Quarter of Devon’s population is already vaccinated
NEARLY 300,000 people in Devon – more than a quarter of the population – have had their first Covid-19 vaccine, latest NHS England figures show.
The statistics, which provide the position as of February 7, show that there have been 284,342 vaccinations in the county, with 271,603 of them being the first dose. Just under 70,000 vaccinations were carried out in that seven-day period.
The figures for Devon, which will have risen even higher in past few days, are by far the highest number of vaccinations for any of the regions within the South West – double that of Cornwall – and they show that 27.1% of the population had received their first jab. This is up on the 20.5% as of January 31.
With estimated adult population of the Devon STP area being 999,049, the 271,603 who had received their first dose, means that, as of Sunday, 27.1% of Devon’s residents had received at least one dose of the vaccine. Those numbers will have risen since, with yesterday’s Team Devon Local Outbreak Engagement Board meeting hearing the number was now just under 300,000.
The statistics show that, as of Sunday, of the 79,525 estimated population of over-80s within Devon, 76,193 had received their first vaccine – a total of 95.8%, with 10,897 – 13.7% – having also had the second dose. Devon’s population of over-80s is significantly higher than every other region – more than double, in some instances.
Of those aged 75 to 79, 54,074 people have received the first dose of the vaccine – an estimated 98.2% of the cohort – while 42,785 of those aged 70 to 74 – an estimated 53.8% of the cohort – had as of Sunday had at least one dose.
And 98,551 under-70s, primarily those employed in health and social care settings, although some in the next cohorts from the priority list, had received the first dose of the vaccination as of Sunday – 12.5% of the total under 70s.
Health chiefs say that they remain confident that all of those in the top four priority groups; all those in care homes, health and social care staff, and those over 70, will have at least been offered a vaccine by Monday, and that, so far, 84% of them had received their first vaccination.
Dr Paul Johnson, clinical chair of the Devon CCG, told yesterday’s Team Devon Local Outbreak Engagement
Board meeting that close to 300,000 first doses in Devon had now been issued.
He said that all but eight care homes where a Covid-19 outbreak had been in progress had now been vaccinated, and that they were ready to start on cohort 5 – the over-65s next week.
Dr Johnson said: “Given the high proportion of older people in the county, it is testament to good work to keep up with other areas who don’t have so many old people.”
He showed figures prior to the start of the vaccine rollout from a survey that they carried out that suggested that 74% of the population were happy to take the vaccine, 19% were hesitant, 2% were resistant, while less than 2% were going to reject the vaccine.
He said: “It looks like we will get at least 90% of the population having the vaccine, so a significant number who were hesitant have been persuaded.”
The Team Devon meeting also were presented with findings from Living Options, who had been asked jointly by Devon County Council and Devon Clinical Commissioning Group to contact a wide range of partners to gather their perspectives on how their often vulnerable and hard to reach service users were understanding the new Covid-19 vaccination programme.
The report said: “A positive majority of respondents will not reject having the vaccine and feel that prevention is better than a cure.
“They feel that, though there may be risks attached to it, as nothing is free of side effects, healthy people are dying and they would rather give the vaccine a go.
“The biggest concern was about possible side effects as the testing is seen to be for a much shorter amount of time than normal. There is confusion for many on the practicalities of when they might get the vaccine and difficulties in knowing where best to look for accurate information.”
He said homeless people, refugees and asylum seekers and travellers were among the groups at risk of being missed and strategies had to be put in place to vaccinate them as soon as possible.
‘A positive majority will have the vaccine saying prevention is better than cure’
DR PAUL JOHNSON