Vaccine roll out 'almost complete' for top three priority groups in South Tyneside

The roll out of coronavirus vaccines to South Tyneside’s care homes is ‘almost complete’, NHS chiefs have promised.

It comes as the gazette has launched the Shot in the Arm campaign calling for the Government to increase roll out the vaccine programme by using local pharmacies.

Most in the government’s top two priority categories for a jab in the borough, the over 80s and care home residents have now been covered, with many of those missed so far expected to be covered in a round of door-to-door visits planned for this weekend.

But health bosses have warned the public to stick to rules while transmission rates remain high, despite a fall in recent weeks.

“We’re almost complete,” said Jeanette Scott, director of nursing, quality and safety at South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

“It’s virtually just mop up sessions now as there were a number of people who weren’t able to be vaccinated when the programme was undertaken within the home.

“We’ve been really far ahead of the game, the last I heard 90 per cent of residents were vaccinated and a high percentage of staff.”

Scott was speaking at this morning’s (Thursday, January 28) meeting of the CCG’s governing body, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.

Jabs have also been rolled out to a ‘large majority’ of people aged between 75-80, the third highest vaccination priority group, in the borough.

And NHS bosses have said they are taking a ‘proactive approach’ to seeking out groups and individuals who may miss out on appointments through conventional channels, such as homeless or traveller communities.

According to the latest figures, South Tyneside has recorded 379 positive cases of COVID-19 in the last seven days, down from 448 over the previous seven-day period.

Tom Hall, director of public health at South Tyneside Council, said: “We’re on a downward trajectory at the moment, albeit over the last few days, we’ve seen that that downward trajectory is starting to slow a little bit.

“Our case rate has now dropped down to 281 cases per 100,000, but even going down to that level, which is quite significant, we’re still relatively high to where we’re at compared to the other peaks and troughs we’ve seen during the pandemic.”

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