Cardiff and Vale University Health Board will be opening a fourth Mass Vaccination Centre as part of its Mass Vaccination programme to protect its adult population from Covid 19 as quickly as possible.

The Health Board is working in partnership with Cardiff Council and Vale of Glamorgan Council to increase capacity for vaccinations and the new Bayside MVC will enable additional capacity of up to 2,500 vaccines per day, which will be dependent on vaccine supply. The new centre will be available towards the end of March.

The new centre is being developed on the former Toys R Us site at the International Sports Village. The location of the site will be accessible for people in Cardiff and also residents in Eastern Vale.

The centre is the fourth to be opened in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan with all 60 GP Practices across the two counties also taking part in the programme and Community Pharmacies will also join the programme from April.

Fiona Kinghorn, Executive Director of Public Health at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said "This is the largest vaccination programme the NHS has even been involved in and to date tremendous progress has been made. So far we have vaccinated over a third of our adult population with first doses and some are now receiving their second doses which provides the best protection.

"We are working closely with all of our partners and stakeholders to enable us to deliver the vaccine to as many people as possible as quickly as possible and have been grateful to those that have supported us through this process. Over the next few weeks we anticipate our capacity to increase in line with the new centre and support of our primary care contractors."

The Leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, said: "The Council is proud to be playing an integral role in delivering the mass vaccination programme, alongside our Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and the Vale of Glamorgan Council partners, and I welcome the announcement that a new Mass Vaccination Centre is soon to be opened in Cardiff, within a Council owned property.

"Cardiff Council staff have been at the forefront in the fight to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic since it struck us one year ago, and I want to pay tribute to the incredible work being undertaken. We worked closely with the Health Board several months before a vaccine was available, planning what a rollout might look like, the logistics involved, the types of buildings required and traffic management."

"The tragedies caused by the global pandemic will never be forgotten, but the increasing pace of the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine in Cardiff and the Vale, brings further hope that the end of the crisis is in sight, and we can begin the process of recovery."

Cllr Ben Gray, Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health, said: "More than 150,000 vaccinations have now been given in Cardiff and the Vale and the collective effort to reach this number has been nothing short of phenomenal.

"The Vale of Glamorgan Council has worked closely with our partners in the health board and Cardiff Council to ensure we are able to administer all available vaccine as quickly as possible.

"This new centre for Cardiff and the Vale will allow us to move through the next priority groups even more quickly and bring the end of the pandemic closer still."

In addition to the new centre, the Health Board is also scoping out opportunities to increase local access in the Western Vale of Glamorgan. Discussions are taking place with GP Practices in the area and Community Pharmacies to provide additional vaccination capacity to residents living in this area.

To date the Health Board has delivered over 155,000 vaccines with 133,257 of these being first doses. Priority Groups 5-7 are currently being contacted for their first doses while groups 1-4 will start to be contacted for their second doses over the coming months. All first doses for Groups 1-9 will be completed by 19 April.