(Updated 24/02/21)
Vaccination Updates
All care home residents and staff, health and social care workers, people aged 70 and over, and the clinically extremely vulnerable have now been offered a vaccine. These groups account for 88 per cent of deaths from coronavirus, meaning potentially tens of thousands of lives will be saved.
Care Homes and the Housebound
The NHS announced on February 1 that a COVID vaccine has been offered to all older residents at eligible care homes in England.
Housebound residents will receive a Covid-19 vaccine within their own home or place of residence. A special ‘roving team’ of vaccinators is delivering the service to housebound residents. Please note that only those who are registered as housebound by their GPs will receive an at home service others will have to attend a vaccination centre. More information on this can be found here.
Clinically Extremely Vulnerable
The NHS is still urging those who are clinically extemely vulnerable to come forward to receive a vaccine. Those who are clinically extremely vulnerable still need to bring their invite letter or their “Shielding” letter to their appointment as proof of eligibility and can then book a vaccination appointment here or by calling 0115 883 4640. Find out if you are clinically extremely vulnerable here.
Over 65s and the Clinically Vulnerable
Across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire we are inviting those aged 65 and over and those considered clinically vulnerable (vaccination group 5 and 6) to come forward for a vaccine - this includes eligible carers and young adults in residential settings. All over 65s in Nottinghamshire should now have received a letter or text inviting them to take the vaccine.
In Nottinghamshire, the vaccine for the Clinically Vulnerable (cohort 6) will begin rolled-out from Thursday 18 February. Find out if you are classed at clinically vulnerable here.
Over 65s and eligible clinically vulnerable do not need to wait for their letter before they book their appointments.
Over 65s can book a vaccination appointment here or by calling 0115 883 4640.
The clinically vulnerable can book a vaccination appointment here
***Unless you are over 65 or clinically vulnerable, please wait to hear from the NHS before trying to book a vaccination***
Vaccination Prioritisation
The order in which people will be offered the vaccine is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). They have based this on the prevention of mortality and the risk to the maintenance of the health and social care systems.
- residents in a care home for older adults and their carers (Vaccine Offered)
- all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers (Vaccine Offered)
- all those 75 years of age and over (Vaccine Offered)
- all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals (Vaccine Offered)
- all those 65 years of age and over
- all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
- all those 60 years of age and over
- all those 55 years of age and over
- all those 50 years of age and over
It is estimated that taken together, these groups represent around 99% of preventable mortality from COVID-19.
We achieved the target to offer a vaccine to the top four cohorts in line with the Prime Minister’s deadline of mid-February.
All those in the top four priority tiers should have had a letter inviting them to an appointment by now - If you have not received an appointment letter, or if you have any general questions about the vaccine, please ring the enquiry line on 0300 500 8080
Updates
More than 18 million vaccines have been administered around the UK (only two countries, the United States and China, have vaccinated more people than the UK).
We aim to offer a vaccine to all over 50s by 15 April. Boris Johnson has also pledged that every adult in the UK will be offered their first dose by the end of July.
1 in 3 British adults have now received a coronavirus vaccine, with first doses having been given to (in Nottinghamshire):
- 95 per cent of individuals in care homes
- 92 per cent of people over 80
- 99 per cent of 75-79 year olds
- 90 per cent 70-74 year olds
We are now averaging more than 2.5 million vaccine doses being administered a week .
Nationally, we have vaccinated 2/3s of 65-69 year olds after invites went out last week.
We have secured early access to over 407 million total doses of the vaccine for 2021 and 2022
A new partnership with CureVac was announced to rapidly develop new vaccines in response to new COVID variants if needed
The UK is the largest donor to the COVAX facility, the global mechanism to help developing countries access a coronavirus vaccine, and has committed £548 million in UK aid to help distribute 1.3 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines to 92 developing countries this year.
To date, we have invested over £300 million into manufacturing a successful vaccine that has enabled our rapid roll out.
FAQs
What is the Government’s plan to rapidly scale up the vaccination programme?
As of 23 February, over 17.6 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine.
The vaccination roll-out is a huge logistical effort and planning has been underway for months. We're using vaccination centres, hospital hubs, GPs, and pharmacists to support and deliver the roll-out.
By the end of January, everyone will be living within a 10 mile radius of one or other vaccination site.
When will I receive a vaccine?
The NHS is already offering them to the most vulnerable people. In Nottinghamshire, we have offered a vaccine to the top 4 cohorts of the JCVI's recommended vaccination list.
It is important to note that the NHS will contact you when it is your turn and you should wait for the invitation.
How are you deciding who gets the vaccine first?
As stated, the JCVI have set the priority categories for the vaccine roll-out. The have done this on the basis of who is most likely to become seriously ill with COVID-19, or even worse, to die from it.
88% of COVID deaths so far have been people in the top 4 most vulnerable categories. This is why the Government committed to offering everyone in these groups the vaccine by 15 February.
Why aren't other key workers getting the vaccine at the same time as frontline health and social care staff?
The vaccine is being given first to those who are most vulnerable to the virus. Health and social care workers are more vulnerable to getting seriously ill because of the large amount of the virus that they come into contact with when helping people who have it. They are also regularly working with other vulnerable people who could get the virus seriously.
Once we have gone through the JCVI's list, that is when we should start looking at vaccinating our key workers before others.
Why is there now a 12-week wait between vaccine doses?
In short, this will save lives. After dose 1, we receive about 89% protection against the virus - this is increased by about 5-6% after dose 2.
It is much better to give 2 grandparents 89% protection than to give one 95-6% and the other none at all. It is important that we vaccinate as many people as possible.
As ever, if you have any other queries, feel free to email me at ruth.edwards.mp.@parliament.uk
Useful Links
NHS COVID-19 Dashboard: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccinat…
Gov.UK COVID-19 Dashboard: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
JCVI Advice on Priority Categories: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/priority-groups-for-coronavi…
NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group COVID-19 Dasboard: https://nottsccg.nhs.uk/covid-19/covid-19-vaccination-in-nottingham-and…