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Found 452 results
  1. News Article
    More than 2.5 million people over the age of 80 have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, NHS England has said. But the vaccine is failing to reach thousands of elderly people who receive care in their own homes, according to a provider, because they are too frail to travel to vaccination centres or fear catching the virus if they do. The Guardian spoke to three people who have family members over 80 still waiting to be vaccinated. “How on earth are elderly people expected to negotiate the system if they don’t have any help?” says Amanda Elliott, 59. Her father-in-law, George Elliott, 98, of Polegate, East Sussex, is still waiting to be vaccinated. “It seems very unfair,” she says. George, who was a glider pilot in the second world war, doesn’t feel entitled to a jab but finds the situation “puzzling”, Amanda says. He has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), finds it very difficult to move and has a carer going into his home twice a day. Amanda, a support worker at a school in Sutton, says George received a letter inviting him to book his vaccination online and “tried without success”. He then called to book over the phone and was offered an appointment in Brighton, Hastings or Petersfield, to which he would have difficulty travelling. “I called the booking line on his behalf last week to find out what he should do as he is housebound. I was directed to his GP and his surgery told me they are not carrying out vaccinations and that I shouldn’t have contacted them about this. They were very unhelpful,” Amanda says. In Kirkcaldy, Fife, 88-year-old Christina McPhee, who is housebound, is still waiting to be vaccinated. “The district nurse has to administer the vaccine to those who can’t leave their homes, but the local GP practice told me last Friday they have none allocated for those in the area,” says her niece Mary. AdMcPhee has a tracheostomy and has carers and nurses visiting her several times a day, making her “very vulnerable” because she is high risk. Her sister, Mary’s mother, who is 82 and lives with McPhee, was able to get the vaccine because she could travel to the surgery, but there is no news about when McPhee is likely to receive hers. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 1 February 2021
  2. News Article
    Surplus COVID-19 vaccines have been given to healthy young people in parts of England and some GPs have “run out” of eligible patients to vaccinate in the scramble to inoculate the country. While supplies have been cut in some areas, one GP in the Midlands told the Guardian he had “hundreds of unused vaccines” which he is not allowed to use, having already inoculated all priority patients. Other vaccination centres have taken a more liberal approach, inviting younger patients for jabs at the end of the day if they find themselves with surplus doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which has a shelf life of three days. Currently, only four groups are eligible for vaccines in England: the over-70s, the clinically extremely vulnerable, care home residents and frontline health and social care workers. But one 38-year-old in Sheffield in none of those groups said she was offered the jab on “the iciest day of the year” if she could get to the clinic within half an hour because of weather-related cancellations. A 24-year-old in Manchester said she’d had a spare after volunteering at a vaccination centre. In Reading, one clinic is calling local police stations and offering surplus jabs to officers at the end of the day. Others are offering spares to frontline charity workers. One medic in Greater Manchester told the Guardian they managed to receive their second dose of the vaccine by repeatedly turning up at their local vaccine site at the end of each day, receiving it on day three. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 January 2021
  3. News Article
    Black people over the age of 80 were half as likely as their white peers to have been vaccinated against Covid by 13 January, a large study suggests. This is despite the fact black people are four times more likely to die with COVID-19 than their white counterparts. People living in deprived areas or who have severe mental-health conditions or learning disabilities were also less likely to have received a vaccination. The study was based on more than 20 million patient records in England. The OpenSafely study, by the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, found of the million of those over 80 but not living in a care home: 43% of the white people had been given their first dose of the vaccine 30% of the Bangladeshi and Pakistani people had 21% of the black people had. Bangladeshi and Pakistani people are twice as likely to die with COVID-19 as white peple. Birmingham-based business owner Tru Powell told BBC Radio 5 Live of a "lack of trust between the government and people of colour". "People of colour have been subject to institutionalised racism within the healthcare system," she said. "We are five times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act and four times more likely to die in childbirth." Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 January 2021
  4. News Article
