Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust has made available extended walk-in opportunities for eligible groups of people to get their Covid jabs following the Easter weekend.

From April 19, large-scale vaccination centres will remain open across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Norfolk and Waveney, including the Eatons Community Centre in St Neots and the Oaktree Centre in Huntingdon.

The vaccination centres had opened their doors over the Easter weekend from April 15 to April 18 to enable many more eligible people to access their vital vaccination or booster jabs over the holiday period.

The extension will allow additional eligible groups to also walk in for their jabs.

This includes people who are 75 and older and those aged 12 years and older who are severely immunosuppressed, who are eligible for a top-up booster appointment six months after their last dose as part of the national Spring Booster programme.

Children aged 5-11 who are not in at-risk groups are also now eligible for their first Covid vaccine, with a second dose available 12 weeks later.

The medical director for Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, Dr David Vickers, said: “We know vaccines give significant protection against severe illness from Covid-19, so I strongly urge anyone who’s eligible to come forward.

“Our vaccination teams continue to do an amazing job delivering the largest vaccination programme in NHS history, and we’d like to thank our dedicated staff and volunteers for working over the holiday period to enable many more people to get vaccinated.

“If you haven’t yet had your first, second or (if you were immunosuppressed at the time you had these) third dose of the vaccine, or any other booster, it’s never too late - you can simply walk into a local vaccination centre or book an appointment online via the National Booking Service.”

Those who have recently recovered from Covid should still come forward for their vaccination, as having had the virus does not give the same levels of protection.

Anyone over 18 who has had Covid will need to wait four weeks before having any dose of the vaccine, or 12 weeks for those aged five to 17.

For further information, including later evening openings and an extensive list of the vaccination sites in the area, visit www.thevaccinators.co.uk.