Next stop: Covid jab! Vaccination bus rolls into Redbridge
A Covid-19 vaccine bus has launched outside the Balfour Road mosque in Ilford to encourage more people to get jabbed. - Credit: Redbridge Council
A vaccination bus has arrived in Ilford to further boost uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The double decker bus, a partnership between Redbridge Council, the NHS and community groups, has clinicians and volunteers ready to deliver the jab to Redbridge residents.
The bus launched outside of the Ilford Muslim Society in Balfour Road on Tuesday, April 27.
The bus will start out being parked outside mosques during Ramadan but can be booked by community groups and will roll out across other areas in Redbridge in the coming weeks. - Credit: Redbridge Council
It will initially provide twilight sessions outside mosques to enable residents observing Ramadan to attend and get vaccinated, without breaking their fast.
Anyone eligible for a first or second vaccination can book by calling 0800 038 5929 between 8am-8pm, seven days a week.
Redbridge's director of public health Gladys Xavier said: “Over 120,000 people in Redbridge have so far taken a Covid-19 vaccine.
"We want to make it as easy as possible to get vaccinated and the new bus will support many more people to do so while helping to keep Redbridge safe.
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“We are working with our community partners to locate the bus in the right places, at the right times, so that as many people as possible can have easy access to vaccine jabs and testing kits.
"As well as visiting local mosques during Ramadan, the bus will also continue to tour across different locations in the borough.”
The outreach vaccination team - including GPs, nurses and pharmacists, clinical lead of the outreach team Dr Najib Seedat and Loxford Primary Care Network clinical director Dr Shabana Ali - will be at the launch ready to answer questions while clinicians and volunteers will be vaccinating residents.
Dr Seedat said he was delighted to be part of the engagement and said the bus can help GPs like him use it as a way to get their patients vaccinated in a convenient location.
He added: "I encourage people to book the vaccination bus, especially community groups, as this will allow us to vaccinate more people at once in a location that works best for them.”
The bus will be in Belgrave Road, Ilford on Thursday, April 29 while on Saturday, May 1 it will be outside Newbury Park Masjid in Oaks Lane - from 6.30 to 8.30pm on both days.
