The centre has been run by ELFT and opened on 3 October 2022, as the replacement for the site at Westfield Shopping Centre, which had run from January 2021. The Westfield site gave 246,800 vaccines through the height of the programme, but demand at Mile End has been much lower.
As COVID-19 vaccinations become more routine, with boosters being provided to people most at risk in a similar way to flu jabs, there is less need for large, mass-vaccination sites. From a weekly peak of 16,446 vaccinations (at Westfield), the Mile End site was giving around 100 a week in the final weeks of the recent booster programme.
In the coming weeks NHS North East London, ELFT and other local partners will be discussing the best delivery models in line with the new advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and NHS England on further rounds of booster vaccinations, while still providing first and second jabs to those yet to have them. Our priority is to ensure they remain as easy and convenient to access.
Overall the ELFT run sites at Mile End Hospital and Westfield in particular have been a huge success and we would like to thank all the NHS staff and volunteers who have made this possible over the last two years, many of whom now work for ELFT permanently. We also thank you and your teams for your support in promoting the vaccine centre and the vaccine programme.