Vaccine supply issues blamed for slow start
BUT HEALTH BOSS CONFIDENT TARGET DATES WILL BE MET
A SENIOR figure behind the vaccine rollout in Nottinghamshire – which is among the slowest in the country – has said problems getting hold of doses is the reason the area has got off to a “slow start”.
Figures published last week show the county had the secondworst rates of first jabs delivered so far, and the worst when it comes to second doses compared to the rest of England.
Appointment booking had to be suspended on Friday as the system raced to catch up.
And despite some vaccination centres here being ready to go before Christmas, they weren’t opened.
Now, health boss Sarah Carter, from the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire CCG, has said while there were initial problems, she is confident the rates will start to improve.
Speaking at a meeting of the Covid-19 Resilience, Recovery and Renewal committee, she said: “We had a slow start, we opened two hospital hubs in the middle of December, and our vaccination sites weren’t in the cohort that was being opened in advance of Christmas.
“That was a vaccine supply decision made nationally. We were ready to step up our vaccination sites, so we had a slightly slower start, but in answer to the question ‘am I confident we have recovered the position?’ Absolutely, we will.
“Now all of our sites have been stepped up, and certainly the site in Mansfield (at a former Wickes site) will be a game-changer in terms of the number of vaccinations that can be delivered in Nottinghamshire.
“So I am absolutely confident we will be meeting our targets.
“All of our plans are subject to vaccine availability, and that is always going to be the single biggest challenge.
“In Nottingham and Nottinghamshire we certainly have all of the capacity required to vaccinate everybody in a very timely manner, we have to match that capacity to that supply.”
During the county council meeting, Labour Councillor Michael Payne, who represents Arnold North, said: “If you stand back and look at those official figures that were published last week, Nottinghamshire is second to worst in England in terms of the first dose, and the worst by a country mile in terms of the second dose.
“So what does it mean when you say there was a national decision around supply that meant some of those vaccination centres weren’t able to be stood up, in the few weeks before, when they were ready.
“Certainly the Richard Herrod Centre (in Carlton) was ready in mid-december.”
Ms Carter, who is the incident executive director for Covid 19 and the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire CCG, replied: “With regard to the stepping up of the vaccination sites, we have forward plans in terms of the number of vaccinations delivered on each site, which will really mean we can meet all of our targets and trajectories now.
“I do think in terms of us not starting pre-christmas at the local vaccination sites it did set us back by about 10 days, but actually now all of our sites have gone online, I have no doubt we will be working to the plan that we’ve had and we will be getting people vaccinated in a timely manner and in line with the national expectation.”
“With regard to the second dose (being the lowest in the country), I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all.
“We have been given an absolutely explicit direction that we shouldn’t be giving second doses until week 12 after the first vaccination.”