NHS vaccinates nearly 40% of Norfolk and Waveney’s most vulnerable patients against COVID-19

Written on 07 January 2021.

 Almost 40% of all people over the age of 80 living in Norfolk and Waveney have received their first vaccination against COVID-19.

It comes as the number of people vaccinated in the area approaches 30,000.

In Norfolk and Waveney, out of a population of 65,000 over 80s - the most vulnerable age group – some 25,500 people have had the lifesaving jab.

The NHS is driving forward the vaccination of the rest of the over 80s and other most at risk groups still to be vaccinated. Two further GP-led vaccination sites, Bowthorpe Medical Practice, Norwich and The Park Surgery, Great Yarmouth begin vaccinating this week.

They will be joined next week by 10 more sites in community buildings and GP premises, which will begin delivering the new AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine alongside the Pfizer jab.

This will mean there will be 21 local vaccination sites in Norfolk and Waveney, in addition to the James Paget University Hospital, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, and Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn.

These sites will be:

• Drayton Medical Practice
• Sheringham Medical Practice
• The Market Surgery, Aylsham
• Sole Bay Health Centre, Southwold  
• Manor Farm Medical Centre, Swaffham  
• Poringland Community Centre, South Norfolk
• Gurney Surgery, Norwich
• Hoveton Village Hall, North Norfolk  
• Rossis Leisure, North Walsham
• Snettisham Surgery

Dr Anoop Dhesi, Chair of NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group(CCG,) which is co-ordinating the roll-out of the vaccination programme, said:

“We’ve made a great start beginning to protect the most vulnerable people. That’s a testament to the immense effort made by doctors, nurses and administrators in General Practice, staff in our hospitals and in the clinical commissioning group. But truly this is going to be a marathon not a sprint.

“More GP-led sites are about to open, and these will be followed by more large vaccination centres to drive up the numbers we can vaccinate every day into the many thousands, with a spread of sites reaching into every corner of Norfolk and Waveney.”

The NHS has worked with district and county councils across Norfolk and Waveney, along with voluntary groups, private businesses and the police, to set-up and run the vaccination sites in what has been a real shared endeavour. The NHS would like to thank everyone who has offered sites for the vaccination programme; no further sites are currently needed.

Bruce Rossi, owner of Rossis Leisure in North Walsham, said: “We are really pleased to be involved in the local vaccination effort, providing a venue for local people to get these vital vaccinations.”

The licencing of the “fridge-friendly” AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine which can be stored at normal fridge temperatures will make delivering the vaccine easier. The Pfizer jab which has been licenced since early December must be stored at -70 degree centigrade.

This has hampered efforts to vaccinate residents of care homes – although the residents of a handful of care homes in Norfolk and Waveney have already been vaccinated as part of a pilot scheme.

The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine will allow a step-change in the NHS' ability to take vaccine into care homes. 

Our hospitals in Norfolk and Waveney are under immense pressure with more COVID-19 positive patients in beds that at any point since the outbreak of the diseases last year.

Until the vaccine has reached most of the vulnerable groups our best protection for ourselves, family, community, and the NHS, is to wear a face covering, keep our distance, and regularly wash our hands.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• You’ll find more information about the vaccination programme in this briefing here.
• A COVID-19 myth buster is available here.
• The NHS is delivering the largest vaccination programme in its history.
• Patients are being invited to be vaccinated and vaccination is by appointment only. Please do not ask your GP practice or hospital when you will receive the vaccine. Please wait for your invite.
• To gain full protection people will need two vaccinations.
• People are being vaccinated according to how at risk they are from COVID-19.
• The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation advises that the first priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems. As the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is primarily based on age.

Priority groups:

1. residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
2. all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
3. all those 75 years of age and over
4. all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
5. all those 65 years of age and over
6. all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
7. all those 60 years of age and over
8. all those 55 years of age and over
9. all those 50 years of age and over

Sites going live from 11 January 2021:

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