The NHS coronavirus vaccination programme in the capital, the biggest in the health service’s history, will see a further acceleration this week as dozens more services come online.

Up to 25 new sites, including a large-scale NHS Vaccination Centre in the shadow of Wembley Stadium (Olympic Office Centre), are due to start delivering the life-saving jabs.

It will mean that more than 170 vaccination services are operating across the capital by the end of the week.

The new sites follow the 27 which opened across London last week including the Vaccination Centre on the site of the NHS Nightingale hospital at the ExCel centre in Docklands. Dozens more are due to open in the coming weeks.

London’s top doctor is urging everyone who is offered one of the rigorously tested, safe and independently approved vaccines to accept an appointment without delay, as soon as it is offered.

Dr Vin Diwakar, Medical Director for the NHS in London, said:

“The NHS vaccination programme is off to a strong start in London, with hundreds of thousands of jabs now given. We’re adding more and more sites as vaccine supplies become available, and staff and volunteers are going the extra mile to vaccinate to those who need it most.

“Tragically, more than one thousand Londoners lost their lives to Covid last week, and nearly half of the capital’s hospital beds are treating those with coronavirus – so it is vital that people get protection against this devasting virus through a safe, effective and well-tested vaccine.

“As London comes together to deliver the largest vaccination programme in our history, we need people to stay home to help save lives.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:

“I’m pleased that 25 new sites will be providing the vaccine in London this week, including a large vaccination centre in Wembley. The mass roll out of sites across the capital, including pharmacies and GP practices, is vital in our fight against the virus and I urge Londoners who are offered the vaccine to take it. It is the light at the end of a very dark tunnel and is how we protect ourselves, our families and communities, and the NHS.”

The capital has been one of the most affected regions in both the first and second waves of the pandemic with GPs, practice nurses and other primary care staff going above and beyond the call of duty to support local hospitals alongside delivering the biggest vaccination programme in NHS history.

With hospitals continuing to face unprecedented pressures, the NHS is pulling out all the stops to accelerate the vaccination programme while encouraging people to follow Government guidelines to get infection rates down.

The NHS in London sent out 43,000 invitations to over 80s last week and thousands more landed on doormats this weekend.

Those who receive letters can book into vaccination centres or pharmacies, within a 45-minute drive from home. Alternately, patients can wait for their GP to contact them to arrange an appointment at PCN site. Slots at all sites staggered to allow for social distancing and people are being asked not to turn up early to avoid creating queues.

Nobody needs to contact the NHS – they will be invited when it is their turn and people cannot get vaccinated by just turning up.

Care home residents and those who are unable to travel to vaccine centres, hospitals or GP-led sites, are already being jabbed at home.

The NHS made history when Maggie Keenan became the first person in the world to be protected against coronavirus outside of a clinical trial when she received the Pfizer vaccine at Coventry Hospital on 8 December. 90-year-old George Dyer was the first person to receive a Covid-19 vaccination in London, at Croydon Hospital.

The NHS was also the first health system to deliver the new Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine when Brian Pinker, 82, was jabbed earlier in the month.

The four priority groups for receiving the vaccine were set by the government following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).