Voice of London

The first 24 hour walk-in Covid clinic has JUST opened its doors in London, in a bid to get as many Londoners as possible vaccinated this weekend

Today at 6pm in Tottenham, the Lordship Lane primary care centre has opened its doors round the clock for walk-in and pre-booked vaccines and boosters until 6pm on Sunday.

It is a race against time as there is only 1 week left until Christmas. The omicron variant is spreading at an alarmingly fast rate. What’s more, is that at present, over 50 per cent of all Covid cases in London are of the Omicron variant. The NHS is also under more strain, as, in the past week alone, London has seen a 29 per cent increase in Covid hospitalisations.

In regards to the major vaccine rollout this weekend, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said:

“There are still, roughly speaking, 1.3m Londoners (that) have not had even one vaccine.

We have given [2.5m] boosters but it still leaves 2.8m Londoners who are eligible for a booster jab because their second vaccine was more than three months ago. Those are the ones we have got to reach – as well as those who have not had even one vaccine.

I’m urging all Londoners to please come forward to get your vaccine or booster. It’s never too late and it will save lives.”

Why the 24 hour clinic?

The 24 hour vaccine clinic is in response to the hugely increased demand on boosters and vaccines in the London over the last week. It comes as the UK is facing the threat of some restrictions being re-imposed due to Omicron cases soaring in the UK and worldwide. Ireland and Wales have already re-introduced some restrictions to contain the variant before Christmas.

The threat of new measures is looming as the UK has hit record high daily Covid cases for 3 days in a row since the start of the pandemic. The latest figure as of today (December 17), is a new record of 93’045 new Covid cases.

The plan is to supercharge London this weekend with as many boosters and  vaccines as possible. The 24 hour clinic will offer walk-in and pre-booked jabs around the clock until 6pm this Sunday (December 19).

Words: Salma Ahmed | Sub-editor: Namra Tahir