Care home vaccination rates ‘must improve’

AS little as 20% of staff in some care homes have received a coronavirus vaccine, the NHS national clinical director for older people has said.

Dr Adrian Hayter said those involved in the vaccination programme must do “better and more” to ensure care home staff get a jab as soon as possible.

While some care homes have seen 70-80% of their staff vaccinated, which he called “fantastic”, others have rates as low as 20%. Overall, 45% of care home staff have received a jab, he said.

Dr Hayter acknowledged there had been delays and that some care homes had found the process “difficult”. He added: “So there’s a message... for us to do better and more in terms of vaccinating care home staff, and I’m sure that will be a theme going forward.

Home Secretary Priti Patel stressed that the UK would see “inconsistencies” in vaccine supply due to changes at manufacturing plants.

Pfizer has said it is reducing deliveries for the next three to four weeks while it makes improvements to its factory in Belgium, while AstraZeneca expects to scale up to two million doses per week before or by mid-February.