What it's like at town's coronavirus vaccination centre

Surge vaccinations for young adults aged 18-24 are being administered at Bulmershe Leisure Centre in Woodley.

I visited the vaccination centre to see what the situation was like.

By the time I had arrived at 12pm a long queue had developed. Many of the young adults were in small groups of three or four.

READ MORE: Surge vaccinations expanded to Reading university students

Eustance Irish, an 18 year-old student from Woodley said: “If I get it done I can do more things in the future. It’s safer.

“Everyone in my family is vaccinated apart from me.”

Unbeknownst to me at the time, the vaccinations were expanded to include all 18-24 year-olds.

This was matter-of-factly explained to me by a 20 year-old student from the university, who preferred not to be named.

When asked what his main motivation for getting the vaccination was, he said: “To be able to see family again. They live in Gloucester. I got an email earlier today [Thursday, June 17] that the surge vaccinations were open for students. I literally got the email at 10am today.”

Some people who were hoping to use the leisure centre were turned around after learning that the entire centre was being repurposed for the vaccinations.

Surge vaccinations at Bulmershe Leisure Centre. The young adults were given ice lollies to ward off the heat. Credit: James Aldridge / Local Democracy Reporting Service

An 18 year-old student from Wokingham, who attends college in Oxfordshire said: “I wanted to get it done sooner rather than later. I had to get it at some point, I thought I might as well quicken things up by doing it now.” She added that she had been waiting in the queue for 40 minutes, and still had a way to go before she got into the centre for the vaccine.

Staff at the site handed out ice lollies to people while they queued to give some relief from the heat.

The prospect of getting a vaccination seemed very popular. So popular, in fact, that some people appeared to resort to parking on the pavement in Woodlands Avenue, as there was no parking available at the Leisure Centre.

I got to Bulmershe Leisure Centre by bus, as I am without a car at the moment. Reading Buses runs the Orange 13 and 14 buses from the town centre to Woodley via Cemetery Junction.

I can’t say taking the bus is recommended, as the bus goes in a loop all the way round Woodley before getting to the leisure centre, taking roughly 35 minutes from entering the bus at Cemetery Junction, with the way back being quicker.

The buses run roughly every 30 minutes.

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Anyone who wants to get vaccinated needs to bring identification, proof of address and their NHS number. If you are student at the University of Reading, you will need to bring your campus card as proof of your attendance at the university.

Bulmershe Leisure Centre is located in Woodlands Avenue, Woodley RG5 3EU.

Those coming by car are asked to park them at the Woodley United FC/University of Reading car park in Woodlands Avenue RG6 1FR.

The centre is administering the first dose of the moderna vaccine. Those who have received their first dose must book their second dose on the NHS website.

Anyone aged 25 and over should book their vaccine on the NHS website.

The surge vaccinations are taking place from 9.30am to 8.30pm each day up to and including Sunday, June 27.