Pop-up vaccination centre opens at The Nightingale Club in Birmingham

A nightclub in Birmingham has been repurposed as a pop-up Covid-19 vaccination centre to boost vaccine uptake among young people.

The Nightingale Club in the city's gay village welcomed walk-ins on Saturday afternoon.

"We're targeting specifically 18-24-year-olds, those that have been a bit more reluctant to get the vaccine," manager Lawrence Barton said.

The vaccine uptake for under-30s has been lower than the general population.

People in the 18-34 age group also now account for one in five people being admitted to hospital in England with Covid.

The government has launched a number of incentives to increase the number, including discounted takeaways.

There has also been discussion about possibly introducing Covid passports to stop unvaccinated people getting into venues, which is a concern for Mr Barton.

"The whole purpose of having this [pop-up] is to say, 'come along, have the vaccine, it's important'," he said.

"We've got the prospect of a passport that might be introduced this year so it's a case of having to have it."

Among those receiving their first vaccine today was Lucinda Benton-Hawthorn, who heard about the pop-up on Instagram.

"I came from Spain a couple of weeks ago and it was really hard to get a vaccine over there," she said.

"I wanted to wait until I came back to England because I thought it would be an easier process."

So far, about two-thirds of under-30s have had their first jab.

"There's definitely some resistance," Mr Barton said. "Hopefully we can encourage people to get over that."

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