Asda starts coronavirus vaccination jabs at first store – and another will open next week

Trained pharmacy staff began delivering vaccinations at Asda’s Cape Hill branch in Smethwick, Sandwell, on Thursday.

Harbans Kaur, aged 78, was among the first patients to receive a jab at the new seven-day vaccine hub, which caters for priority groups in an area with some of the highest coronavirus levels in the country.

Asda, which has transformed the George clothing department at the store to accommodate the vaccination centre operating from 8am to 8pm to deliver 240 jabs per day, said a second larger vaccination centre will open in Watford, Hertfordshire, next week.

Asda said the new facility at its Watford superstore will have capacity to deliver 3,500 vaccines a week.

Faisal Tuddy, Asda superintendent pharmacist, said: “We are incredibly proud to be the first supermarket pharmacy to administer the vaccine and to play our part in helping the NHS roll out its vaccination programme.

“Many of the people who will attend the store today have been shielding at home for months and we hope receiving the vaccine is the first step towards a return to normality for them.

“We are also stepping up our support for the NHS by opening a second in-store vaccination centre next week and have offered all of our 254 in-store pharmacies across the UK, along with our logistics network, to help with the rollout.”

Sandwell Council’s director of public health, Dr Lisa McNally, thanked Asda for its prompt response in September last year after eight workers at its Cape Hill store tested positive for Covid-19.

Efforts to encourage customers to wear face coverings were stepped up, including the provision of single-use masks at the entrance to the store.

Sandwell Council said last week that 210 coronavirus cases had been reported in a week in the Smethwick ward of Soho and Victoria, equivalent to 1,200 cases per 100,000 people.

The latest available data for Sandwell shows an infection rate of 692 per 100,000 people, based on figures from January 18-24 when 2,272 people in Sandwell tested positive for Covid-19.