    NHS England has been urged to introduce routine recording of race and ethnicity data when people are given their covid vaccination. Documents seen by HSJ show Pinnacle, the IT system being used by GPs and mass vaccination centres to record jabs, does not directly require ethnicity to be recorded. Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, which promotes race equality in public services, told HSJ that making it a requirement would help establish the facts on uptake among different groups, more quickly. It is understood the NHS is able to ascertain data on vaccine uptake by ethnicity by connecting it with GP records, through the national immunisation management service, and potentially with other healthcare data. However, Mr Butt said this would provide only limited insight and take more time. He believes the absence of data may allow ”misconceptions” to take hold about lower uptake among some minorities, which can lead to stigma, when in fact, he said, the trend may so far simply be due to there being fewer black and Asian people in the oldest age groups, who are the first eligible for vaccination. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 24 January 2021
  5. News Article
    Just a third of people aged 80 and over have received the covid vaccine in one part of England, compared to four out of five in the area with the highest rate, new NHS England figures have revealed. Gloucestershire delivered at least one dose of the vaccine to 85% of its over 80s population between 8 December and 17 January. Three other STPs — Northamptonshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and Lancashire and South Cumbria — have all delivered at least one dose to at least three-quarters of over 80s in the area. By contrast, Suffolk and North East Essex has vaccinated just 36% of its over 80s population. A further seven of England’s 42 STP/Integrated Care Systems had vaccinated under half of their over 80s population. The mixture of reasons for the differences are not known — it may be due to supply, delivery issues, the nature of the area, or the size of the over-80s population. NHS England has maintained that the vaccine is being used nearly as quickly as it is available each week, with supply the main constraint. NHSE decides when sites are able to open and when they have supply. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 January 2021
  6. News Article
    Only a little over half of British Indians say they would get a coronavirus vaccine, according to research. Some 56% of British Indians said they would take up a vaccine when asked by the 1928 Institute, a new think tank led by academics from the University of Oxford. However, 31% per cent were unsure, while 13% said they would decline a jab, the online poll of 510 respondents found. The think tank said much of this stemmed from people feeling they were not informed enough about the vaccines, while a significant proportion felt other people deserved to receive a vaccine more. The researchers are calling for an urgent public health campaign and funding, with messaging in different languages and co-produced with community leaders to assuage doubts. The government should also widely share information on how it is helping poorer countries distribute vaccines, given that several participants said vulnerable people and those in poorer countries should take priority, they said in their report. Read full story Source: The Independent, 21 January 2021
  7. News Article
    Smear-test delays during lockdown have prompted calls for home-screening kits. Cervical cancer screening has restarted across the UK - but some women say they will not attend their appointments for fear of catching Covid. Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust is urging "faster action" on home tests for HPV, which causes 99% of cervical cancers. An NHS official said GP practices should continue screening throughout lockdown, and "anyone invited for a cervical smear test should attend". Cancer Research UK said it was not yet known how effective and accurate self-sampling could be in cervical screening. A survey by gynaecological cancer charity the Eve Appeal indicates nearly one in three missed smear tests are the result of people being "put off" by coronavirus. And a Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust survey during the pandemic suggests the same proportion would prefer to take their own human-papillomavirus (HPV) test rather than go to a GP. Acting chief executive Rebecca Shoosmith said coronavirus had added "more barriers" to going for a smear test. "Sadly those who found it difficult before are likely to be no closer to getting tested," she said. "Self-sampling would be a game-changer." Both charities emphasise smear tests are for "women and anyone with a cervix" and transgender and non-binary people may have additional barriers to going. Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust said DIY tests could also help people who had been sexually assaulted and those with disabilities or from backgrounds where smear tests were taboo. Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 January 2021
  8. News Article
    People in high-risk minority ethnic groups must be prioritised for Covid immunisations, alongside a targeted publicity campaign, experts and politicians have said amid growing concerns over vaccine scepticism. With figures on Monday recording more than 4m Covid vaccine doses now administered across the UK, and the rollout being expanded to all over-70s, public health experts and MPs called for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities to be better protected. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has also raised concerns after research showed up to 72% of black people said they were unlikely or very unlikely to have the jab. Prof Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, urged Whitehall to begin a public health campaign. “We are concerned that recent reports show that people within BAME communities are not only more likely to be adversely affected by the virus but also less likely to accept the Covid vaccine, when offered it,” he said. “As such, where appropriate, we’re calling for public health communications to be tailored to patients in BAME communities, to reassure them about the efficacy and safety of the vaccine and ultimately encourage them to come forward for their vaccination when they are invited for it.” His remarks came as the vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi, admitted he feared some BAME communities could remain exposed to coronavirus despite high expected uptake of the jabs. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 January 2021
