Coronavirus: Croydon church launch successful vaccine pop-up

A church which turned into a temporary vaccine clinic has successfully vaccinated over a hundred people in Croydon.

His Grace Evangelical Outreach church teamed up with Thornton Heath GPs to run the pop-up clinic for residents on March 26.

The vaccination centre is the third to be opened at a place of worship in the town - joining both Croydon Mosque and Islamic Centre who successfully hosted a clinic previously.

This has been one of three pop-up clinics the team have delivered alongside similarly successful clinics that were run for the Hindu community at Sakthy Ghanapathy Temple in Thornton Heath and for Croydon’s homeless community outside the council offices, in partnership with Croydon Nightwatch.

Volunteers from the church in Beulah Road, Thornton Heath, gave support to people attending for their jab

His Grace Evangelical Outreach is a ministry set up to support the community, overseen by Pastors Kay and Bola Thomas. The couple run various non-denominational outreach events, activities and clubs within the community.

Pastor Bola Thomas said: “We have been running the foodbank here for over five years now and we serve over 500 people per week.

Working in collaboration with the local medical centres to set up this 'pop-up' vaccination centre, it’s been amazing to see so many individuals and families turn up to take up the opportunity of having the vaccine so we can help stop the spread of coronavirus.”

Dr Nana Oppong, from One Thornton Heath PCN and one of the vaccinators at the church, said: “The clinic went really well. It’s great that so many people from the church and the local community came along to have their Covid-19 jab – we vaccinated 126 people in the space of just a few hours.

“We’re working really hard to make sure people who are eligible can access the vaccination, which is safe, effective and offers the best protection against this virus for them, their family and all those around them.”

The clinic took place between 2-5pm

Dipti Gandhi, Clinical Director for Primary Care North Croydon PCN, said: “We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone at the church for helping to make this community vaccination session a resounding success.

“Hosting ‘pop-up’ clinics like this is really important because it gives people the opportunity to raise any concerns they might have, seek reassurance from familiar and trusted voices and have the vaccination in a place they know well.

“The Covid-19 vaccination is our path out of this pandemic. It is vital that everyone comes forward for their vaccination when it is their turn.”