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Belfast’s SSE Arena opens as mass vaccination centre

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Monday, 29 March 2021 07:56

The SSE Arena in Belfast - now a mass vaccination centre

By Q Radio news

One of Northern Ireland’s largest live events arenas has opened as a mass vaccination centre.

The SSE Arena in Belfast has the capacity to administer jabs to 40,000 people a week.

A slowdown in the UK’s vaccine supply lines will see the centre processing around 11,000 people a week initially, with the numbers ramping up as more AstraZeneca jabs become available.

 

The arena floor has the capacity for 60 separate vaccine stations.

It is operating as a mass vaccination site for the whole of Northern Ireland.

Six regional centres will continue to administer vaccines, as will GP surgeries.

From Monday, more than 300 community pharmacies will also become involved in the vaccine rollout.

(This is how the SSE Arena in Belfast has been set up to deal with 40,000 Coronavirus jabs per week)

Northern Ireland’s Health Minister Robin Swann has said any move to give supply of coronavirus vaccine to the Republic of Ireland will have to be a UK gesture.

Speaking on a visit to the region’s first mass vaccine centre at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Mr Swann said it was not for Northern Ireland to make that gesture.

But he said he thought what would be right, would be for the gesture to be made when the UK has surplus vaccine.

“I think that openness and that neighbourliness should be something we should be encouraging as well because it makes sense that we’re all at the same level of vaccination across all these islands,” he said.

“So it’s something that I would encourage, it’s something that I’ve raised with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, that when the UK does get to that stage that we do make that gesture because it’s the right thing to do.”

He added: “My responsibility is to the people of Northern Ireland so as of our operation here today, my key aim is to get as many people in Northern Ireland vaccinated as quickly as possible.

“We hope to have everyone receive their first vaccination by the end of July.”

Robin Swann said he did not think Northern Ireland would judge when to reopen society from coronavirus restrictions on the Republic of Ireland’s vaccination rate.

“It would be unfair to do that to the people of Northern Ireland because our vaccine programme is meeting our needs,” he said.

“In the Republic of Ireland, I’ve heard the Taoiseach say they hope to catch up in a couple of weeks or a month’s time, so that’s something we would like to see.”

He described the difference in vaccine rates as “simply down to supply chains”.

“We’re part of the UK pre-bought programme which bought into seven different vaccine sources even before they had been authorised, and the Republic has tied in with the European Union’s vaccine purchasing programme, and we’re seeing the challenges that has brought but we’re also hopeful that any difficulties between the UK and EU or Oxford/AstraZeneca will be ironed out and ironed out very soon because this shouldn’t be about politics, this is about public health.”

Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster echoed Robin Swann’s comments that giving vaccine supply to the Republic of Ireland was a matter for the UK as a whole.

“If there is surplus vaccine then we should share it with our nearest neighbours out of neighbourliness but also out of the fact it will have an impact of course on us here in Northern Ireland so there’s a very practical reason why I believe that should happen,” she said.

Mrs Foster said she is “disappointed for our friends and colleagues in the Republic of Ireland that the European programme has not delivered for them”.

“I have been making the point that our Prime Minister should have those conversations and when I am next speaking to him again I will make that point again,” she said.

The SSE Arena is the home of the Belfast Giants ice hockey team, and prior to the pandemic was the region’s main venue for indoor concerts.

Its opening as a mass vaccine centre was originally expected to be accompanied by an expansion of the vaccination programme to take in the 40-49 age cohort.

That move has been delayed by a number of weeks due to the recent issues with the delivery of UK-wide orders of AstraZeneca jabs from overseas.

AstraZeneca and Pfizer jabs are currently being administered in Northern Ireland, with Moderna doses expected to be added to the rollout in the coming weeks.

As of Sunday, 850,041 vaccines had been administered in Northern Ireland – 726,589 of which were first doses and 123,452 were second doses.

The region is on course to offer first jabs to the entire adult population – 1.4 million – by July.

(The mass vaccination centre at the SSE Arena in Belfast)

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