  9. News Article
    Advisers from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) have raised fresh concerns over Covid vaccine uptake among black, Asian and minority ethnic communities (BAME) as research showed up to 72% of black people said they were unlikely to have the jab. Historical issues of unethical healthcare research, and structural and institutional racism and discrimination, are key reasons for lower levels of trust in the vaccination programme, a report from Sage said. The figures come from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, which conducts annual interviews to gain a long-term perspective on British people’s lives. In late November, the researchers contacted 12,035 participants to investigate the prevalence of coronavirus vaccine hesitancy in the UK, and whether certain subgroups were more likely to be affected by it. Overall, the study found high levels of willingness to be vaccinated, with 82% of people saying they were likely or very likely to have the jab – rising to 96% among people over the age of 75. Women, younger people and those with lower levels of education were less willing, but hesitancy was particularly high among people from black groups, where 72% said they were unlikely or very unlikely to be vaccinated. Among Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups this figure was 42%. Eastern European groups were also less willing. “Trust is particularly important for black communities that have low trust in healthcare organisations and research findings due to historical issues of unethical healthcare research,” said the Sage experts. “Trust is also undermined by structural and institutional racism and discrimination. Minority ethnic groups have historically been underrepresented within health research, including vaccines trials, which can influence trust in a particular vaccine being perceived as appropriate and safe, and concerns that immunisation research is not ethnically heterogenous.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 January 2021
  10. News Article
    Fake news is likely to be causing some people from the UK's South Asian communities to reject the Covid vaccine, a doctor has warned. Dr Harpreet Sood, who is leading an NHS anti-disinformation drive, said it was "a big concern" and officials were working "to correct so much fake news". He said language and cultural barriers played a part in the false information. Dr Sood, from NHS England, said officials were working with South Asian role models, influencers, community leaders and religious leaders to help debunk myths about the vaccine. Much of the disinformation surrounds the contents of the vaccine. He said: "We need to be clear and make people realise there is no meat in the vaccine, there is no pork in the vaccine, it has been accepted and endorsed by all the religious leaders and councils and faith communities." "We're trying to find role models and influencers and also thinking about ordinary citizens who need to be quick with this information so that they can all support one another because ultimately everyone is a role model to everyone", he added. Dr Samara Afzal has been vaccinating people in Dudley, West Midlands. She said: "We've been calling all patients and booking them in for vaccines but the admin staff say when they call a lot of the South Asian patients they decline and refuse to have the vaccination. "Also talking to friends and family have found the same. I've had friends calling me telling me to convince their parents or their grandparents to have the vaccination because other family members have convinced them not to have it". Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 January 2021
  11. News Article
    Some High Street pharmacies in England will start vaccinating people from priority groups on Thursday, with 200 providing jabs in the next two weeks. Six chemists in Halifax, Macclesfield, Widnes, Guildford, Edgware and Telford are the first to offer appointments to those invited by letter. But pharmacists say many more sites should be allowed to give the jab, not just the largest ones. More than 2.6 million people in the UK have now received their first dose. Across the UK, the target is to vaccinate 15 million people in the top four priority groups - care home residents and workers, NHS frontline staff, the over-70s and the extremely clinically vulnerable - by mid-February. The vaccines – made by either Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech – are being administered at hospitals, care homes, GP surgeries and vaccination centres. It comes as the UK saw its highest number of daily reported coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began, with the government announcing a further 1,564 deaths of people within 28 days of a positive Covid test. On Wednesday evening, the Scottish government published its detailed 16-page plan for rolling out the vaccine, including details of how many vaccines it expects to receive every week until the end of May. Read full story Source: BBC News, 14 January 2021
  12. News Article
