Shuttered Haywards Heath venue offered up as Covid vaccination centre

Mid Sussex District Council has offered up Clair Hall, which has been shut since March, to the NHS as a potential location.

The decision to permanently close the venue in Perrymount Road was taken by the district council back in September weeks after it was removed from the leisure contract.

The district council is currently working with the NHS to explore whether sites it owns can be used to support the mass vaccination programme.

The NHS has very strict requirements for potential sites that need to be identified quickly so the vaccination programme can start in Mid Sussex. The final decision on which sites will be used for vaccination centres will be made by the NHS, who will bring their own equipment and support services to make each site suitable.

Jonathan Ash-Edwards, leader of Mid Sussex District Council, said: “It is fantastic news that we have a licensed vaccine for Covid-19 in the UK to begin to protect people from the pandemic and we all need to play our part in getting the country vaccinated, starting with the most vulnerable.

“As part of the national effort the district council has been supporting the NHS in their search for suitable venues for vaccination centres in Mid Sussex. This work has concluded that the old Clair Hall building in Haywards Heath could be used and the council has therefore offered it to the NHS. While the building is now closed, I hope this is one final service it can perform to the community.

“During this time, the council will continue to develop plans for the regeneration of the site including the provision of modern community facilities, drawing on the consultations underway with former user groups and on the Haywards Heath town centre masterplan.”

Now underway, the Coronavirus vaccine rollout is the largest ever vaccination programme in NHS history.

Residents are asked to wait to be called forward by the NHS for a vaccine, which will be offered to the most vulnerable groups first.

The vaccine is given in two doses at least 21 days apart and current Government advice is that it takes a few weeks after receiving the second dose for the vaccine to work.

It is therefore important that everyone continues to follow the current Government Guidance of regularly washing hands, wearing face coverings in public settings and giving yourself and everyone else the space they require.