Newcastle racecourse joins the roster of Covid-19 vaccination centres

Having been the first venue to stage racing last June following the coronavirus shutdown, Newcastle has become the latest racecourse to join the fightback against Covid-19, beginning its new role as a vaccination centre on Wednesday.

Tyneside was one of the early areas of concern at the start of Britain's second wave of Covid-19 infection in November, although cases in the area are now below the English average.

Local health authorities identified the racecourse as one of two sporting venues to act as vaccination centres for the city alongside Newcastle Eagles Basketball arena and the main hall is now welcoming around 1,000 people to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Racing resumed at Newcastle on June 1. Now the track's main hall has been converted into a Covid-19 vaccination centreCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Christian Townend, chief executive of Newcastle GP Services, told chronichlelive.co.uk: "We've got about 100 volunteers here – St John's Ambulance, Collaborative Newcastle, Newcastle Hospitals and of course, primary care GPs and nurses.

"They've all volunteered their time to come work here in order that we can provide this vaccination service to our most vulnerable patients."

Epsom became the first British racecourse to be set up for rollout of the vaccination programme last month, with Derby-winning jockey Geoff Lewis one of the early beneficiaries just days before his 85th birthday.

Leicester and Windsor have also been pressed into service, while Newbury MP Laura Farris told local reporters that she expects the racecourse to come online around January 11.

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