    GPs are being paid £1,000 to cancel second dose appointments for Covid jabs and given a script to follow to deal with angry patients amid growing chaos in the roll-out of the vaccine programme. Practices have been offered the payments to cover the workload of postponing hundreds of patients who were set to have their second dose and booking new ones in their place. NHS sources said the shift has contributed to delays in rolling out the programme. Some GPs have refused to postpone the appointments, with practice managers saying it was "too cruel" to dash the hopes of those who were booked for a second jab. In December, everyone given a first vaccine by Pfizer was told to come back for their second dose three weeks later. But the strategy was changed 10 days ago in a bid to get a first dose to more of the population more quickly. Patients are now being told they will have to wait 12 weeks for the second dose, with a reassurance from health officials that the longer gap could strengthen its effectiveness. By the time the plan was changed, around one million people had already been booked in for their second dose. GPs are now under orders to postpone such appointments and instead give the slots to those awaiting a first dose. Read full story Source: The Telegraph, 8 January 2021
  13. News Article
    People waiting to receive the COVID-19 vaccine say they are confused by NHS letters inviting them to travel to centres miles away from their homes. The first 130,000 letters have been sent to people aged 80 or older who live about 30 to 45 minutes' drive away from one of seven new regional centres. But patients, many of whom are shielding, questioned why they had to travel so far in a pandemic. Local jabs are available to people if they wait, the NHS said. The seven centres include Ashton Gate in Bristol, Epsom racecourse in Surrey, London's Nightingale hospital, Newcastle's Centre for Life, the Manchester Tennis and Football Centre, Robertson House in Stevenage and Birmingham's Millennium Point. Mary McGarry from Leamington Spa in Warwickshire told BBC News that her letter points to an NHS online booking page which suggests she would have to take her husband, who has cancer and a lung disease, 20 miles to Birmingham. "We're very reluctant to go into Birmingham city centre," she said. "If we can't get somebody to take us, we'd have to go on the train but we're shielding because my husband's got poor health.... we want to know why we've got to travel that far?" People will not miss out on their vaccination if they do not use the letters to make an appointment at one of the centres, the NHS said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 January 2021
  14. News Article
    The government’s actions in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic have received a mixed review from MPs in a report that set out the successes and failures of the UK response. Although the joint report from the House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee and Health and Social Care Committee  praised the UK’s covid vaccination programme as highly effective, it also condemned serious errors, especially delayed lockdowns and how a test, trace, and isolate system was set up. Overall, the MPs’ inquiry found that some government initiatives were examples of global best practice but that others represented “serious mistakes.” The UK’s pandemic planning was based too narrowly on a flu model that had failed to learn the lessons from the SARS, MERS, and Ebola epidemics, said the MPs, which meant that its covid planning was worse than in other countries. Delays in establishing an adequate test, trace, and isolate system hampered efforts to contain the outbreak, said the MPs, and the government’s initial decision to delay a comprehensive lockdown had revealed its then “fatalistic” assumption that it was impossible to suppress the virus, which amounted, in practice, to accepting that herd immunity by infection was inevitable. The report said that many thousands of deaths could have been avoided if the government had not let hospitals discharge people into care homes in the initial phase of the pandemic and that this showed the “longstanding failure” to give social care sufficient priority and the same attention as the NHS. Read full story Source: BMJ, 12 October 2021
  15. News Article
    A cabinet minister has refused to apologise for the government’s handing of the COVID-19 pandemic despite a new report finding that errors cost “thousands of lives”. Cabinet Office minister Stephen Barclay defended the government’s decision making to Sky News, saying: “We followed, throughout, the scientific advice. We got the vaccine deployed extremely quickly, we protected our NHS from the surge of cases.” His comments come as family members who lost loved ones to COVID-19 described the MPs’ report as “laughable” for failing to take evidence from the bereaved. The COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group criticised the parliamentary report as being “more interested in political arguments about whether you can bring laptops to Cobra meetings that it is in the experiences of those who tragically lost” family members to COVID-19. When asked, for a second time, if he would apologise by presenter Kay Burley, Stephen Barclay replied: “Well no, we followed the scientific advice, we protected the NHS, we took the decisions based on the evidence before us.” He made these comments despite the report finding that the delayed decision to lock down in spring last year was one of the “most important public health failures the United Kingdom has ever experienced”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 12 October 2021
  16. News Article
    Britain’s early handling of the coronavirus pandemic was one of the worst public health failures in UK history, with ministers and scientists taking a “fatalistic” approach that exacerbated the death toll, a landmark inquiry has found. “Groupthink”, evidence of British exceptionalism and a deliberately “slow and gradualist” approach meant the UK fared “significantly worse” than other countries, according to the 151-page “Coronavirus: lessons learned to date” report led by two former Conservative ministers. The crisis exposed “major deficiencies in the machinery of government”, with public bodies unable to share vital information and scientific advice impaired by a lack of transparency, input from international experts and meaningful challenge. Despite being one of the first countries to develop a test for Covid in January 2020, the UK “squandered” its lead and “converted it into one of permanent crisis”. The consequences were profound, the report says. “For a country with a world-class expertise in data analysis, to face the biggest health crisis in 100 years with virtually no data to analyse was an almost unimaginable setback.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 October 2021
