"We'll be with you as soon as we can!" Vaccinations chief's message for Northamptonshire care homes

Outbreaks holding up roving teams visits to deliver jabs for residents
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NHS chiefs are telling care home managers not to worry if residents have not had Covid19 jabs yet — they are on the way.

Boris Johnson announced a “major milestone” two weeks ago that every eligible care home had been offered vaccinations.

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But Northamptonshire’s vaccination chief admits the job is far from done.

Some care home residents are still waiting for jabs despite Government claims. Photo: Getty ImagesSome care home residents are still waiting for jabs despite Government claims. Photo: Getty Images
Some care home residents are still waiting for jabs despite Government claims. Photo: Getty Images

Outbreaks in around 20 per cent of the county’s 250 care homes over the last month or have forced teams to delay some visits to deliver jabs.

Chris Pallot, director of the Covid vaccination programme in Northamptonshire, said: “The key word here is eligible and there are some reasons why care homes are not eligible for vaccinations at any particular time.

“That is usually because they have had an outbreak of Covid and we need to wait for that outbreak to pass.

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“We work very closely with our colleagues in Public Health who undertake assessments on when it is safe for teams to go in and vaccinate residents.

“When outbreaks are finished, then we will send our roving teams in.”

Public Health Northamptonshire identified active outbreaks — two or more Covid-19 cases linked by time and place within the previous 28 days — at 48 care settings in the county on January 25.

Those outbreaks involved more than 535 cases, all of whom would need to wait 28 days from the date of their positive test or when they first showed symptoms to be eligible for a vaccination dose.

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That number had fallen to 27 active outbreaks involving 355 cases in the last four weeks by February 8.

Risk assessments carried out on some homes with multiple cases will have meant them having to wait longer before the teams are allowed in to deliver jabs — even to those who are eligible.

More than 97 per cent of people aged 75-and-over in Northampton — 55,443 out of an estimated 57,026 — had received at least a first dose of the Covid vaccine by February 7, according to latest official figures.

The Government revealed at the weekend that invitations are beginning to go out to the first people outside the first four priority groups with those aged between 65 and 69 leading the way.