Agenda item
Local Authority Covid-19 Vaccination Programme
- Meeting of Online 'Virtual' Meeting, Tower Hamlets Health and Wellbeing Board, Tuesday, 2nd February, 2021 5.00 p.m. (Item 3.1)
- View the background to item 3.1
The Board will be provided on how the vaccination programme is administering vaccines to residents, NHS and social care staff of Tower Hamlets.
Minutes:
The Board noted (i) that the local GP Care Group had been given the green light to commence COVID-19 vaccination in Tower Hamlets from Monday 14th December, 2020 as the first wave of the primary care based COVID vaccination programme; (ii) the details of the types of vaccinations available in the Borough; (iii) who had had the COVID vaccine first and in what order; (iii) the details about the vaccination centre in Mile End and new centres; (iv) the experiences of people receiving the vaccine; and (v) the ongoing support from partners and next steps.
The main points of the discussion on how the vaccination programme is administering vaccines to residents, NHS and social care staff of Tower Hamlets is summarised below:
The Board:
v Noted that the programme aims to complete the following priority groups 1-4 by 14th February 2021: (i) residents in a care home for older adults and their carers; (ii) all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers; (iii) all those 75 years of age; and (iv) all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals.
v Noted that there are currently 3362 Individuals outstanding with over 4000 appointments available via primary care (excluding pharmacy and mass vaccination centre)
v Were concerned that although overall that there is a high level of willingness to take up the Covid-19 vaccines, marked differences do exist by ethnicity, with the Black population the most likely to be Covid-19 vaccine hesitant followed by the South Asian community.
v Commented that people are having concerns about the currently available vaccines or that they are intending to wait for the introduction of other vaccines that are more effective against later strains of the virus.
v Commented that it is important to recognise that a key factor for residents in the older age groups that they want to go to community-based vaccination sites.
v Noted that going forwarded it is intended to use the community-based venue such as the: (i) Mile End Leisure Centre; (ii) London Muslim Centre; (iii) GP Practices; (iv) care homes; and (v) visits to housebound residents.
v Noted that those individuals who are not taking up vaccine will be contacted to talk through if they have any issues about the vaccines and how those issues can be resolved.
v Stated that Board Members should ensure that their agencies are utilising their networks to promote effective communications to overcome vaccine hesitancy and to encourage increased an uptake of the available vaccines.
v Noted that from the 1st of February 2021 a Vaccine Helpline funded by LBTH and supported with training and resources by GP Care Group has been established and is now open 7 days per week, between 8:00 am to 8:00 pm with multilingual staff to (i) answer queries; (ii) contact those who are vaccine hesitant; (iii) book appointments to local clinics and mass vaccination centre.
v Agreed that the impact of COVID-19 on communities would rely in part on the quality of communication regarding health risk and danger. Any co-ordinated approach by partners and stakeholders needs to take full account of the way life conditions, cultural values, and risk experience affect actions during a pandemic. Unfamiliarity with sociocultural, economic, psychological, and health factors within any community can jeopardise effective communication at all levels.
In conclusion, the Chair thanked Chris Banks for his presentation and to all partners and stakeholders for their contributions in the discussions on this topic.
The Chair then Moved, and it was RESOLVED to note the progress made to date in administering vaccines and the ongoing support by partners and stakeholders to ensure effective delivery of the vaccination programme
Supporting documents:
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Item 3. Vaccine prog update_HWBB 2 Feb (cover sheet), item 3.1
PDF 35 KB
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Vaccination Plans, item 3.1
PDF 226 KB