Morrisons will host Covid vaccination centres in supermarket car parks

Supermarket chain Morrisons has announced that a multitude of its store car parks will be used as Covid vaccination centres.

The company says three of its store car parks will be used as Covid vaccine centres from Monday 11 January, with another 47 also being offered.

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David Potts, Chief Executive of Morrisons, said the assets of the company are “at the disposal of the country”.

Will stores be operating as usual?

Inside, the stores will be running as usual.

The supermarket chain has said it will not introduce limits on certain products initially, as coronavirus restrictions tighten across the UK, with England and Scotand entering into new lockdowns.

The first lockdown in March 2020 saw shoppers empty the shelves of items such as toilet roll, flour and soap.

However, Mr Potts said: “We haven’t got limits on things like pasta and flour and all of those things that people seem to stock up on.

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“I think we’ll see how the British people handle the news. Clearly we can turn it on fairly sharpish and it’s really making sure that everyone has stock.”

The new lockdowns include vulnerable people being told to shield, with Mr Potts explaining that this is likely to affect the same 2,500 workers at the supermarket who shielded during the March lockdown.

Will other companies be hosting Covid vaccination centres?

Supermarket chain, Tesco, and pharmacy retailer, Boots, have also both offered to help with the Covid-19 vaccination rollout.

It is believed that Tesco has offered to help with the distribution side of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. The supermarket chain’s subsidiary, Best Food Logistics, is a food delivery and supply chain specialist, and has offered its support with the vaccination rollout. This could include the use of its refrigerated lorries and warehouses to move the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

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Boots is also opening three Covid-19 vaccination sites, which will be located in Halifax, Huddersfield and Gloucester, with more sites potentially opening later.

A spokesperson for the firm told the Press Association: “Boots has extensive knowledge and experience of mass vaccination having completed over a million flu vaccinations last year, for example, and we have developed a model for Covid-19 vaccination that is aligned with our exceptional safety, clinical and operational standards.

“We stand ready to do much more and our national network of pharmacy expertise is prepped to support the NHS and the government to accelerate the rollout of the vaccine.”