15/12/2020
We are delighted to begin the roll out of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine locally.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have prioritised vaccinating all care home residents and all health and care staff from both the Health and Social Care and Independent Sector in Phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.
The focus for the Trust has commenced this week with vaccines being administered to vaccinators and care home residents and their staff (including supported living centres where the clinical risk is considered to be similar to a care home). Trust staff are working closely with care homes to ensure that arrangements are as safe and effective as possible.
All care home residents and staff will be offered the first COVID-19 vaccine through a Trust mobile Vaccination team. The teams will return 21 days later to administer the second dose of the vaccine.
The aim is that all Care Homes will be visited prior to Christmas.
In tandem with the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in care homes, HSC staff will begin to be offered the vaccine in the comings weeks/months as the supply of vaccine is made available to us. We will target staff in line with JCVI prioritisation, which is on the basis of those staff that are working with patients in the highest risk group. Staff will be invited to book their vaccine through an online booking system.
Ann McConnell, Director of Human Resources at the Western Trust said: “We are delighted to be offering a COVID-19 vaccine to Care Home Residents and Staff in the Western Trust area.
“This has been an unprecedented logistical exercise for the Trust and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff who are supporting this effort and will continue to for quite some time.
“The exact timing of all plans will be subject to vaccine availability and we will communicate this to all groups as allocated.”
Ann added: “This vaccine gives us hope that we are coming towards the end of this pandemic, however we should not become complacent in our approach. We need everyone to continue to play a part in managing the crisis. People have been heroic in their efforts to keep patients safe, to attend to their work and to keep their colleagues safe.
“We need you to continue with this work until the rollout of this vaccine is complete. Please remain vigilant – wear a face covering, adhere to social distancing and follow all the public health advice especially during the holiday period and then we can look forward to a better and safer 2021 for all of us.”