Nearly 100,000 COVID-vaccines administered across Devon
The clinical chair of the Devon Clinical Commissioning Group says they are making 'good progress'
Almost every care home resident in Devon is expected to have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by the middle of next week, as figures show 100,000 vaccines have been delivered in the county.
Across Devon, NHS figures show that as of January 17, 98,234 vaccinations had occurred, with that figure having risen further in the most recent days.
Just over 85,000 people had been vaccinated, with nearly 12,000 of those having had their second dose. Of those having had one dose, 39,880 of them are over 80s with 46,469 under 80, mainly in health and care professions.
Just over 50 per cent of Devon’s over 80s had, as of Sunday, had their first dose, with more than 13 per cent having had the second dose as well, with the majority of care home residents having been vaccinated. It means 7.2 per cent of Devon’s residents have had their first vaccination.
Dr Paul Johnson, clinical chair of the Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, told Thursday’s Devon County Council Health and Wellbeing Board meeting that they were confident of hitting the target for the first four priority groups to have had the vaccine by mid-February and that all care home residents – except those who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 28 days – will have had the vaccine by the middle of next week.
"We are on target for the ambition for the first four cohorts to have had their first dose by mid-February.
"We are making good progress in the over 80s and some sites are even inviting the over 75s in the next cohort. We are well on the way and are getting into the care homes and we want them all done by the end of this weekend, but we think there will be a bit of mopping up to do due to timing of vaccine availability into the middle of next week, but by then we should have them done.
"It won’t be all care home residents as those who have tested positive we will hold off the vaccine until 28 days after their positive symptoms started as per the guidance."
Dr Paul Johnson - Clinical Chair of the Devon Clinical Commissioning Group
Dr Johnson said that at present, vaccinations were being carried out either at the four hospitals in the county, at 20 primary care sites, of which every GP practice in Devon is linked to one of them, and by vaccines being taken into care homes.
From Saturday, the first pharmacy in Devon – Arnold’s Pharmacy in Westward Ho! will begin delivering vaccines from Westward Ho! Baptist Church in Nelson Drive, Dr Johnson said, with others in the Plymouth and West Devon area being progressed.
And he said that they hopeful they could announce soon the two mass vaccination sites for Devon – one of which would be in the Devon County Council area, and the other believed to be Home Park in Plymouth – but said that for residents of the county, the mass vaccination site up and running at Taunton Racecourse would be closest to them and where they may be invited to.
He said that the near 100,000 vaccines given as of January 17 was the highest number of any of the regions in the South West, and that it had been ‘a good collaborative effort to get us to this stage’.