Almost half of residents and staff in care homes have had first COVID vaccination

Calderdale Council's Director of Adults, Health and Wellbeing Services, Iain Baines, gave the figures to the council;s Adults, Heath and Wellbeing Scrutiny Board.

Mr Baines said challenges were posed by the Pfizer vaccine because it was delivered in batches on 975, and initially NHS England did not want to see those batches split down any further making it difficult to get out to care homes, but lobbying had seen this number come down to batches of 75.

This made being able to take it out to care homes a reality and the first vaccination was given in a care home at the end of December.

Since then the AstraZenica vaccine was now being made available and a lot of effort put into rollout.

Mr Baines gave the board nationally audited figures but said he was confident these would now be higher for Calderdale.

"There are 1,610 staff who work in care homes and we have got 701 vaccinated in just over two weeks.

"In terms of 1,088 residents living in residential in nursing homes, we have recorded 503 vaccinations.

"As the AstraZenica vaccine arrives we expect those numbers to increase," he said.

Take-up of the vaccine continued to be very high, said Mr Baines.

"For our care homes, it gives some confidence there will be a point in the future where people will be allowed to visit with less restrictions," he said.

Because of the projected gap of time between the two vaccination stages and the build-up of immunity, it was important to continue using PPE to do this at the moment.

"There is a national conversation about leaving 12 weeks for the second jab, so it is really good we have got the first vaccines into so many of our homes.

"There is still work to be done to ensure care homes are safe," said Mr Baines.

He said Calderdale did continue to see COVID-19 outbreaks in care setting in Calderdale, with four care homes currently dealing with outbreaks, as well as incidences in other settings, for example supported living accommodation.

"The headline from me is we are still seeing outbreaks, in proportion they remain low, vaccines are being rolled out and we have much more testing of staff, which is part of our strategy," said Mr Baines.