A dedicated vaccine hub at a Stevenage hospital is set to close at the end of next month.

It has been confirmed that Lister Hospital's vaccine hub, which opened four months ago, will be closing at the end of April. Staff had already been informed of the news yesterday.

The team there had been working down the priority vaccination groups, the over 80s, over 70s and more, as per the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunities' advice.

They had also vaccinated some people who had been coming into the hospital for their appointments, and staff from other healthcare organisations.

A spokeswoman for East and North Herts NHS Trust, the body which oversees Lister, explained that the hub's closure had no link to the anticipated AstraZeneca/Oxford jab supply shortage for April.

Once the mass centre at Robertson House opened on January 11, Lister's spearheading of the local vaccine roll-out started to wind down.

Nick Carver, chief executive of East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, said: “We are proud to have been one of the first hospital vaccination hubs, leading the way in vaccinating our community and delivering more than 24,000 doses to our community and our staff.

“We are now mostly delivering second doses of the vaccine and aim to complete these around the end of April, at which time the hub will close. Our hub will be ready to step up if required in the future.”

Earlier this week, government minister Robert Jenrick MP told Sky News that there will be "expected supply disruption" in the coming weeks.

When Lister's vaccine hub opened on Wednesday, December 9, it was one of fifty national hospital hubs and hailed as a landmark move in the biggest vaccination programme the NHS had ever seen.