WALK-IN Covid-19 vaccinations at the Churchill Square clinic are to be temporarily suspended.

The decision to suspend walk-ins at the Brighton vaccine centre from Wednesday, December 8, will free up 1,400 extra slots for appointments each week to book.

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Siobhan Melia said the decision is to support the national drive to deliver boosters quickly.

“We know there is a huge demand for appointments and pausing walk-ins at our Churchill Square centre will allow us to add another 1,400 appointment slots a week,” she said.

“We also have plans to recruit more staff and volunteers and are working towards being able to vaccinate up to 1,700 people a day at the centre in the coming weeks.”

The newly booked appointments will be added to the National Booking System and will be available to book online or by calling 119.

The Churchill Square Vaccination Centre is run by SCFT, who have delivered more than 750,000 first, second and booster vaccinations.

In Brighton, 64,000 people have received a booster vaccination so far – 72.8 per cent of those who are eligible.

A Sussex Covid-19 Vaccination Programme spokesman said: “Booster vaccinations continue to be offered to people in order of priority, with people aged over 40, those with underlying health conditions that put them at high risk and frontline health and social care workers currently being eligible.

“We are committed to stepping up to the next phase of the roll out and making as many appointments available as possible so that people can get their booster vaccination.

“It is important to recognise that our mobile vaccination services in the city will continue, providing walk in opportunities every week, and we want to remind people that they can use the 119 phone number as well as the National Booking System website to book their appointment.

“Walk-in and pop-up sessions continue to take place in various locations across the city at mobile vaccination units.”

The former Topshop store took over from the Brighton Centre as the trust’s largest Covid-19 vaccination hub.

The Brighton Centre site opened in January, delivering up to 3,000 vaccinations a day during peak demand.

It was staffed by more than 150 SCFT workers and over 100 volunteers, every day since.

The team has delivered a total of over 250,000 first and second dose vaccinations at the centre.