Vaccine process will get better, vows Jason Leitch after EICC wastage
Issues around Covid-19 vaccine wastage at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) were “teething challenges” which have been learned from, National Clinical Director Jason Leitch has said.
It comes after the Scotsman reported concerns from vaccinators at the EICC over wasted doses of Covid-19 vaccine, as staff reported being told to discard any unused doses at the end of a shift.
Vaccine wastage reported from the EICC from Monday to Thursday was 3.7 per cent, double the national average, but below the Scottish Government planning assumption of five per cent.
NHS Lothian has since changed its procedures.
Asked about about the issue at the coronavirus daily briefing on Friday, National Clinical Director said it had not been “systematic” across Scotland, and that steps had been taken to improve the situation.
“We’re taking every step to minimise any particular examples where we can improve the efficiency and efficacy of the programme. Those steps have been taken at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre,” he said.
“There was an issue raised internally at the EICC, dealt with very appropriately by NHS Lothian. Procedures changed - less wastage.
“That’s exactly the kind of learning you would expect to happen inside any system of this size. That conference centre for this purpose only opened four or five days ago, so there will of course be teething challenges.”
One vacc inator at the EICC said staff reacted “in uproar” when told to discard unused doses.
A retired practice nurse who preferred not to be named, he said he and fellow staff members considered the practice a “disgrace”.
Professor Leitch said the rollout will “get easier” as more vaccination centres are opened around the country and staff become more familiar with the programme.
“We've rolled this out very quickly, so therefore there are obviously going to be little hiccups along the way, but that we get better at that all the time,” he said.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats called the wastage “counterproductive and reckless”.
“We cannot afford to waste vaccine doses due to unnecessary red tape,” said Alex Colehamilton MSP.
NHS Lothian said it has changed its policy in light of objections from staff, but insisted that “staff know they are not expected to discard any vaccine unnecessarily”.
“Staff raised concerns that there was still potential for waste so we have introduced a buddy system which allows staff to work in pairs and both to be accountable for their supply of vaccine. It also allows shifts to finish on time and provides greater flexibility for staff to take breaks,” said Pat Wynne, NHS Lothian Director of Nursing for Primary and Community Care.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said at the briefing on Friday that wastage rates in Scotland have so far been “very encouraging”.
“We are obvi ously focusing very closely on the delivery of the vaccination programme and maximising the use of the vaccine that's available to us,” he said. “In the plans that we sent out, we put in an assumption that there would be a level of wastage in the vaccination programme, as there would be in any mass vaccination programme.
“We obviously want to keep that to a minimum, but we put in an assumption [...] that five per cent of the vaccine was likely to be wasted.”
Mr Swinney also cautioned that Covid-19 restrictions would not be scrapped in Scotland once the vaccination programme is complete.
He said it was important to be “clear” with the public about expectations around restrictions and the vaccine, and that there will be a need for restrictions “for some considerable time”.
This means face coverings, social distancing and travel restrictions are likely to remain even after after the general population is vaccinated.
He said: "I think it is important that we are clear with the public that although the vaccination programme is going well, although it is becoming more extensive in the country, there will be a need for some considerable time - I don't know how long that will be for us to live with more restrictions and mitigations that we had before the pandemic.
“I think face coverings are likely to be a pretty regular part of life for some time to come. I don't know how long it will be, but it will be a fact of life for some time to come.
“Physical distancing is something that we will have to try to observe, to make sure that we can be confident about the environmentin which we are living.
“Some of the restrictions might have to be in place for longer than the completion of the vaccination programme, to assure us of the security of the population.
"Of course there will also be a emerging information about the efficacy and effectiveness of the vaccine, which we will only know as we see more of the application of the vaccine within society.”
National Clinical Director Jason Leitch added that vaccination is not complete until all countries go through their own programme.
“This is not about Scotland being vaccinated. It's about the world being vaccinated,” he said.
He added that vaccines “for now, don’t change behaviour”.
“If you are vaccinated, you still follow all the same safety measures as there st of us ,” he said.