January 13, 2021 3.57 pm This story is over 38 months old

COVID-19 vaccination centre opens at Lincolnshire Showground this week

It is one of five new hubs
Lincolnshire Showground's EXO Centre will a coronavirus vaccination hub. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

A coronavirus vaccination centre will open at Lincolnshire Showground this week and patients in the area will be contacted by their GP to organise appointments.

Teams from the NHS and local GPs will be at the newly-renovated EXO Centre, which has been set up as one of five new coronavirus vaccination centres in the county.

Appointments for the vaccine centre will commence in due course.

A drive-through testing facility at Lincolnshire Showground opened to the public and has been operational since last spring, but it is on the opposite side of the venue to the EXO Centre building where vaccinations will take place.

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The other vaccination sites will be at The Storehouse in Skegness, Marisco Medical Practice in Mablethorpe, Springfields in Spalding, and John Coupland Hospital in Gainsborough. They will join facilities at the hub at Lincoln County Hospital and in Grantham, Louth and Lincoln.

Jane Hiles, Chairman of the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, added: “Having worked with the NHS over Christmas, I am delighted that we now have one of the UK’s vaccination centres at the Lincolnshire Showground.

“They have moved into our award-winning EXO Centre that has been recently renovated and is ideal for them to take over. We have plenty of car parking space at the showground and are easily accessible for residents living in Lincoln and the surrounding area.

“Achieving this over Christmas added to the pressure as we needed the cooperation of our contactors John Martin-Hoyes Ltd and solicitors Wilkin Chapman to be ready, but we got there and the first patients are expected very soon.”

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Jayne Southall, CEO of Lincolnshire Showground said: “Lincolnshire Showground is delighted to be supporting this important initiative to get the public vaccinated against Covid19, we will be doing all we can to support the agencies involved during this process.

“The NHS vaccination centre uses a small part of the showground and only one of our buildings; we hope the vaccination campaign will help to bring the events industry back up and running when restrictions are lifted, and look forward to welcoming visitors back to our events when safe to do so.”