The locations of seven mass vaccination centres that will open next week have been revealed by the government.<\/p>\n

They are: Robertson House in Stevenage; the ExCel Centre in London; the Centre for Life in Newcastle; the Etihad Tennis Centre in Manchester; Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey; Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol and Millennium Point in Birmingham.<\/p>\n

Boris Johnson’s spokesman said he expected the COVID-19<\/strong> vaccination centres to be run by a combination of NHS staff and volunteers.<\/p>\n

According to the Press Association, other facilities under consideration include Derby Arena; the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley; Malvern’s Three Counties’ Showground, Worcestershire; Villa Park, home of Aston Villa FC; and Leicester Racecourse.<\/p>\n

The Morrisons supermarket chain has confirmed that car parks at stores in Yeovil, Wakefield and Winsford will host drive-through vaccinations from Monday, with another 47 offered up.<\/p>\n

In addition, Premier League side Tottenham have offered the use of their north London stadium to the NHS as a venue to roll out the vaccine.<\/p>\n

The Royal Vauxhall Tavern and G-A-Y, also in London, have offered to support the vaccination drive.<\/p>\n

When he announced a third national lockdown in England on Monday, the prime minister also set a target of offering vaccines to the most vulnerable in the UK by the middle of February.<\/p>\n

Mr Johnson said inoculating the almost 14 million people in the top four priority groups would allow the government to begin considering easing restrictions.<\/p>\n

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A total of 1.3 million doses have been administered throughout the UK so far.<\/p>\n

Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, the PM said the government will use “every available second”<\/strong> of the shutdown to place an “invisible shield” around elderly and vulnerable people through the rollout of vaccines.<\/p>\n

Declaring that the UK was now engaged in a “sprint” to vaccinate those at a higher risk before coronavirus can reach them, he urged the public to “give our army of vaccinators the biggest head start we possibly can”.<\/p>\n

Mr Johnson said the emergence of multiple vaccines has given the UK “not only the sight of the finish line, but a clear route to get there”.<\/p>\n

But in order to “win this race for our population”, the PM said people “must once again stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives”.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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He said there were now almost 1,000 vaccination centres across the country, adding this included “595 GP-led sites, with a further 180 opening later this week, and 107 hospital sites – with another 100 later this week”.<\/p>\n

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News earlier that the target would require a “Herculean effort”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“It is a stretching target no doubt, but I’m confident that with this plan that the NHS have put together that we will deliver this,” he said.<\/p>\n

The government has previously said the NHS has the capacity to deliver two million vaccinations a week, but Mr Zahawi acknowledged that more doses would need to be rolled out to meet the target.<\/p>\n

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