hi i wrote to our local mp about our concerns over the vaccine issues and we got a reply .
Dear Dean and Elaine,
Thank you for your further communication.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that the vaccine should be given to care home residents and staff, followed by people over 80 years old and health and social care workers. Included in the definition of ‘social care workers’ as per the Green Book are care home staff, personal assistants to personal budget holders, domiciliary support workers, and day centre workers. Social care workers include those working in long-stay residential and nursing care homes or other long-stay care facilities where rapid spread is likely to follow introduction of infection and cause high morbidity and mortality.
The JCVI’s advice includes all individuals aged 16 to 64 years old with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality. Other groups at higher risk, including those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill, should also be offered vaccination alongside these groups.
I understand that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation considered a number of different vaccination strategies before issuing its advice on priority groups for vaccination, including those targeting transmission. In order to interrupt transmission, mathematical modelling indicates that we would need to vaccinate a large proportion of the population with a vaccine which is highly effective at preventing infection (transmission). However, as JCVI has explained, at the start of the vaccination programme, good evidence on the effects of vaccination on transmission is not available, and vaccine availability will be more limited. They therefore concluded that, given the current epidemiological situation in the UK, the best option for preventing morbidity and mortality in the initial phase of the programme is to directly protect persons most at risk of morbidity and mortality, rather than aim for transmission reduction.
I certainly recognise the vital role unpaid carers play in caring for vulnerable individuals and know that my colleagues in Government do too. I will ensure that minsters are aware of the points you have raised so that they may be considered going forward. The target is to offer vaccinations to all those in high-risk groups, estimated to be over 25 million people in England, by May. Having offered vaccinations to over 15 million vulnerable people, the next phase of the vaccine programme is now underway.
Kind regards,
Caroline