According to analysis of NHS England data by the Sunday Times, 13,000,000 of England’s 56,000,000 population face a 'postcode lottery' when it comes to receiving the vaccine, meaning some 118 constituencies are without hubs.
BrewDog co-founder James Watt tweeted, offering the firm’s venues up as vaccine hubs, copying in health secretary Matt Hancock and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
On New Year’s Eve, Watt shared: “We would like to offer our closed BrewDog venues to help with a quick roll out of the vaccine. For free.
“We have waiting areas, huge refrigerators, separate rooms for vaccinations and an ace team who can help organised. We want to help.”
Sturgeon replied, stating she would pass the information on to her vaccination team.
In talks
Watt updated his followers later the same day, saying BrewDog was in talks with Sturgeon and Minister for Covid Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi.
The BrewDog boss also outlined how everyone who receives a vaccine at one of company’s bars would get a special commemorative beer, before asking followers to vote on a name for the brew.
The names up for vote are:
- Vaccine Canteen
- Little Prick
- Community Immunity
- Jab Lab
Furthermore, Loungers boss Alex Reilley also tweeted Hancock, Zahawi and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, putting forward his sites to aid the vaccine roll out.
He said: “We have the Loungers in a significant number of the areas listed without a vaccine hub (Newark, Bedford, Aylesbury, Nuneaton, Mansfield…).
“We have large venues and extensive refrigeration – we’re here to help, you just need to ask.”
Community use
Bank House Hotel in King’s Lynn, Norfolk has also offered to be a vaccination station in an open letter, in a bid to help distribute the vaccine.
Operator Michael Baldwin said: “This has been a truly awful year for everybody but we must all be ready to do our bit, as we have been here at Bank House throughout 2020.
“As we sit in tier four and have to be closed, if our hotel can be put to use for our community then that can only be a good thing.
“We hope we have relieve some of the burden of our local surgeries and hospitals and enable more people to get vaccinated quicker, thus enabling everyone to get back to normal sooner as well as hopefully saving lives.
“I feel very strongly that we must do all we can to help our community in a time of great need. We have always held this at the heart of everything we do at Bank House.”
