Care home residents across Devon to receive vaccines this week

Almost every care home resident in Devon is expected to have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the middle of next week, as figures show 100,000 vaccines have been delivered in the county.

Across Devon, NHS figures show that as of January 17, 98,234 vaccinations had occurred, with that figure having risen further in the most recent days.

Just over 85,000 people had been vaccinated, with nearly 12,000 of those having had their second dose. Of those having had one dose, 39,880 of them are over 80s with 46,469 under 80, mainly in health and care professions.

Just over 50 per cent of Devon's over 80s had, as of Sunday, had their first dose, with more than 13 per cent having had the second dose as well, with the majority of care home residents having been vaccinated. It means 7.2 per cent of Devon's residents have had their first vaccination.

Dr Paul Johnson, clinical chair of the Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, told Thursday's Devon County Council Health and Wellbeing Board meeting that they were confident of hitting the target for the first four priority groups to have had the vaccine by mid-February and that all care home residents – except those who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 28 days – will have had the vaccine by the middle of next week.

"We are on target for the ambition for the first four cohorts to have had their first dose by mid-February," he said.

"We are making good progress in the over 80s and some sites are even inviting the over 75s in the next cohort.

"We are well on the way and are getting into the care homes and we want them all done by the end of this weekend, but we think there will be a bit of mopping up to do due to timing of vaccine availability into the middle of next week, but by then we should have them done.

"It won't be all care home residents as those who have tested positive we will hold off the vaccine until 28 days after their positive symptoms started as per the guidance."

Dr Johnson said that at present, vaccinations were being carried out either at the four hospitals in the county, at 20 primary care sites, of which every GP practice in Devon is linked to one of them, and by vaccines being taken into care homes.

From Saturday, the first pharmacy in Devon – Arnold's Pharmacy in Westward Ho! – will begin delivering vaccines from Westward Ho! Baptist Church in Nelson Drive, with others in the Plymouth and West Devon area being progressed.

And Dr Johnson said that they are hopeful they could announce soon the two mass vaccination sites for Devon – one of which would be in the Devon County Council area, and the other believed to be Home Park in Plymouth.

For some Devon residents, the mass vaccination site up and running at Taunton Racecourse would be closest to them and where they may be invited to.

He added: "If you get a letter inviting you to go, it doesn't mean drop off the GP radar and won't them be invited there, but our recommendation is to go with wherever you can get the vaccine done soonest.

"We know we will need all centres to get everyone done and it will all be part of the coordinated package."

He said that the near 100,000 vaccines given as of January 17 was the highest number of any of the regions in the South West, and that it had been "a good collaborative effort to get us to this stage".

Asked when it would start to have an impact on the scale of the pandemic, Dr Johnson said that at present, the vaccination programme isn't targeted at getting community prevalence down but about reducing deaths and the strain on the health system.

He said: "We are targeting those most likely to get ill and those caring for the most vulnerable and the effect is that we will see a reduction in hospital admissions and deaths related to COVID.

"It takes around 10-14 days from the vaccine before you get some immunity and reduced likelihood of getting unwell, and after the first four cohorts by mid-February are vaccinated, then we will see the most high risk having the immune status and then we a significant impact on hospital activity and reduction in deaths."

Answering questions as to whether the 12 week gap between doses, rather than three weeks was the way to go, Dr Johnson said that were following the recommendation of the JCVI and that at this stage, the 'population approach' was preferable.

He said: "I do know people in JCVI are watching what is happening and we've taken the view we will follow the JCVI guidance. With the evidence we have at the moment and as they explain the rationale behind it, it does make sense from a population basis and as the big driven is around hospitals struggling and not being able to cope with the demand, we have to take a population approach rather than an individual patient approach.

"The switch from three weeks to 12 happened quickly and if the evidence swayed quickly, we can adapt the other way, but won't do so unless there is a national direction to do so."

Pinhay House staff among first to receive vaccines

Residents and staff at Pinhay House Care Home, near Seaton, are among those to have already received their first dose of the vaccine.

All 19 residents and 40 members of staff at Pinhay have received the first vaccination and are expecting their second dose at the end of March.

Sheena Lee, registered manager at Pinhay House Care Home, said: "At Pinhay we are hugely proud of the continued excellence of our staff, and their dedication to the work to make sure they are keeping in line with government guidance and our own regulations.

"The previous 11 months have been some of the most challenging in Pinhay's history but we still pride ourselves on being able to offer good person-centred care, to those that come to live with us.

"The virus hasn't stopped us being able to provide care to some of the most vulnerable in society and we are still able to offer respite care to those that need it.

"All of our staff and residents have regular tests for COVID-19.

"We also feel that praise should be given to the families of our residents, who have been so understanding to the situation.

"They have appreciated the regular updates and advances we've made at Pinhay, so that face to face visiting can begin again, once we are in a safe position to do so."