Supermarket retailer Asda has announced on Wednesday (Jan 13) that it will provide in-store Covid-19 vaccination service starting from January 25.
A qualified pharmacist at Asda vaccination site will administer the vaccine to priority groups identified by the NHS.
Commissioned by NHS England, the retailer will provide its vaccination service from an in-store pharmacy in Birmingham. It will operate from 08.00am to 08.00pm, seven days a week with a capacity to administer 250 jabs a day.
“The site is the first Asda pharmacy to be approved to support the Pfizer /BioNTech vaccine programme and Asda is continuing to work with Public Health England and NHS England to assess other sites within its estate that could support this programme,” the supermarket giant said.
Individuals in priority groups will receive their appointment from the NHS and have the option to select the Asda store as a convenient location to receive their vaccination. They should not contact the store directly.
Asda has also offered NHS England the full use of its 238 in-store pharmacies and qualified pharmacists to support the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine programme which has just begun.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is easier to transport and store and it could be administered from Asda’s full network of in-store pharmacies throughout the country.
Roger Burnley, Asda CEO and president, said: “We are incredibly proud to provide this service and are keen to do all we can to help the NHS and Government accelerate the rollout of the vaccination programme.
“We have an extensive nationwide logistics network that could support the storage and distribution of the vaccine and our highly-trained pharmacy colleagues are experienced in delivering large vaccination programmes, having recently provided nearly 200,000 flu jabs to members of the public. We are on hand to provide the NHS with any practical support required so that more people can quickly receive the vaccine.”
