Eastbourne Beacon To Get Coronavirus Vaccination Centre

Thursday, 17 December 2020 10:15

By John Warburton @Warblefly

The Beacon, Eastbourne (Photo: © Eastbourne Borough Council)

GPs and staff at the Victoria Medical Centre are preparing to open what's they believe will be the first vaccination service in a Sussex shopping centre at The Beacon in Eastbourne.

Eastbourne Borough Council says patients will be given the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccinations as part of the NHS vaccination programme roll-out that was launched in the UK earlier this month.

The former soft play unit in the extension of The Beacon is being transformed into a state-of-the-art vaccination service by the Victoria Medical Centre, a GP practice formed earlier this year with the merger of the town's Green Street, Enys Road and Bolton Road surgeries.

The team working in the vaccination service will include six people carrying out the vaccinations, plus staff to support patients and manage any queues.

The borough council added that patients waiting to be seen will be able to watch videos on a television screen outlining the vaccination process.

All vaccinations will be by appointment only for patients of the Victoria Medical Centre, starting with the elderly and most vulnerable, in line with government guidelines.

Patients will be invited to book an appointment when they are eligible and are urged not contact the NHS to request an appointment until they are contacted.

The service is expected to be open for at least 12 weeks and vaccinate around 30,000 patients over that whole period.

Dr Mark Gaffney, of The Victoria Medical Centre, said:

"We are really excited to be opening in The Beacon and we will be one of few vaccination services to be opening in a shopping centre in the country.

"It is an excellent location for us — in the heart of the community — and we hope by bringing patients into the service, that everyone, including retailers, will benefit.

"Our team has worked incredibly hard to get this service up and running in a very short space of time.

"We are very focussed on giving our patients a positive experience of this vaccination and are looking forward to getting the programme started next week."

Eastbourne Borough Council leader David Tutt welcomed the arrival of the vaccination service but urged people to remain vigilant.

He said:

"We only have to look a few miles along the coast and inland to see that the number infections in Hastings and Rother is on the rise.

"I wish the populations in these areas the very best of health and would urge everybody, no matter where you live, to remain vigilant. Don't forget … keep a distance, wear a face mask and wash your hands."

Eastbourne Borough Council has promised More Radio it will give out the vaccination site's opening date as soon as it is known.