The order in which people will receive their vaccine is decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) who are advising that over 80’s, care home workers and healthcare workers at risk themselves should be the first to receive the vaccine.
As we learn more about the sites and how other key workers will be invited for vaccines in the coming months we will update you.
On this page we will provide the latest updates in the form of guidance and tools.
*Approved FAQs (Updated 11 January)* COVID-19 FAQ
Useful Resources/Updates:
Frontline Social Care Workers SOP and Covering Letter
Please find attached two documents from the Midlands Regional Operations Centre SPOC:
Queries for vaccination sites
Poster attached giving guidance on supplies / IT and hardware.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
– COVID-19 vaccine deployment programme: Frontline social care workers (JCVI Priority Cohort 2)
– Vaccination in older adult care homes – the next stage
– Letter further to the Operational Guidance: Vaccination of Frontline Health & Social Care Workers
COVID-19 First Dose Strategy Update
All sites moved to the first dose strategy earlier this week with the second dose moving towards the end of the 12-week period. This national directive meant second dose appointments needed to be cancelled from Monday 11 January 2021 and this superseded any previous guidance. We would like to thank all PCNs for their immediate cooperation and the speed in which you cancelled appointments, we understand the scale of work this created at short notice and appreciate everyone’s efforts.
We are pleased to inform you that we have achieved 100% compliance across our PCN’s in moving to the first dose strategy. We are starting to receive granular data at both PCN and STP level on the number of vaccinations broken down by site and cohort. We expect that this data will be published by the Government next week and then on a weekly basis. We need to ensure that we are vaccinating those most at risk and are following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation guidance.
To read the full update on the first dose strategy online, simply click here.
Operational Guidance: Vaccination of Frontline Health & Social Care Workers
Further guidance has been issued about how to rapidly vaccinate staff. A press release has been issued and also a revised and shorter toolkit pack for healthcare staff vaccinations.
COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment in Community Settings
Please find attached an updated SOP with regards to the COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment in Community Settings (LVS) – any amendments have been made in yellow COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment in Community Settings (LVS) SOP
Consent forms
COVID-19 incident and ADR reporting
National teams are monitoring level of incidents relating to the COVID vaccination programme and also reporting of vaccine related adverse effects. The level of reporting from Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent PCN vaccination sites is relatively low and so we have simplified how you can report incidents/adverse effects. The attached document explains this in detail but in summary this is the process:
At a webinar yesterday evening with Simon Stevens, a national directive has been given instructing all vaccination sites to move to the 1st dose strategy for delivering the vaccine. All sites now need to have moved to the 1st dose strategy with the 2nd dose towards the end of the 12 week period. This needs to happen asap, and ideally from Monday 11 January. This is not open to local interpretation and supersedes any previous guidance.
We would like to thank all PCNs that have already moved to this strategy. We recognise that cancelling appointments is challenging and that some patients may be concerned. However, this will save lives and we need to move quickly.
Why do we need to act locally?
Data is now becoming available from Pinnacle and it shows that across the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent area, 1,855 2nd doses were given on Friday and 2,455 on Saturday. This data is now available at PCN site level and we are being challenged by NHS E/I on why these numbers remain high. If you have not rearranged appointments yet, please do so asap. If you are struggling to do this or there is a real risk of wasting vaccine, please let us know.
Why are senior figures recommending this strategy?
The webinar included Simon Stevens and senior figures in the UK Coronavirus vaccination programme, including Emily Lawson, Nikki Kanani, Chris Whitty, Jonathon Van Tam, Wei Lim and Steve Powys. They discussed the change in policy and the compelling argument to delay the 2nd dose to 12 weeks.
This change in policy is the unanimous opinion of the 4 CMOs, and JCVI and is supported by the UK professional bodies. Vaccine supply is going to remain an issue for at least the next five weeks, so if we are to have the greatest impact on Public Health and save as many lives as possible, with the available vaccine, then giving more people one dose is our best option.
Put another way, every time we give a 2nd dose, we deny someone else their first dose. The current vaccination cohorts are at very much higher risk as this paper from the Covid-19 Actuarial Response Group shows
A single dose of any of the vaccines gives a high level of protection especially after the 10-14 day response time. The AZ trial showed only 2 admissions post vaccination, 1 after 2 days and another at 10. Beyond this the vaccines appear to stop hospital admissions with serious disease. So far, 250K 2nd doses have been given which might equate to 1,000 lives saved.
Whilst the UK is the first country to adopt this policy, Quebec followed on Friday and many other countries are considering this strategy. In some respects, our access to the AZ trial data has given us more information on which to make this decision.
Is this policy the same for staff?
On the webinar the question of whether frontline staff should continue to have their 2nd doses at 21 or 28 days was raised. The response from Chris Whitty was unequivocal. The actuarial data above shows that the risk for most frontline staff is far lower than the current priority cohorts. As such, it is important that we are seen to adopt the same policy across all of the JCVI cohorts including frontline staff.
PCN Designated sites to begin WC 14th December
PCN Sites Beginning Covid 10 Vaccination Support Information
Recruitment campaign
There is a variety of materials to use on the NHSE host page – www.england.nhs.uk/JoinVaccineTeam.
Across the STP, we have been promoting our local campaign – Step Forward – please support this across your own social media channels where possible.
Social Media
Please share and cascade these assets that give positive messages around vaccinations:
Please be aware that the regional communications team are discussing a social media protocol around anti-vaxx messages.
Resources:
Primary Care COVID-19 Response Model 
