VACCINATION sites around the country are set to close following a drop in demand - but York’s complex at Askham Bar will remain ‘well and truly open’... under a new name and an expanded role.

So says centre coordinator Prof Mike Holmes in his latest column for The Press.

“We’re planning to use the site to offer a range of new services over the course of the year,” he writes.

“The idea is to rename the site to reflect the increasing range of services now being provided there, as well as vaccinations, so look out for our new name.”

He said a lot of effort had been put into gathering feedback from patients and the community, and so far it was really good.

“They like the site and the teams who work there,” he says. “They appreciate the work of the volunteers and the vast majority have told us they find it really convenient to access, park and find their way to the various services.

“So we’re keeping the vaccination service open as an evergreen offering for anyone who is eligible.”

He said Nimbuscare, which was responsible for the centre, was well placed and prepared to increase capacity again, should it need to provide boosters or if there was another surge in Covid cases.

He said all the services at the site would focus on supporting the community to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

"We recognise there is so much work to do but with collective innovation we are looking forward to what could be a really positive phase for health and social care in the city after what has been an incredible challenging period."

Meanwhile, Prof Holmes said that as the Easter weekend approached and schools and colleges had started their Easter break, he was encouraging families to visit the site to get up to date with their Covid vaccinations.

"We’ve started vaccinating children aged 5-11 which means we have specially trained staff on site to welcome this age group," he writes.

"We’ve tried to make children and families as welcome as possible with play therapists on hand to help.

"It really is a privilege to welcome our youngest visitors, alongside our oldest – indeed we’ve now vaccinated people from 5 to 105!"

He urged people to come and visit the centre if they had concerns - 'we’ll be happy to support you to get your vaccine if you choose.'

The centre will be open all day every day as usual throughout the holidays, other than closing at 2.30pm on Sunday.

*Today's column is on page 12.