Covid vaccine programme 'on target' in Devon

Health chiefs remain confident that the four highest priority groups in Devon will have received their first Covid-19 vaccination by the mid-February target.

They say all those aged over 80 will have been offered an appointment by the end of this week at the latest, while 95.4 per cent of care homes in Devon had been vaccinated by last Sunday.

Devon County Council's Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee also heard on Tuesday, January 26 that uptake of the vaccine had been 'very high' and that the county is getting its fair share of supply.

Darryn Allcorn, NHS Devon CCG Chief Nurse, told the meeting the focus is on ensuring that all those in the top four groups (over 70s, care home residents, health workers and care staff) are offered a vaccine by February 14, and that Devon is on target to hit that goal.

He added that the NHS's roaming teams are are going out into rural communities and making sure they start vaccinating the over 70s and over 80s who are housebound.

Sally Slade, Head of Adult Social Care, said: "We had vaccinated 95.4% of care homes in Devon by January 24. There were 12 homes we couldn't do because they had significant outbreaks and we will follow them up shortly, when we can.

"It has been a tremendous effort and there has been a high level of uptake, higher than expected, and the evidence is many of the care home staff have changed their minds when they saw how keen the residents were for the vaccine."

How is the programme being delivered in Devon?

There are now five methods by which the vaccine is being rolled out across Devon.

All four of the county's main hospitals – in Plymouth, Exeter, Torquay and Barnstaple – are giving the vaccination to priority groups in line with national guidance, while GP practices are working together in groups to set up local vaccination centres. Across the county, 20 centres are now in operation, serving all of Devon's practices.

GP-led facilities are delivering the vaccine to residents and staff in care homes, and the pharmacies are also starting to do so, with one in Westward Ho! the first to come online.

On Tuesday the mass vaccination sites at Home Park in Plymouth and Westpoint Arena just outside Exeter became operational, with thousands of vaccines a day to be delivered.

At Wednesday's Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital Trust Board meeting, Suzanne Tracey, the chief executive of the RD&E, said that the Westpoint hub when operating at its peak could deliver 3,000 vaccines a day, but was currently at a lower level than that, having only just opened.

She added: "The hospital hub has been vaccinating since mid-December and vaccinating daily for over 80s, care home staff and health and social care staff. We have delivered around 14,000 vaccines so far and 9,000 RD&E staff have been covered, so a significant portion.

"We expect it to be in operation until June, and once we are through all the staff, we will look at further cohorts of patients across Devon to help."