Pop up Covid clinic: Younger people queue up to get vaccines

In a bid to help restrict the spread of the virus locally, Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust, is running three walk-in Covid clinics at St Luke’s Church for anyone aged 18 to 39 this week.

With people queuing up for vaccines from before 9am, the clinic was opened at 9.30am and it’s quote of the Pfizer jab ran out just before 11am.

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Balevia Celardo, Rachel Tierney and Lucia Hall, all 18-years-old, attended the pop-up clinic.

Balevia said: “I just don’t want to get Covid so when we heard about this, we all decided to just go and get it done. It is inevitable we’ll have to be vaccinated so why not just go and get it done.

“It is weird, some people are really concerned about it," Rachel added. Some guys we know read stuff on Facebook and get worried and don’t want to get their vaccine.

“These vaccines have been tested by scientists and people who have studied it for years. They are not going to put out something which is going to hurt people or cause more harm than the coronavirus.”

Harish Lakshamanan, a 22-year-old student at Bournemouth University, queued up for an hour to receive his vaccine but could not fault the service and attention by volunteers at the clinic.

He said: “They do it really well here and are very informative about how it happens, and the hospitality from all the volunteers was very niceinside.

“My friends shared the announcement about the walk-in session here in a WhatsApp group and today was my day off, so I just turned up and got it done.

“It is a good idea to get it done, especially if there are pop up clinics like this which you can just turn up to and not have to book an appointment. You can’t go abroad without it and that was a big reason for me getting it done.”

Dorset Healthcare say that they were “pleasantly surprised” about the number of people attending their first clinic having been unsure about how well-received it would be.

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Covid-19 service manager Anna Chainey said: “It has gone really well. We had no idea what to expect but we have been pleasantly surprised at the number of people that have turned up.

“We have used up all of our vaccines on offer and had to unfortunately turn people away but have urged them to come back here on Wednesday or sign up with a local GP to get it done there.

“We have always had a great response from the younger cohort. They have always been willing to come forward and take advantage of our pop-up clinics and we will do everything we can to keep and maintain that engagement.”

Dorset Healthcare’s will also be running two more clinics at the church on St Luke’s Rd this week, on Wednesday, June 30, from 3pm until 7pm and on Saturday, July 3, from 11am until 3pm, with 120 vaccines available on each day.

Anna Chainey added: “It is really important that as many people can get vaccinated as possible. With a rise in the number of the Delta variant of the virus, we want to make sure that people and their families are kept safe.

“We don’t want pockets of communities to be left out by not having their vaccines there would be a risk of these people being exposed to the virus and then spreading it among their friends or acquaintances.

“Although young people are less likely to get the Covid-19 virus, they are still susceptible to it and can experience the side effects of it, especially long Covid which is more common among young people.”

• Read more: Nearly one-million coronavirus vaccines given in Dorset

Dorset Healthcare are working with local GP surgery in the Bournemouth area who will be hosting pop-up clinics for young people from as early as next week.

The BIC will also be reopening again for vaccinations for when full lockdown restrictions are due to be lifted on Monday July 19.