THE rollout of coronavirus vaccinations is underway, but vaccinations are not yet being given in Herefordshire.

The UK-approved Pfizer-BioNTech jab will be arriving in parts of Herefordshire next week, with sites across the county being used as vaccinations centres.

Herefordshire clinics are set to open their doors on December 15 and 16, with sites in Ledbury and Leominster confirming they are gearing up to start vaccinating next week.

Across England, 1,250 primary care networks (PCN), which are groups of GP surgeries, have been asked to designate a single site to administer vaccines in their area.

With five of these networks in Herefordshire, the NHS has said each will have one vaccination site, or in exceptional circumstances there could be two.

Where will vaccinations be given in Leominster and Kington?

That instruction from the NHS to PCNs means those registered as patients at Kington, Weobley, Kingsland and Leominster surgeries will be asked to go to Bridge Street Sports Centre in Leominster.

The clinic in the town will have 975 doses to start administering next week, Dr Crispin Fisher from The Marches Surgery said.

He told BBC Hereford and Worcester the doses would be arriving at the centre on Monday, and due to a limited shelf life, must be used within three-and-a-half days.

Where will vaccinations be given in Ledbury and Bromyard?

For those in the east of the county, the vaccination hub will be at the Community Hall in Ledbury, also starting next week.

It will be for patients at surgeries in Colwall, Cradley, Ledbury and Bromyard.

Colwall's practice manager Fiona Nikitik said: "GP Practices in Bromyard, Ledbury, Cradley and Colwall are preparing to administer the Covid-19 vaccination next week starting on December 15.

"Initially national guidance states people over 80 years old will receive one does and a second dose after 21 days.

"Patients will be contacted by their surgery to book an appointment to attend one of the clinics. Please do not ring your surgery.

"All practices are excited to be part of the first wave nationally. Lots of planning has taken place to ensure the clinics are successful and safe for patients."

Practice manager at Bromyard's Nunwell Surgery Vanessa Hargest said: "Currently only one site within each primary care network is allowed due to the challenges around supplying the vaccine."

She added: "Our hope is that as further sites are allowed, we will get one in Bromyard approved as soon as possible."

Will there be a coronavirus vaccine clinic in Hereford?

Details of the coronavirus vaccination programme in the county, being spearheaded locally by the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, are still being confirmed.

It is not yet known when or where vaccinations will start in Hereford, but as there are two primary care networks in the city, it means there could be two centres. A source close to Saxon Hall in Putson said it was expecting to be one of the sites.

Where will the clinic be for the Ross-on-Wye area and the Golden Valley?

In Ross-on-Wye, the Larruperz Centre in Grammar School Close is expected to be the vaccination site for the south and west Herefordshire PCN.

Speaking at a Ross-on-Wye Community Development Trust online meeting on Thursday, local GP Dr Simon Lennane said people should consider moving Christmas celebrations to Easter when more of the population are likely to be vaccinated.

He urged people to avoid mixing over Christmas, and said vaccinations would start in the town soon.

He said: "The vaccines being given now won't give immunity for 28 days. We're going to get started very soon, but it's 28 days, so no one is going to get protection from the vaccination that will protect them for Christmas.

"We're not out of the woods and we've still got a bit of a way to go, so the safest thing to do is to stay within Christmas bubbles."

When will vaccinations start in Herefordshire?

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said primary care networks will get vaccines next week.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine needs to be stored at minus 70C before being thawed out and can only be moved four times within that cold chain before being used.

The vaccine boxes containing 975 doses will need to be split so they can be taken to care homes.

Mr Hopson said this will get going in about a week and will be led by primary care networks.

NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said he was confident vaccinations will be offered in care homes "well before Christmas".

A source close to the NHS in Herefordshire said everything is very fast-moving and plans change daily.

In a letter sent out across England's primary care networks, NHS England and NHS Improvement said GP-led vaccination centres would start administering doses from December 14.

The letter said centres would be set up with the necessary IT equipment and a fridge, while staff would be given training to ensure they are ready to administer 975 doses of the vaccine to priority patients within three-and-a-half days of delivery.

Vaccinations in Ledbury and Leominster are expected to start next week, staff working at GP surgeries in the area said.

When will I get vaccinated?

The plan is that front line health workers will be the first to get the vaccine along with those who are most vulnerable with people aged 85 and over in the first tranche.

People who get the virus vaccine first will get the one that has been developed by Pfizer/BioNTech. This vaccine has to be stored at minus 70 degrees and so presents significant challenges.

The vaccines will not be given to pregnant women or children.

People will be contacted when it's time for their vaccination.

Do I have to have two jabs?

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will be given in two doses 21 days apart.

In order to have full protection it will be necessary to have two doses, and immunity is expected to be gained seven days after the second dose.

What has Herefordshire and Worcester CCG said?

The local clinical commissioning group has not confirmed when or where the vaccinations will be given, other than the first doses in the two counties will be given out at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, which is the first hospital hub.

On more local sites, a spokesperson said: "GPs and other primary care staff in Herefordshire and Worcestershire are also getting ready to start delivering the jab.

"A small number of GP-led primary care networks (PCNs) will begin doing so in the coming weeks with more practices joining in on a phased basis throughout December and following months.

"Vaccination centres treating large numbers of patients in community centres will subsequently stand up when further supplies of vaccine come on stream."

Where is the nearest mass vaccination site going to be?

MALVERN'S Three Counties Showground will be a mass coronavirus vaccination site for people in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, the chief executive has confirmed.

Up to 2,500 people a day will be vaccinated at the site, which is expected to open in January.

Showground chief executive Ken Nottage said preparations are underway and the site is being turned into a site capable of mass coronavirus vaccinations.

The Hereford Times understands this is in addition to clinics run by GPs in Herefordshire.

Ken Nottage said: We are rapidly developing part of our site to create the vaccination centre and it's due to be open in early January.

"Very quick turnaround and they've got some whizzy Portakabins coming in, about 100 metres of Portakabins.

"They're looking at, when it's fully up and running, at vaccinating 2,500 people a day."

The showground, which is near the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border, will be used by people from both counties.