NHS Nightingale Hospitals To Become Mass COVID Vaccination Centres

Nightingale hospitals that the Armed Forces helped to build in response to the coronavirus pandemic are to be used as mass vaccination centres once a vaccine is available.

The NHS is preparing to "fire the starting gun" as soon as a COVID-19 vaccine is ready to be rolled out, a health service chief has said.

Sir Simon Stevens said a potential vaccination programme will see vaccines delivered at GP surgeries, pharmacies and mass testing centres which would include the Nightingale hospitals.

He added that GPs will be put on standby from December in case a vaccine is available before Christmas.

However, the "expectation" is that any vaccination programme would begin in the new year, pending positive results from the vaccine clinical trials.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are "more than 20 vaccines in development" for coronavirus, but there are currently "no licensed vaccines or therapeutics for COVID-19".

Last month, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the military would be involved in distributing a potential coronavirus vaccine. 

Speaking at the Conservative Party conference, Mr Hancock said "we are working as hard as we can to get a vaccine as fast as is safely possible".

"The plans are in train," he added.

"A combination of the NHS and the Armed Forces are involved in the logistics of making this happen, making the rollout happen."

Members of the Armed Forces have played a key role in the response to the coronavirus crisis, including helping to build the NHS Nightingale facilities, set up to provide additional care capacity for coronavirus patients.

These include hospitals at London's ExCel, Birmingham's NEC, and a hospital at Manchester Central Convention Complex, formerly known as the GMEX, opened after being set up with the help of military personnel.

The British Army also helped convert Glasgow's SEC Centre into a temporary NHS hospital and to build a field hospital at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Royal Engineers were praised for their involvement in helping to construct NHS Nightingale Hospital Exeter.

During the peak of the military's response, 20,000 troops were at readiness as part of the COVID Support Force, with more than 4,000 of them deployed at any one time.

More recently, as many as 3,000 personnel are being deployed to Liverpool to support a pilot of mass coronavirus testing in the city.

For the coming months, a "Winter Support Force" of 7,500 military personnel has been formed to help authorities deal with COVID-19.

As of Friday 30 October 2020, there were 547 military personnel committed to assist with 35 open Military Aid to Civilian Authority requests