PEOPLE in Malvern awaiting their coronavirus vaccination will have to wait a little longer for the opening of a proposed new vaccine hub.

The vaccination centre at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern was announced before Christmas, but is not set to open yet.

The showground was rumoured to be on the list of potential sites in Worcestershire, and the news was confirmed on December 10.

At the time, Three Counties chief executive Ken Nottage said: "It is an honour to have the opportunity to play such a critical part in any vaccination programme and we are pleased to be able to contribute towards fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The Three Counties Showground is a perfect venue. It has plenty of space and parking for a temporary vaccination centre and we look forward to the vaccination roll out in 2021."

Although vaccination sites have already opened in Worcestershire, at the Artrix in Bromsgrove and St Peter's Baptist Church in Worcester, it is still unknown exactly when the Three Counties site will be up and running.

The government's strategy for the vaccine rollout has been for hospitals, then local sites to be the first to deliver it.

Following this, mass vaccination hubs like the proposed Three Counties site, will come online, with GPs surgeries and health centres to follow.

According to NHS England, in the week ending February 14 an additional 2,320,419 people were reported to have received an NHS vaccination for COVID-19 in England. This took the total number of people vaccinated since vaccinations began on December 8 to 12,844,193.

By February 14, 487,697 2nd doses had also been given, taking the total number of vaccinations to 13,331,890.

Of the vaccinations provided over this time, 2,990,480 were provided to people aged 80 years old or over, which is 22 per cent of the total vaccinations given.