The Government is being urged to open COVID-19 vaccine centres in local high street locations to support the recovery of town and city centres.
AttisTowns, a new company that works with property owners, Business Improvement Districts and local authorities to help deliver high street transformations, has written to the Health and Communities Secretaries proposing that large, underused buildings in town and city centres, should be actively considered as sites for administering the vaccine.
In the letter, AttisTowns director, Paul Barnes, states that “this is a great opportunity for the public health and economic recovery elements of this crisis to come together for the benefit of all Britain.”
While acknowledging logistical issues such as the need to accommodate large numbers of people safely and the requirement for facilities to store and administer the vaccines, AttisTowns suggest that “it should not be beyond our imagination to create solutions that benefit the health of both our citizens and our town centres. Officials should not be asked “can we do this?” but “how can we do this?”
Siting vaccine centres in town centres has both practical and economic benefits, AttisTowns claims. Access by walking and public transport will be easier, particularly for older people. And shops, bars and restaurants will benefit from higher visitor numbers, while still practicing social distancing measures.
Paul Barnes, says “although there is still a long way to go before we are back to some form of normality, we need to start the long road to economic recovery and what better way than an imaginative use of the vaccine to provide a much needed economic boost?”