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Agenda item

Vaccination programme update

Minutes:

Katie Summers presented the Covid-19 vaccine programme update.

  • The vaccine offer was evergreen, and so people who had not claimed the vaccination for whatever reason would be able to get it at any point moving forward.
  • Phase 3 consisted of the early booster vaccination programme. In Stage 1, all residents in a care home, frontline social care workers, those who are over 70, and those who were immunocompromised were first to be vaccinated. All of those within a care home would be offered the vaccination by 1st November unless it had been less than six months since their second vaccination.
  • Stage 2 primarily consisted of those over 50.
  • The Health on the Move van would continue to be used, however, it had been halted while 12-15 year olds were vaccinated.
  • The lead GP programme for homeless vaccination was additionally underway.

·         90.1% of Phase 1 and 65.9% of Phase 2 had been fully vaccinated, and 64.7% of 16-17 year olds within Phase 2 had been vaccinated.

Andy Sharp asked whether there would be an arrangement for booster vaccinations for staff in care homes. Katie Summers responded that practices within care homes will have the option to vaccinate care staff, but it will be down to the individual PCN. There will not be a similar arrangement as with the initial vaccination programme due to the workload.

Andy Sharp asked what the arrangement was for vaccination within care homes not under a PCN. Katie Summers responded that there was an arrangement underway.

The Chairman asked if there was a different programme for care home residents and workers. Katie Summers responded that GPs all have an advanced service contract to deliver vaccinations for residents. Health and social care workers were vaccinated under the general vaccination programme. The Chairman noted that everybody in the building was vaccinated without distinction, and asked whether there was a difference. Katie Summers responded that it was, and it was a cause for concern.

Virginia Garnett presented an update on the expansion of the vaccination programme to 12-15 year olds.

  • The two special schools had been visited and fully vaccinated within the first two weeks of term.
  • There have been administrative delays in the vaccinations of 12-15 year olds, and while there was a deadline to provide a universal offer to 12-15 year olds, there would be a delay.
  • The vaccination programme coincided with the programme for childhood flu, and so added 50,000 vaccinations to the caseload. Inquiries as to whether both can be given at the same time confirmed that it could.
  • Two webinars had been held for headteachers, covering issues such as a child consenting where a parent had not.
  • Vaccinations were offered by academic year group, and therefore would be given from Years 8-11. While there was guidance to offer it to Year 7s, this would not go ahead was it was difficult to ascertain that a child had reached their 12th birthday.
  • A digital, web-based consent process was in place, and Government guidance was that a child could self-consent, provided they were Gillick competent. The recent ruling in the Bell v Tavistock appeal had reaffirmed this practice.
  • There would be a separate and direct process for vaccinating asylum seekers and homeschooled children.
  • There was no process for parents to opt out to allow children to be vaccinated elsewhere, except in some cases. Children who are extremely clinically vulnerable would be referred to a GP, as were children who had recently tested positive for Covid.

·         Staff would be reassigned from the mass vaccination programme to do school visits.

The Chairman asked how many 17-18 year olds had missed vaccination. Virginia Garnett did not have that to hand, but responded anecdotally that most were very energetic about receiving their vaccinations. Katie Summers responded that 64.7% of 16-17 year olds within West Berkshire had been vaccinated.

The Chairman asked how many had responded to the digital consent process. Virginia Garnett responded that 470 had consented to the vaccine through the process, and that it would be a closely-monitored to ensure safety and vaccinate allocation.

The Chairman asked what the options were for parents and children who had missed the consent process. Virginia Garnett responded that community catch-up clinics would be available.

Matthew Pearce asked whether there was pressure from schools who were concerned about the legal ramifications of the vaccination programme and self-consent. Virginia Garnett responded that no schools in West Berkshire had objected. In cases of self-consent, there were legal restrictions on Gillick competence and it would be difficult to be clear on.

Katie Summers noted that ‘anti-vaxxers’ had distributed fake health advice that looked official, and asked for assistance from the Board to combat this and to properly advise people. Virginia Garnett responded that abusive emails which contained threats to individual staff had been received and been forwarded to the Head of Security, and were not responded to. Advice had additionally been given to individual members of staff on ensuring their safety, and schools had been asked to provide them on-site parking to facilitate safety and easy transport of equipment.

 

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