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Bristol is one of the best areas in the country for rolling out Covid-19 vaccinations
The Bristol area is one of the best performing parts of the country for rolling out Covid-19 vaccinations, Matt Hancock has said.
The health secretary shared the news in a letter to a local MP this week, praising the “fantastic efforts” of the region’s vaccination teams.
In his letter to North Somerset MP Liam Fox on Monday, January 25, Mr Hancock said more than 80 per cent of care home residents in the area covered by the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire NHS clinical commissioning group (CCG) had received the vaccine, making it one of the “highest performing” parts of the country.
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He said the success in Bristol and elsewhere was down to the “tireless” efforts of everyone involved and praised the “incredible” community spirit behind the drive.
The news was shared at a meeting of city health leaders on January 27, where the local roll out of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines was discussed.
Residents are being invited to have the vaccine in order of clinical priority, members of the Bristol health and wellbeing board heard.
Dr Alison Bolam, who is a GP in Horfield, said doctors, nurses and social care workers had been “trotting around” Bristol with backpacks vaccinating the housebound very elderly in their homes.
The over 80s are in the first four priority groups in line to get the vaccine, along with care home residents and staff, frontline health and social care workers, the over 70s, and people with health conditions that make them especially vulnerable to coronavirus.
Dr Bolam added that care staff were having the vaccine “almost without exception”, even though a survey before Christmas found fewer than 60 per cent were willing to get it.
Jack Vokes, 98, was the first person in Bristol to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: NHS South West Twitter
Councillor Helen Holland asked what was being done to ensure people with learning disabilities and those who are homeless get the vaccine.
Christina Gray, public health director at Bristol City Council, assured Holland that everything was being done to reach the homeless and that people with learning disabilities would be invited to get the vaccine according to where each individual fell within the ten priority groups.
Gray counselled against “lobbying” for certain groups to jump the queue as it would be unfair and not based on clinical need.
The priority list is based on scientific evidence of clinical need and has been carefully worked out by experts from the Government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), she said.
“There is enough vaccine. There is a clear clinical plan. We have the best health and care system in the world…and our local health system is just the best,” she said.
“We are on this and we can do this. But we have to be patient. We have to form orderly queues. Individuals will be invited to attend an appointment.”
Support is available to help people get their vaccine if needed, she said.
Christina Gray, Bristol’s director of public health. Photo: Martin Booth
Gray noted it was the “first time” that a vaccination or screening programme had the right support in place to make sure it reached all communities equally.
Bristol’s Race Equality Covid-19 Steering Group has been working to tackle skepticism about the Covid-19 vaccine among members of the city’s Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities.
A webinar dispelling myths and misinformation about the vaccine was held on Tuesday, January 26.
The webinar was watched by more than 500 people, and nearly half of the 875 who signed up were from BAME groups, according to deputy mayor for communities, Asher Craig, who chairs the multi-agency steering group.
Amanda Cameron is a local democracy reporter for Bristol.
Main photo: Claire Hayhurst
Read more: Boris Johnson visits Bristol’s ‘super-vaccination centre’
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