Every carehome resident in England has has now been offered a Covid vaccine, according to the NHS.
The prime minister has described this as a “crucial milestone” in the fight against coronavirus with the Government now on track to reach its target to vaccinate all care home residents and carers, people over 70 and frontline care workers by the 15th February.
On Saturday, January 30th, a record number of jabs were given to 598,389 people.
There are a lot of myths about any vaccine, if it is a new vaccine then historically there will be myths about it
Sandra Smith, ADvanced Gp Practioner
Despite nearly nine million people having been vaccinated, there has been much speculation on social media about the safety of the vaccine, mainly affecting people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.
Only 57% of people from BAME backgrounds are likely to accept a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 79% of white people, according to a survey by the Royal Society for Public Health.
The poor take-up is because of false-information that the vaccine is not vegetarian or halal.
But the Government has stressed the vaccine has been accepted and endorsed by all the religious leaders and does not contain any meat.
Sandra Smith, an advanced nurse practitioner, has stressed how important is is for everyone to have the vaccine
Sandra Smith on the importance of the vaccine
The UK now has five different types of vaccines after receiving 100 million shots of Oxford-AstraZeneca as well as five million does of Pfizer-BioNTech.
The UK is also expecting 60 million doses of the Novavax vaccine which is currently awaiting approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Thirty million shots of the Jassen vaccine has also been ordered, but is also subject to MHRA approval.
The NHS has offered the #COVIDVaccine to residents at every eligible care home in England.
In a major milestone for the vaccination programme, #OurNHSPeople have offered the life-saving jab to people living at more than 10,000 care homes.
Read more. https://t.co/B0ftayDdr3 pic.twitter.com/HzDpUKC00f
— NHS England and NHS Improvement (@NHSEngland) February 1, 2021
We are still relying on people adhering to the rules and thinking SENSIBLY of others and not just themselves
Sandra Smith, advanced GP PRACTITIONER
Depite the protection offered by these vaccines, GP Practioner Sandra Smith says it is still important, over the next few months, to stick to social distancing rules to keep the population safe.
She said’ “People have become quite blasé, understandably, because they are fed up and frustrated.
“But we are still relying on people adhering to the rules and thinking sensibly of others and not just themselves. ”
