STEAM Museum will open every day for Covid-19 vaccinations "very soon".

Over-80s started receiving jabs at the facility on December 16, with nearly 1,000 people given their first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine over the course of two days.

But Jim Robbins, the Labour councillor for Mannington and Western, said he had been asked by several people living in Rodbourne why the museum had not been open for vaccinations on a daily basis recently.

He got on to the Clinical Commissioning Group, which directs how and where medical care should be resourced in Swindon, and was told the centre was increasing its operations from two days a week.

Coun Robbins said: “I was concerned to be contacted by residents reporting that Steam was not open every day as I’m keen to see the vaccination programme get going as quickly as possible.

“The Labour group have been supporting the #LetsVaccinateBritain campaign and I know how many residents, especially the vulnerable and elderly, are hanging by the phone waiting for the call to come.”

According to an email sent to Coun Robbins the main issue is the supply of vaccine.

It said: “Steam Museum will start to be used every day very soon.

“The primary care network that commenced before Christmas uses the site only two days a week.

"The number of vaccines given in those two days are in the order of 1,000 and they use all that is delivered. No vaccine is left unused.”

It said another primary care network – a group of GP clinics working together – started using Steam for vaccinations yesterday and will be there on the other days of the week, with enough vaccine for 1,000 people per delivery.

Coun Robbins said: “I hope the government can meet the supply so that people can get the vaccine as quickly as possible.”

Swindon’s director of public health Steve Maddern has said people should wait to be contacted by their GP for a vaccination and not call either their doctor or Great Western Hospital.

At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, Boris Johnson said the NHS will launch a 24/7 vaccination service as soon as possible.

Mr Johnson said the process of protecting people from coronavirus was already going “exceptionally fast” but “at the moment the limit is on supply” of the vaccine.

“We will be going to 24/7 as soon as we can,” he told MPs.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he understood that pilot 24-hour centres were not yet open to the public but there would be a “huge clamour”.