THE final preparations were yesterday (Friday) being put in place for the drivethrough mass vaccination centre, and first of its kind in Lothian, at Queen Margaret University in Musselburgh ahead of its opening on Wednesday.

The site will initially be capable of vaccinating about 720 people every day at 12 stations. Attendance is by appointment only.

It has an overall capacity of 16 stations for vaccinating up to 8,000 people a week.

Teams of vaccinators will be able to deliver vaccines to people while they are in their own cars.

When it opens it will become the third mass vaccination centre to open in the Lothians, joining the Edinburgh International Conference Centre and Royal Highland Centre, with the latter due to open next month.

The East Lothian Community Hospital in Haddington is now set up as a Covid vaccination centre and will support the mass centre, its first vaccines will be delivered on Monday.

Yesterday evening Queen Margaret University (QMU) said that from Monday, staff and students should expect an alteration to access to its car park ahead of the opening, people have been asked to approach the site with caution and traffic marshals will be in place to help manage traffic flow.

Colin Briggs, director of strategic planning at NHS Lothian, said: “The opening of our third mass vaccination centre and our only drivethrough is a significant moment for NHS Lothian and for East Lothian.

“A lot of planning has gone into the preparation of the QMU site to ensure that the venue runs as smoothly as possible. It has taken a lot of work, in a short time to get us to this point and I’m really proud of all of the work and effort from all of our teams.

“We have now vaccinated the vast majority of our first priority groups, including frontline health and social care staff; care home staff and residents and people over the age of 80.”

Those aged 75-79 and the clinically vulnerable will continue to be vaccinated by their GP, while those 70-74 and 65-69 are now being invited to mass vaccination sites and smaller community venues.

Sir Paul Grice, principal of QMU, said the university was proud to join forces to help in the battle against Covid-19.

He said: “Throughout our history, the University has been focused on tackling some of the most pressing issues facing society.  We are proud to play our part in supporting the biggest mass vaccination programme our country has ever undertaken.”

SEE MORE: Date announced for opening of drive-through Covid vaccination centre in East Lothian

SEE MORE: Drivethrough mass vaccination centre to open

Paul McGirk, chief executive of Hub South East, NHS Lothian’s development partner, said: “We are delighted to be working with NHS Lothian in the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination centres across the region - surely one of the most important infrastructure developments in recent times.

“Our contractor, Morrison Construction, our designers and the rest of our supply chain partners are making excellent progress, pulling out all the stops to ensure that the QMU site is handed over safely, to a high quality and on time for its first patients to receive vaccines next week.”

This week, NHS Lothian said it has vaccinated more than 100,000 people across its healthboard area.

GP practices across Lothian have delivered a quarter of all vaccines given in surgeries across Scotland, some have had a 99 per cent uptake in the over 80s.

Queen Margaret University

Queen Margaret University

Mr Briggs added: “We have reached a major milestone this week in the programme, with over 100,000 people vaccinated across Lothian, along with thousands more expected in the coming weeks.

“It is due to the hard work undertaken by our staff and partners that this has been achieved and we thank them for their efforts.

“Our message has been clear from the start – if we wish our lives to return to normal we need to vaccinate as many people as possible.  This will help save lives and provide protection to all our communities.

“When you do receive an appointment, we really would urge you to keep it, even if it is at a centre which is not closest to your home. We need to move fast to provide protection to as many people as possible and the easiest way to do that is for people to keep their original appointment where possible.”

Those who cannot keep the appointment they have been given are asked to call 0800 030 8013, those over 75 should call their GP.