Auction mart turns vaccination clinic to help protect farming communities

The auction mart at Junction 36, near Kendal, turned vaccine clinic for the day, as farmers and those living in more remote parts of the region flocked to get their booster jabs.

The Rural Auction Centre at Crooklands, Cumbria, welcomed hundreds of people throughout the day to the pop-up walk-in event yesterday (December 16), in a bid to give the local farming community added protection from COVID-19 this winter.

Kendal Integrated Care Community and Kendal Primary Care Network have been holding monthly health checks at the site - primarily for farmers – and used the opportunity to host a vaccine session.

It was organised to coincide with an auction taking place at the same time in another part of the venue.

Alison Nicholson, Lead Nurse for Kendal ICC, said:

“Our monthly health checks are well attended, mainly by farmers who just want to have their blood pressure checked, a chat about their mental health or some medical advice, but a lot recently have also asked if they could have their jabs at the same time.

After the Government’s announcement at the weekend calling for more people to get their boosters, I thought it would be a good idea to use this week’s session for giving vaccines.

The farming community are always extremely busy and don’t always have time to attend appointments or even struggle to access some of the vaccine sites with their tractors and trailers, so the walk-in nature of these events really appeals to them.

Most people were actually here for the auction and decided to come and have a jab when they saw we were on site. It has been really popular, so it’s definitely something we would consider doing again.”

On Sunday 12 December, the Prime Minister announced that everyone aged 18 and over who is eligible for a booster will be able to book one by the end of December.

The NHS is working to increase capacity, offer extended opening hours, stand up more vaccination centres and support more GPs and community pharmacies to be able to offer lifesaving jabs across the country. More sites and booking appointments are becoming available every day.

For more information about the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Lancashire and South Cumbria and to find your nearest walk-in centre visit: https://hlsc.franktesting.co.uk/covidvaccination.