Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System is currently working with local pharmacy teams to support the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

It is understood that pharmacies in the Morecambe Bay area will start to provide patients with the Covid-19 vaccine within the next couple of weeks.

The number of pharmacy sites who will be administering the vaccine is yet to be finalised.

This development comes after it was announced that high street pharmacies will begin to offer shots of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine next week.

The government plans to immunise more than 13 million of the most vulnerable people in the UK before mid-February.

Pharmacies will offer the vaccine after they have been approved by the NHS.

Earlier this week, South Lakes MP Tim Farron had written to the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, calling for the government to use high street pharmacies to administer the Covid-19 vaccine.

Largs and Millport Weekly News: SOUTH LAKES MP: Tim Farron.SOUTH LAKES MP: Tim Farron.

In a letter to the Secretary of State, Mr Farron said: “Pharmacies have the staff, the skills, the space and the storage needed to play a pivotal role here.

“I’m sure that you are aware more than anyone of just how critical the need to roll out the vaccine as quickly as possible is in ending this crisis and ultimately saving lives and livelihoods.

“I urge your Department to please think again and deploy pharmacies to administer the vaccine – the lives of many are counting on it.”

The Pharmaceutical Negotiating Service Committee (PNSC), which represent pharmacies during talks with the government, said that their offer to help with the roll out has been met with “de facto silence”.

The PNSC also highlighted that there are around 11,400 pharmacies across the country that already administer millions of flu jabs every year, with the capability to vaccinate around 1.3million people against COVID-19 every week.