake Leisure Centre is to be used in a programme for distributing the coronavirus vaccine.
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The Department of Health has set out its plans for the early deployment of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in Northern Ireland.

The initial phase of the roll-out of the vaccination programme began this week.

The programme represents an unprecedented logistical exercise that will take many months to complete. Progress will depend on available supply across the UK and is dependent on production and delivery schedules. The timescale for the approval of further vaccines will be an important factor in the wider roll-out of the programme.

Early deployment in Northern Ireland has three central aims:

• To protect vulnerable patients and residents at higher risk of severe disease and mortality.

• To protect staff working in high risk areas for exposure

• To protect staff members at highest personal risk of morbidity and mortality.

The exact timing of all plans will be subject to vaccine availability.

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