A Covid vaccination centre has been set up in an unused ward at Sheppey Community Hospital in Plover Road, Minster.

It had been hoped it would open over the weekend after staff worked hard to get the mothballed ward ready in time but it was delayed until Monday while waiting to get the venue added to the national coronavirus booking system.

Despite not going 'live' all 400 slots were filled on Monday by word of mouth.

The centre, run by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust which used to operate the hospital's two wards before Virgin Care took over, is open from 9am to 6pm.

It will remain open until Thursday and reopen next week.

A spokeswoman for KCHFT said today (Tuesday): "Initially there were no walk-ins as we had no way of managing queues but we have some spare capacity today so we will take walk-ins for anyone due any jab including children who are 12 and over."

Up until this week Sheppey and Sittingbourne residents were being sent to Chatham or Canterbury for their jabs.

A temporary site in Tesco supermarket car park in Sheerness came in for criticism after people, including the elderly and vulnerable, ended up queueing outside in the cold for more than three hours to have their injections.

A spokesman for NHS Kent and Medway clinical commissioning group, which plans for the area's healthcare, said: "We have also been working with the Sheppey Primary Care Network to increase their capacity.

"They will be running additional vaccination clinics over the next couple of weeks for their own patients. We urge any patient who is contacted by their GP to book an appointment, as soon as possible."

All adults 16 and over are now eligible for a Covid jab. Second doses are due after eight weeks from the first injection. Boosters can be administered 82 days (three months) after the second dose. Eligibility will be checked at the venue.

Cllr Roger Truelove, leader of Swale council, said: “If we want the Christmas we have planned for, we need the booster vaccine programme to succeed.

“While many in Swale cannot work from home, those who can, should, to help minimise the chances of infection.

“We need to wear face coverings where required and if we are visiting very crowded venues it is not unreasonable, for the safety of all, to prove either our vaccine or testing status.”

He added: “To try to prevent an unmanageable spike in admissions to hospitals, vaccinations are being delivered at a rapid rate. But the target set by the Prime Minister is challenging.

“There are inevitably logistical problems, principally accessing sites and also achieving the staffing needed. While there have been shortages in some parts of county, I am pleased to say that vaccine capacity is being increased on Sheppey and the local NHS should be confirming details shortly.

“We are working to help the most vulnerable in our community who are most impacted by the pandemic,” he said and added: “We will need to learn to live with this disease. Realistically, this means accepting regulations that we would have found perverse before this pandemic struck us all.”

Covid booking special link here.