  17. News Article
    Unvaccinated pregnant women accounted for nearly a fifth of the most severely ill coronavirus patients in England in recent months, according to health officials. Between July and September, 17% of COVID-19 patients who required a special lung bypass machine while in intensive care were mothers-to-be who had not received their first vaccine dose, NHS England said. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is used when a patient’s lungs are so damaged by Covid-19 that a ventilator cannot maintain oxygen levels. While just six per cent of the women aged 16 to 49 who needed ECMO at the start of the pandemic were pregnant, nearly a third of women among that age group who required the lung bypass in recent months were unvaccinated mothers-to-be. The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) called the statistics a “damning indictment of the lack of attention given to this vulnerable group as restrictions have eased”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 October 2021
  18. News Article
    Flu deaths could be the worst for 50 years because of lockdowns and social distancing, health chiefs have warned, as the NHS launches the biggest ever flu vaccination drive. More than 35 million people will be offered flu jabs this winter, amid concern that prolonged restrictions on social contact have left Britain with little immunity. Officials fear that this winter could see up to 60,000 flu deaths – the worst figure in Britain since the 1968 Hong Kong Flu pandemic – without strong uptake of vaccines. There is also concern about the effectiveness of this year’s jabs, because the lack of flu last year made it harder for scientists to sample the virus and predict the dominant strains. Health chiefs said the measures introduced over the past 18 months to protect the country against coronavirus would now put the public at greater risk of flu. The NHS has already begun the rollout of flu jabs and COVID-19 boosters. Health chiefs will urge everyone eligible to take up their chance, with the launch of a major campaign today to drive take-up. Read full story Source: The Telegraph, 8 October 2021
  19. News Article
    Children across much of Africa are to be vaccinated against malaria in a historic moment in the fight against the deadly disease. Malaria has been one of the biggest scourges on humanity for millennia and mostly kills babies and infants. Having a vaccine - after more than a century of trying - is among medicine's greatest achievements. The vaccine - called RTS,S - was proven effective six years ago. Now, after the success of pilot immunisation programmes in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, the World Health Organization says the vaccine should be rolled out across sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said it was "a historic moment". "The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control," he said. "[It] could save tens of thousands of young lives each year." Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 October 2021
  20. News Article
    The country’s largest clinical study is being launched in Greater Manchester to investigate the best gap between first and second Covid-19 vaccine doses for pregnant women. Led by St George’s, University of London, the Preg-CoV study will provide vital clinical trial data on the immune response to vaccination at different dose intervals – either four to six weeks or eight to 12 weeks. This data will help determine the best dosage interval and reveal more about how the vaccine works to protect pregnant mothers and their babies against Covid-19. Pregnant women are more likely to develop severe Covid-19 or die from the disease but are excluded from clinical trials with new vaccines. This means there are currently very limited clinical trial data on the immune response and side effects caused by the vaccines for these women. Read the full story here Source: National Health Executive
  21. News Article
    Anti-vaccine Facebook groups in the United States have a new message for their community members: Don’t go to the emergency room, and get your loved ones out of intensive care units. Consumed by conspiracy theories claiming that doctors are preventing unvaccinated patients from receiving miracle cures or are even killing them on purpose, some people in anti-vaccine and pro-ivermectin Facebook groups are telling those with COVID-19 to stay away from hospitals and instead try increasingly dangerous at-home treatments, according to posts seen by NBC News over the past few weeks. Some people in groups that formed recently to promote the false cure ivermectin, an anti-parasite treatment, have claimed extracting Covid patients from hospitals is pivotal so that they can self-medicate at home with ivermectin. But as the patients begin to realize that ivermectin by itself is not effective, the groups have begun recommending a series of increasingly hazardous at-home treatments, such as gargling with iodine, and nebulizing and inhaling hydrogen peroxide, calling it part of a “protocol.” The messages represent an escalation in the mistrust of medical professionals in groups that have sprung up in recent months on social media platforms, which have tried to crack down on Covid misinformation. And it’s something that some doctors say they’re seeing manifest in their hospitals as they have filled up because of the most recent delta variant wave. Those concerns echo various local reports about growing threats and violence directed toward medical professionals in the US. In Branson, Missouri, a medical center recently introduced panic buttons on employee badges because of a spike in assaults. Violence and threats against medical professionals have recently been reported in Massachusetts, Texas, Georgia and Idaho. Read full story Source: NBC News, 24 September 2021
