Covid vaccination centre to be set up in Wycombe Swan’s Old Town Hall

Wycombe Swan Theatre’s Old Town Hall in Queen Victoria Road, High Wycombe (Image supplied by Buckinghamshire Council)

Wycombe Swan Theatre’s Old Town Hall venue is to open its doors in the battle against Coronavirus.

This Old Town Hall, in Queen Victoria Road, will be used to vaccinate patients aged 80 and over and join the GP-led vaccination sites already operating at other locations across the county in Chalfont St Peter, Princes Risborough, Winslow and Chesham, along with another site in the High Wycombe area.

As well as people aged 80 and over, care home staff are also being prioritised in this first phase of the national vaccination roll-out.

All patients eligible to have the vaccine at this stage will be contacted by the NHS first. Patients are being asked not to contact their GP practice to try to arrange an appointment. Other age groups and vulnerable patients will be offered the vaccination over the coming weeks and months.

Martin Tett, leader of Buckinghamshire Council, said: ‘These are very difficult times, but the more vaccination sites we have up and running in Buckinghamshire, the greater cause we have for optimism.

It is wonderful to see the Wycombe Swan’s Old Town Hall opening its doors to serve the community in such an essential way, particularly considering the challenges our theatre venues have faced during this pandemic. Details of more GP led vaccination sites in the county will follow soon.

As the vaccination programme continues across Buckinghamshire, I ask everyone to please be vigilant and continue to follow the ‘Stay at Home’ rules to the letter, to help keep yourself and your loved ones safe, and to protect the NHS.‘

Fiona Martin, Theatre Director at Wycombe Swan, said: ‘The Swan and the Old Town Hall is at the heart of the Wycombe community and we’re obviously delighted to be able to support the work of the NHS as they roll-out the COVID-19 vaccinations.

The work that the NHS and others are doing is vital to the recovery of our whole community and it’s fantastic to be able to play a small part in delivering that.‘

Dr Raj Bajwa, Clinical Chair of NHS Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: ‘This new vaccination centre in High Wycombe is another vital addition to the growing number of centres we have in Buckinghamshire, and great news for our most vulnerable patients in the High Wycombe area.

We continue to ask patients please not to contact their GP themselves but to instead wait for the NHS to contact them. Our GP practice staff continue to work incredibly hard to ensure that our most vulnerable patients are protected as soon as possible. We thank you for your patience and support.‘

The Government has announced that it expects the top four groups in the vaccination priority list, covering residents aged 70 and over as well as the clinically extremely vulnerable, to be completed by mid-February 2021.

More details of the vaccination programme in Buckinghamshire can be found on the Buckinghamshire Council website at https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/coronavirus/community-hub/covid-19-vaccination-programme/.

*Source of article : Press release from Buckinghamshire Council.