Coronavirus: Eastbourne Welcome Building opens as vaccination clinic

The council run facility opened today (Monday February 1) for appointments only.

Vaccinations are being delivered by teams from the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust.

A spokesperson said residents who are eligible for vaccinations and who live within a 60 mile radius of the Welcome Building are being written to directly by the NHS and invited to book an appointment.

The vaccination centre follows the opening of the Brighton Centre last week and is in addition to the local GP-led vaccination services that now cover all patients in Sussex, and select pharmacy-led services that are also available through the national booking system.  

Siobhan Melia, the trust’s chief executive, said, “I’m delighted we are able to open the Welcome Building as a vaccination centre today for residents across East Sussex and want to pay tribute to all teams from SCFT who have been involved in making this happen.

“The opening of the Welcome Building today follows the successful launch of the vaccination centre at the Brighton Centre last week, and is all part of making the COVID-19 vaccination as accessible as possible to the communities we serve.”

Vaccination centres are another part of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, working alongside GP-led vaccination services, specific pharmacies and hospital hubs.

While GPs invite their patients to get vaccinated at their local vaccination service, appointments at the vaccination centres are made through the national booking service.

The national booking service writes to eligible people, living within 60 miles of a vaccination centre, inviting them to book an appointment at the centre online or over the phone. The letter contains all the details people will need to book their appointment.

Anyone receiving a letter from the national booking service can choose whether to book an appointment at the vaccination centre, or wait until they are contacted by their GP for an appointment at their local vaccination service if that would be more convenient.

Donna Lamb, the chief nurse at SCFT, said, “We are so proud to be able to support the Covid-19 vaccination programme across Sussex.

“Our trained vaccinators, supported by amazing volunteers, are on hand to help patients who attend our centres and we look forward to vaccinating many more people in the coming weeks which will make a huge difference to the communities we serve.

“I would encourage anyone who is invited for a vaccination to take up the offer.”