Falkirk college campus to be used as coronavirus vaccination centre

FVC has offered its state-of-the-art Falkirk, Stirling and Alloa facilities to NHS Forth Valley as Scotland ramps up its campaign to tackle the virus.

It is understood distribution of the vaccinations will begin from the end of January at the Falkirk campus and by the second week in February in Stirling and Alloa.

NHS FV will be contacting people to offer an appointment over the coming weeks.

The public are advised not to attend the college without a vaccination appointment.

FVC campuses already have robust procedures in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19, including: a compulsory mask-wearing policy in public areas; hand sanitisers placed at entrances and strategic points; easy to understand and highly visible signage to ensure social distancing; and protective screens.

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These measures all complemented by regular enhanced cleaning procedures, including a campus-wide fogging technique which takes place at regular weekend intervals.

Dr Ken Thomson, principal, said: “As Forth Valley College are at the heart of the communities of Falkirk, Stirling and Alloa, we felt it was important to offer NHS Forth Valley our campuses as possible vaccination centres over the coming weeks.

“At the moment the vast majority of our staff and students are working from home and we have areas in all our campuses which would be ideal to situate and host such a service.

“We are just very proud that we could be of service at this time and hope it helps the Forth Valley area emerge from the pandemic lockdown as soon as we possibly can.”

Cathie Cowan, NHS FV chief executive, said: “NHS Forth Valley are delighted that Forth Valley College have offered their campuses to the vaccination team for the purpose of administering Covid-19 vaccinations to the population of Falkirk, Stirling and Alloa.

“These modern, accessible buildings provide flexible indoor spaces and outdoor car parking and drop-off areas that are ideal for people of all ages and mobility levels to come and receive their vaccine safely during the time of a pandemic.

“We are very grateful to all the college and local authority teams who have been working with us to make this happen and are looking forward to welcoming everyone for their vaccine at their scheduled appointment time.”

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