Life-saving jabs were offered to people living in more than 10,000 nursing homes, the NHS said.
London:
Gandhi’s spirit of protecting the most vulnerable in society is being invoked by health authorities when the UK has achieved its goal of administering life-saving vaccines for most residents and nursing home staff as part of its health care program. COVID-19 vaccination in stages on Monday.
Ian Turner, executive chairman of the Registered Nursing Home Association – the nation’s national association that represents the interests of nursing homes, expressed his gratitude to the state-funded National Health Service (NHS), as well as to all scientists and researchers who made it possible for the section of British society most at risk of dying from COVID-19, now having some protection against the disease.
“As Mahatma Gandhi said: ‘the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable’, and the pandemic has brought that quote to the fore,” said Turner, referring to the gradual launch of the vaccination program.
“On behalf of all nursing home residents, their families and all those who continued to provide care and support to them during the pandemic, I would like to express their sincere gratitude to everyone involved in the vaccination program. scientists and researchers, those who participated and administered the trials, to regulators and vaccine manufacturers, to all NHS vaccination teams, wherever they are working, we want to thank them for their extraordinary work in the past few months, “he said.
The NHS said that nurses, general practitioners (GPs) and other NHS staff offered the life-saving vaccine to people living in more than 10,000 nursing homes with older residents, with only a small remainder of visits delayed by directors public health sites for safety reasons during a local outbreak.
The UK’s Joint Vaccination and Immunization Committee (JCVI) was responsible for defining priority groups for Covid vaccines and stipulated nursing home residents and their employees as high priority groups due to the particular risk of COVID-19 due to their age and fragility.
NHS England offered GPs up to GBP 30 extra to vaccinate home residents in January to cover the increased time and logistics required to bring the vaccine home.
“It was a privilege to vaccinate some of the most vulnerable people and the wonderful people who care for them. Many had little contact with the outside world during the pandemic and so it has been truly humiliating for everyone, giving them hope and what’s more. important protection against the disease, “said Dr. GP Nikki Kanani, director of primary care at NHS England, who also asked everyone to come and receive their free jabs when contacted by the NHS.
Now, with the majority covered with at least one of the two-dose Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccines, the focus will be on expanding the spread of the first doses, as well as administering the second booster doses within a few weeks.
The UK government has set a target to vaccinate residents and nursing home staff, people over 70 and first-rate care professionals by 15 February.
Meanwhile, another 587 virus-related deaths were reported on Sunday, bringing the UK’s COVID-19 death count to 106,158, as the country remains under a tight “stay-at-home” block to keep control of a very high infection rate.