THE county's hospital trust has been selected as a “hub” during the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine.

The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is on a list of vaccine distribution hubs, though the trust is not among the 50 hospital trusts to be taking part in the initial vaccinations.

It is not known yet where the Worcestershire distribution hub will be, though Malvern’s Three Counties Showground is among the possible options.

A spokesman for the Malvern showground said: “We are in discussions with the NHS regarding a vaccine centre on site in 2021 but nothing has been confirmed yet.”

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Vaccinations will be rolled out first at hospitals, with overall co-ordination of deliveries of jabs handled by 53 NHS trust vaccine hubs, set out in a letter from NHS England to providers last month.

Jabs will then be delivered from mass vaccination hubs in places like conference halls and sports arenas, with GPs surgeries and health centres likely to follow.

The Government is also seeking about 1,250 local sites; mainly GP surgeries and health centres, alongside some community centres, from which to administer any vaccine, regional and local government sources said.

St John's Ambulance is also training more than 30,000 volunteers between now and spring 2021, to support the NHS in delivering the national vaccination programme.

In a statement on the vaccination roll-out, NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: “This is an important next step in our response to the coronavirus pandemic and hospitals will shortly kick off the first phase of the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history.

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“The NHS has a proven track record of delivering large scale vaccinations from the winter flu jab to BCG and, once the final hurdles are cleared and the vaccine arrives in England’s hospitals, health service staff will begin offering people this groundbreaking jab in a programme that will expand to cover the whole country in the coming months.”

Care homes and the elderly are at the top of the list to receive the vaccine, but logistical issues mean there are difficulties in getting the jab to residents.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has not yet given approval to split the vaccine boxes containing 975 doses, meaning some would be wasted if sent to individual residential homes.