UK POOL

London - 13 February 2021

1. COVID-19 vaccination site on bus in Greenwich, southeast London

2. Close of bus windows and text reading (English) "NHS (National Health Service) COVID-19"

3. Various of queue for bus

4. Woman getting off bus

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Niraj Patel, local doctor:

"But we realised that some patients find it difficult to get to the vaccination sites, so we want to start doing outreach work. So about two weeks ago, we decided that we could, with the new AstraZeneca vaccine, start doing remote work where we could do this in a bus."

6. Various of queue for bus

7. Various of nurse speaking to woman on bus, preparing shot, administering jab

8. Woman with sunglasses on board bus

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Niraj Patel, local doctor:

"What we've been doing as local GPs (doctors), with the council and volunteers, is individually phoning these patients, trying to understand what their concerns are, whether it's logistical or worries about the vaccine, and trying to make it as easy as possible for them to have the vaccination done and answer any questions that they have."

UK POOL

Epsom, south of London - 13 February 2021

10. Sign reading (English) "Vaccination center"

11. Wide exterior of vaccination site at Epsom Downs racecourse

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4311007

Health authorities in southeast London launched a "vaccine bus" on Saturday to make the COVID-19 jab more accessible to vulnerable people in the area.

Local doctor Niraj Patel said some people were finding it difficult to come to the existing vaccine centres, so they decided to make the AstraZeneca vaccine available on a mobile bus in Greenwich and Thamesmead.

Unlike the supercold temperatures needed for the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, the AstraZeneca vaccine only requires storage at refrigerator temperatures, making it easier to transport.

Patel added that local authorities had been contacting patients who hadn't turned up for their jabs, in an attempt to allay fears about getting inoculated.

Also Saturday, a mass vaccination center hosted at a racecourse in Epsom, just south of London, was aiming to vaccinate 1,000 people.