COVID: Military Arrives At Bristol's Ashton Gate Stadium To Set Up Mass Vaccine Centre

The military has arrived in Bristol to begin converting a stadium into a mass coronavirus vaccination site.

Personnel have been seen at Ashton Gate Stadium, the home of Bristol City FC and Bristol Bears, where reportedly tens of thousands of people are expected to be vaccinated every week.

It is thought the centre could be ready to use by next week, although it depends on when vaccination licenses are approved. 

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is expected to receive regulatory approval within days, reports suggest. 

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said: "We’ll set out more details in due course.

"At the moment it remains with the independent regulator to assess both the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

"As soon as we’re in a position to begin to roll it out we will."

It is thought the vaccination site could run for 12 hours each day, with reports the Armed Forces will manage the logistics of getting thousands of people in and out of the stadium.

Bristol is due to enter tier 3 restrictions when the current national lockdown ends on Wednesday.

The Armed Forces have played a key role in the UK's response to COVID-19, setting up mobile testing units, delivering PPE, and helping to build the NHS Nightingale facilities. 

About 2,000 service personnel have been supporting a mass testing pilot in Liverpool and most recently trained civilians so they can hand over coronavirus duties in the city.

Earlier this month, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he had asked the NHS and Armed Forces to be ready to roll out a potential vaccine from the start of December. 

Cover image: Library photo of Ashton Gate Stadium (Picture: PA).