A SPECIAL drop-in clinic providing flu and COVID-19 jabs is being held at St Austell in the run-up to Christmas.

The NHS is holding additional drop-in vaccination sessions across Cornwall before the festive season gets into full swing because of the current increase in rates of flu and other respiratory infections.

In St Austell, the additional drop-in clinic will run from 8.30am to 5pm on Thursday, December 18, at the outpatients department of St Austell Community Hospital, off Porthpean Road.

The clinic will be open to those eligible to get a free NHS flu vaccine and/or a seasonal COVID-19 booster vaccination.

Pregnant women and certain pensioners are also being encouraged to take up the offer of RSV vaccination, which helps protect against respiratory syncytial virus.