ADULTS in England will be able to “grab a jab” this weekend without an appointment at hundreds of walk-in Covid-19 vaccination sites.

People aged 18 and over can drop-in to the NHS sites, which will be rolling out jabs at football stadiums, theatres, supermarket car parks and shopping centres.

Drop-ins for first and second doses

The Newcastle Eagles basketball arena, Watford’s Vicarage Road, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Edgbaston cricket ground are among the sports grounds involved in the mass rollout this weekend.

Vaccination buses offering jabs will also be in operation in Dudley, Colchester and Ipswich, among others, while community vaccinators will visit the housebound.

The drop-in centres will be open for adults having their first vaccine dose, but people over 40 who had their jab at least eight weeks ago, and under 40s who had it at least 12 weeks ago, will also be able to drop-in for their second dose.

Anyone who attends a walk-in centre for their first dose this weekend will have their vaccination record updated online and will then be able to book an appointment for their second dose using the NHS national booking system.

The NHS will publicise the walk-in sites locally so people can choose the nearest location to them. Alternatively a full list will be available online.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We are throwing open the doors of hundreds of vaccine centres across the country this weekend so anyone can just show up.

“I urge anyone who has yet to take up the offer to head to their nearest walk-in centre this weekend and get the life-saving jab.

“It’s becoming clearer all the time how effective our vaccines are in protecting against the Delta variant and with three in five people double-vaccinated, we’re well on our way to the whole country getting the fullest possible protection.

“So I’d urge everyone not yet fully vaccinated aged 18 and over to get your first and second doses as soon as possible to protect yourself and your loved ones.”

31 million fully vaccinated

Just over a third of people aged 18 to 24 have now come forward for their Covid-19 vaccine and more than one million appointments were booked last weekend, averaging more than 21,000 per hour, or six every second.

In total, more than 75 million people have now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine so far, while just over 31 million people have had both doses.

As such, 47.6 per cent of the UK population is now fully vaccinated against the virus.

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the country is “now in a race to the finish line”, adding that the more people who get vaccinated, “the safer and freer we will all be”.

Those who are yet to receive their jab are being urged to drop-in to one of the walk-in sites over the weekend to help in the final step to get back to normality.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi added: “Vaccines are our way out of this pandemic and thanks to our NHS and the British public, they are already saving thousands of lives.

“No matter where you live, where you come from, your background or your beliefs, provided you are over 18 there is a vaccine available to you.

“I urge everyone eligible to get to their nearest walk-in centre this weekend, get their jab and help us get back to normality.”

How to find a drop-in site

All adults can book at one of the 1,700 vaccination centres, pharmacy or general practice sites across the country that are available through the NHS national booking service.

Vaccination centres are also available in convenient locations such as mosques, museums and football stadiums.

Details of the locations of the sites will be made available for communities across the country, so people can find the most convenient venue for them. People will be able to check the list of walk-in sites online.

Text invitations will appear as an alert from ‘NHSvaccine’ and include a web link to the NHS website to reserve an appointment.

People who cannot go online can call the service on 119 instead to book their jab.