NHS staff will be visiting villages and towns across the Morecambe Bay area, including South Cumbria, as part of the next phase of the Covid-19 vaccine programme.

Healthcare staff will be travelling around smaller villages and towns in an effort to increase uptake among the most vulnerable residents.

The seasonal COVID-19 vaccination programme, which is due to start officially in mid-September, will be mostly rolled out through GP practices and community pharmacies including new sites.

As a result, the NHS workforce from the mass vaccinations sites in the region will be moving into an ‘outreach’ model and taking the vaccine to the public in a variety of settings, including town centres, supermarkets, leisure centres and workplaces.

The last day of vaccinations at Westmorland Shopping Centre, in Kendal, will be on Saturday August 20, while vaccinations at Gill Rise, in Ulverston, will end on Sunday 4 September.

Lancaster Town Hall will continue to operate throughout the autumn booster programme; however, the number of active days will drop as the delivery will move to a hybrid model of static site and roving (outreach) activity.

This mixed model of vaccinations will be a key feature of the autumn booster programme throughout the rest of Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Jane Scattergood, COVID-19 vaccination director for Lancashire and South Cumbria, thanked all of those who have been involved in the vaccination effort.

She said: “I want to take the opportunity to again say a huge thank you to all our staff, partners and volunteers who have worked so hard over the last couple of years on the delivery of the vaccination programme. We are now moving into the next phase of the programme which will add outreach teams to the close to home service provided by GPs and pharmacies. A huge thank you must also go to the public who have played their part in coming forward to receive the vaccine, protecting themselves and their loved ones.”