Less than a third of staff in 65+ care homes and 70% of residents received booster

Under a third of staff (29 per cent) working in England’s care homes supporting people aged 65+, have received a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 70 per cent of residents were given it, prompting criticism of the government's vaccine rollout.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published its latest monthly adult social care statistics, as of 23 November.

Just over half (52 per cent) of people living in younger adult care homes have received a booster while less than a quarter (24 per cent) of staff in these care homes have had it.

‘Pick up the pace’ urges dementia charity

The figures have sparked criticism from the dementia charity Alzheimer’s Society which has called the rollout of booster vaccines in care homes a ‘huge concern’ as thousands are still waiting for a booster dose. The government had promised that those in care homes would be offered a booster by 1 November.

James White, head of public affairs and campaigns at Alzheimer's Society said: "As the over 40s begin to book their boosters, there's huge concern that a quarter of people in care homes still haven't received theirs, despite the serious threat posed by this new, highly transmissible variant.

"NHS England promised to provide all care home residents with a booster jab by 1 November and yet, almost six weeks later, thousands are still waiting for it.

"While we support the quick rollout across all the ages, we urgently need to see the Government pick up the pace and ensure our most vulnerable are protected as a priority. There can be no excuse for a repeat of the devastation families faced last winter."

As of 23 November, 70 per cent of residents and less than a fifth (18 per cent) of staff in older care homes have received the flu vaccine. It is even less in care homes for younger people, with 54 per cent of residents and 16 per cent of staff.

The DHSC also revealed that 93 per cent of care homes enabled residents to receive visitors (for week ending 23 November). Official figures show 82 per cent of care homes, who had staff required to self-isolate, paid those staff their full wages while self-isolating.

‘Substantial difference’ in jab rates between care home and agency staff

Most of England’s care homes (70 per cent) have no staff members working in another health or social care setting. This figure fell from 78 per cent reported for last April.

Among care home staff, the Department revealed a ‘substantial difference’ in reported vaccination rates for COVID-19 and flu jabs between staff directly employed by care homes and staff employed by agencies operating in care homes.

“This could be due to, for example but not exclusively, different uptake rates, vaccination status not being known to the care provider or the nature of employment and information available to the care homes’, the Department stated.