Department store set to be used as a vaccine centre

NEWPORT’S former Debenhams building is set to become a mass vaccination centre this winter.

The shop has been empty in the city’s Friars Walk shopping centre since May 2021 after the brand closed all its UK stores.

Its loss was labelled “dreadful news” by Newport Business Improvement District.

Despite calls for the building to be re-let, it has remained empty since, along with other Debenhams in Cardiff, Swansea and Carmarthen, though in August it was revealed the latter would be turned into a gym.

In May, it emerged that the 90,000sq ft Newport site was being considered for a technologyfocused learning campus for thousands of students. But it has been announced that the store will be temporarily used as a mass vaccination centre for autumn booster Covid jabs.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said the site was chosen due to its size, accessibility and proximity to the old mass vaccination centre at Newport Centre which closed in September.

No date has been set for its opening but a spokesperson said it would confirm further details soon.

A spokesman for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: “We are currently working through the logistics of moving our plans forward and hope to update our communities with further information very soon. The site will enable those in Newport eligible for their Covid-19 autumn booster to have their vaccine locally.

“We also hope to use the site to deliver autumn boosters and flu vaccinations to health board staff.

“We urge everyone eligible for the autumn booster to take the offer of their vaccine to protect themselves and their loved ones this winter.”