Council Executive (of which I am a member) just a few minutes ago approved £500k for COVID lateral flow testing for care home visitors so they are able to visit their relatives in care homes. This will be financed and operated by the Borough council and we believe its the first scheme in the country. Currently 20 care homes have signed up to the scheme – this will really help people by enabling them see their elderly relatives over xmas.
The second financial approval is to extend our track and trace service which is performing very well.
Thirdly we have approved funding to provide effort to help the NHS in their vaccination efforts.
When I asked I was told that COVID inoculations have started in two pilot surgeries this week and I was also told that the NHS has split the Borough into 5 areas and that inoculations will start in all areas next week.
Inoculations are being done in priority order starting with the most vulnerable and people will be notified when they need to attend.
The priority list is as follows:
- residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
- all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
- all those 75 years of age and over
- all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
- 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.
Phase 2 of the vaccination programme will seek to further reduce hospitalisation and provide targeted vaccination of those at high risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services. The planning of this second phase is ongoing with more detail expected in Spring 2021.
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