BOSSES want more than 40,000 people who haven’t come forward for their Covid booster jab to do so – with a ‘race against time’ before Barnsley’s mammoth walk-in centre at the Metrodome closes this week.
The walk-in site at the Metrodome has been deemed a success, with Barnsley’s vaccination capacity upped to more than 3,500 a day as a result of its opening earlier this month.
But with the centre only open until Wednesday – and 44,000 eligible people under 50 still yet to come forward – health bosses are ‘worried’ residents are playing down the booster’s importance.
Andrea Parkin, lead nurse for the Barnsley NHS GP vaccination programme, said: “We’ve got a fantastic set up here at the Metrodome.
“Staff have been brilliant and come forward to work extra shifts and make sure we can get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.
“This is a race against time.
“We’ve been vaccinating between 3,500 to 4,000 people across Barnsley sites every day over this past week so people are definitely keen to get it.
“We are worried though that some people might not have realised how important the booster is and why we need them to come forward now.
“We’re asking anyone who perhaps wanted to wait until after Christmas Day, or hadn’t got round to it yet, to either come down to the Metrodome, or book into one of the other sites in Barnsley as soon as they can.”