All eligible care homes for elderly in England have been offered vaccine, but still no news on visits

Residents at all eligible care homes for older people in England have now been offered at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine according to the NHS, however there is still no news on when families will be able to hug and have face to face contact with their loved ones.

A small number of care homes have had their vaccinations deferred due to the home having an outbreak of Covid or the care home being in an area affected by the virus.

Vaccination staff are also returning to care homes they have already visited to vaccinate any residents who were unable to have the jab the first time due to recently having had Covid or for other clinical reasons.

In Scotland, 98 per cent of older people in care homes have had the vaccine and in Wales, around 75 per cent of older people in residential care have. In Northern Ireland, the government said the vaccine has reached 100 per cent of care homes.

Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS England’s primary care director is still a practising GP and so has been personally delivering vaccines to care home residents and staff.

She said: “It has been a privilege to vaccinate some of the most vulnerable people and the wonderful people who look after them. Many have had little contact with the outside world throughout the pandemic and so it has been truly humbling for all, giving them hope and importantly protection against the disease.

“I would urge anyone who is offered the vaccine to come forward.”

The government has said all frontline care workers in England will be vaccinated by 15 February.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it "marks a crucial milestone in our ongoing race to vaccinate the most vulnerable against this deadly disease.

“We said we would prioritise and protect care home residents, and that is exactly what we have done.”

Vaccination roll out praised but questions raised over visiting

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England called it “a wonderful achievement” but tweeted ‘Great coverage of vaccination roll out to care homes for older people but sadly nothing changes with regards to visiting yet, rigorous infection control measures will be in place for a long time’.

On being asked when people would be able to see their relatives and friends in care homes, Boris Johnson ’s spokesman said yesterday: “You’re aware of the timeline for reviewing the data in the middle of February, the week commencing February 15.

“And you’re aware we will bring forward our plan the following week.

“It obviously takes a little bit of time for people to build up immunity after they’ve had their vaccination.

“But obviously this will be something we’ll be looking at in the middle of February as we start to review the lockdown restrictions.”

Minister for Care Helen Whately did a virtual visit to the Royal Garter & Star care home in Solihull on Monday and paid tribute “to all our health and social care staff and providers who work so hard every single day and have been essential in the roll out of our life-saving vaccines”.

On the call she met Joan Sprigg, aged 97, who was the first resident in the home to be vaccinated.

Ms Sprigg who had said “it was the best birthday present I could wish for” recently recovered from Covid.

She said that the home “has done everything to keep us safe” and added “you can’t ask more than that”.

Ms Whately replied saying “it was lovely to hear”.

Cheryl Harbourne, manager of the home, revealed that staff are “very tired” due to the pressures of the pandemic but “they still have their sense of humour”.

Andy Cole, chief executive at the Royal Star & Garter care home group, confirmed that face to face visiting can still not go ahead and that the care home has two visitor centres with screens which residents currently use for visits.

He said: “We are waiting for the visiting guidance to be clarified over the next few weeks”.

'There's yet to be any clarity on when meaningful visits can take place'

Sam Monaghan, chief executive of MHA care homes tweeted ‘Govt. Must clarify what the vaccine means for residents and families. What will it mean for doses to be 12 wks apart, and what comes next for care homes once both doses are in place. There is yet to be any clarity on when meaningful visits can take place following this.’

The Joint Committee of Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI), which set the priority groups for vaccination, made older adult care home residents and their staff high priority groups due to being at particular risk from COVID-19 because of their age and frailty.

NHS England offered GPs up to £30 extra to vaccinate care home residents in January to cover the increased time and logistics required in bringing the vaccine to care homes.