85% OF CARE HOME
RESIDENTS GIVEN SECOND DOSE OF COVID VACCINE
According to the latest data released in May
by NHS England, over 85% of older care home residents have received their
second dose of the vaccine. Amid tentative returns to normality and fears
surrounding the spread of an Indian variant of COVID-19, the nation’s most
vulnerable are starting to feel a little safer at last. Meanwhile, 64% of
nursing home staff have been given two doses of the vaccine.
These numbers are significant as they mean a large number of older care homes have met the minimum threshold for protection
set out by SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies). Earlier this year,
SAGE estimated that care homes would need to provide one dose of the vaccine to
90% of residents and 80% of staff to achieve the minimum required level of immunity.
MEETING THE REQUIRED
NUMBERS
Most care homes have either achieved or
surpassed these numbers already and with the second dose rollout being sped up
to counter the new Indian variant, care homes should soon see an even more
thorough level of protection.
Unfortunately, vaccine uptake has not been
where it should be in some areas and London’s care homes have been consistently
behind in the number of vaccinated staff. As of May 27, only 75% of staff
across London had received their first dose, meaning they have not reached
minimum levels of safety from outbreaks. The government is considering
introducing mandatory vaccines for carers to speed up the uptake.
RECOVERING FROM TRAGEDY
Since the beginning of the nation’s vaccine
rollout, elderly care homes have been high on the priority list for the jab.
With around a third of England’s COVID-19 deaths being care home residents,
they have been among the most severely affected by the pandemic.
The advanced age of the residents paired with
the high levels of comorbidity and an inability to self-isolate meant
infections could spread easily and with devastating consequences. Of the nearly
128,000 coronavirus deaths across the UK, over 42,000 were care home residents.
GOVERNMENT CRITICISM
The issue of protecting nursing homes from
coronavirus outbreaks have been in the public eye recently as Boris Johnson’s
former Chief Advisor Dominic Cummings has raised allegations of lies and
ineptitude in the government's response to the pandemic. Cummings drew
particular attention to claims by Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock
that care homes were given a “protective
shield.”
“It
was complete nonsense” said Cummings, who continued “Quite the opposite of putting a shield
around them, we sent people with Covid back to the care homes.”
Boris
Johnson said of the matter: "I think
that of course what happened in care homes was tragic, but we did everything we
could to protect the NHS, to minimise transmission, with the knowledge that we
had."
Irrespective of internal government politics,
for many people, news of the vaccine’s progression marks the beginning of the
end and welcome news at the end of a very long, troubling road. After a year of
uncertainties, it finally appears that concrete proof exists that better times
are just around the corner.
It would appear that those with elderly family
residing in care, along with friends and relatives can finally breathe a sigh
of relief.
