On Wednesday 23 December 2020, over 1,000 people were vaccinated against coronavirus at our Eagles Community Arena.

For one day part of the venue took on a new role as a Newcastle Primary Care Network community site for the NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Residents of Newcastle upon Tyne aged 80 and over were first in line to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech jab in a 12-hour takeover of the arena.

The Eagles Community Arena was proud to be one of the Newcastle Primary Care Network’s community sites for the NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme last month.

NHS, Newcastle GP Services and Eagles staff were joined by volunteers to make up a team of over 70 who made the day possible.

Christian Townend, Chief Executive of Newcastle GP Services (the GP Federation for the city) was part of the team running the vaccination centre, said: “I would like to thank all of the NHS staff and local volunteers who have managed to set this centre up so quickly and support our citywide rollout of the vaccine, it is great news after the year we had to see our residents getting vaccinated.

“And it’s fantastic that we’ve been able to use the Eagles Community Arena to do this, it really shows everyone in our community coming together.”

NHS and Newcastle GP Services staff and volunteers, working together with Eagles staff, turned a third of the venue into a one-day vaccination centre.

Sam Blake, Chief Executive Officer of the Eagles Community Foundation (which owns and operates the arena), said: “We are incredibly proud to have been able to host the vaccination centre and play our part in getting the vaccine to our community.”

“It was a very emotional day, seeing first hand just how much it means to the Newcastle residents who received their vaccinations.”

The arena’s big screens helped the staff and volunteers keep track of their progress towards their 1,000 vaccinations target for the day.

The NHS is currently offering the COVID-19 vaccine to people most at risk from coronavirus who are being contacted with further information.

Do not to contact the NHS to get an appointment or attend a COVID-19 Vaccination Centre until you hear from your GP.

You can find out more about the vaccine and the vaccination programme on the NHS website.

If you can work or volunteer at a vaccination centre in January and beyond, in clinical and admin roles, working as marshals and more, find out all the details on the Newcastle GP Services website.