Lothian’s only drive-through vaccination centre will close for the final time this weekend when the team transfers to the local community hospital.
The drive-through centre at Queen Margaret University (QMU) will close following the last appointment of the day on Sunday.
Over the last five months, since the drive-through opened on 8 February, the vaccination team at the Musselburgh drive-through have administered 47,039 doses of the vaccine.
Now they will transfer across to the East Lothian Community Hospital Vaccination Centre (ELCHVC) where they will continue their work.
The centre is closing to allow a six-week decommissioning period to begin before major roadworks begin in the area.
A number of alternative venues have been explored with partners in recent months, however no suitable venue could be found.
The team and the appointments will shift across to the vaccination centre in the hospital in Haddington.
The ELCHVC, which has proved extremely popular, will also host the weekend drop-in clinics on June 12 and 13.
The centre will increase its capacity and opening hours in a bid to administer more doses of the vaccine every day as part of the general programme acceleration to provide more people with protection.
Modelling shows that once staffing and opening hours are extended that there will be enough capacity to accommodate the majority of future second doses required in the area and provide capacity to support future groups.
Pat Wynne, Nurse Director of Primary and Community Care, NHS Lothian, said: “The drive-through has played a crucial role in the vaccination programme so far and we are really thankful to our team who made it work so well.
“Appointments and staff will move over to the ELCHVC from Monday onwards and everyone is really excited to expand the centre as part of the race to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.
“This weekend, we will also throw open the doors to drop-in clinics for the over 40s who need a first or second dose of AstraZeneca, which will help reach more people.”
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