  22. News Article
    Changes to periods and unexpected vaginal bleeding after having a Covid vaccine should be investigated to reassure women, says a leading immunologist specialising in fertility. Writing in the BMJ, Dr Victoria Male, from Imperial College London, said the body's immune response was the likely cause, not something in the vaccines. There is no evidence they have any impact on pregnancy or fertility. The UK's regulator has received more than 30,000 reports of period problems. These include heavier than usual periods, delayed periods and unexpected bleeding after all three Covid vaccines, out of more than 47 million doses given to women in the UK to date. After reviewing the reports, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says it "does not support a link" between Covid vaccines and the symptoms. However, writing in an opinion piece in the BMJ, Dr Male says "robust research" into reports of period problems would help to counter misinformation around the vaccines. "Vaccine hesitancy among young women is largely driven by false claims that COVID-19 vaccines could harm their chances of future pregnancy. Failing to thoroughly investigate reports of menstrual changes after vaccination is likely to fuel these fears." "If a link between vaccination and menstrual changes is confirmed, this information will allow people to plan for potentially altered cycles," she said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 September 2021
  23. News Article
    Fully vaccinated people are much less likely to die with COVID-19 than those who aren't, or have had only one dose, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. Out of more than 51,000 Covid deaths in England between January and July 2021, only 256 occurred after two doses. They were mostly people at very high risk from illness from COVID-19. The figures show the high degree of protection from the vaccines against illness and death, the ONS said. Some deaths after vaccination were always expected because vaccines are not 100% effective, and it takes a couple of weeks after your second dose to build the fullest protection. Breakthrough" deaths - occurring at least two weeks after the second jab along with a first positive PCR Covid test - tend to happen in the most vulnerable, men and those with weakened immune systems, with the average age being 84. But overall numbers were very small - they accounted for only 0.5% of all deaths from COVID-19 over the first six months of the year. Read full story Source: BBC News, 14 September 2021
  24. News Article
    Health and care sector workers in England who decline to be fully vaccinated could be moved to back-office roles, a UK government minister has suggested, as a consultation on plans to mandate COVID-19 and flu vaccinations was launched. The six-week consultation process will take views on whether vaccine requirements should apply for health and wider social care workers – those in contact with patients and people receiving care. It would mean only those who are fully vaccinated, unless medically exempt, could be deployed to deliver health and care services. Speaking on Times Radio, Helen Whately, the minister for care, said the government was working with care homes and other settings to see if workers who refused the vaccine could be redeployed. She said: “You can look at whether there are alternative ways somebody could be deployed, for instance, in a role that doesn’t involve frontline work, or doesn’t involve being physically in the same setting as the patient – whether it’s, for instance, working on 111, something like that." But she suggested that people who refused to get vaccinated against coronavirus should not work in social care. Speaking on Sky News, Whately said care homes had been hit particularly hard by Covid, and added: “The reality is that one of the best ways we can protect people living in care homes is through making sure that staff are vaccinated.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 September 2021
  25. News Article
    The UK's vaccine advisory body has decided not to recommend vaccines for healthy 12-15-year-olds, but it will offer vaccines to thousands more children with underlying health problems. Ministers will now seek more advice on extending the rollout based on factors such as school disruption. There is general agreement that this was a really tricky call to make. Bur The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has focused squarely on the health benefits of vaccination to children themselves - not on the impact to their schooling or other people. Children's risk from Covid isn't zero but the chances of them becoming seriously ill from Covid are incredibly small. Deaths among healthy children are extremely rare - most have life-limiting health conditions. That means there needs to be a clear and obvious advantage to giving them a jab. However, a very rare side-effect of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines has made that calculation a lot more complicated. Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at University of East Anglia, says there's been intense pressure on the JCVI and he can understand why they are being cautious. "I don't know what the answer is - I'm very close to the fence on this. There's not enough data to be absolutely certain." Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 September 2021
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