Minutes:
Sarah Carter, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group, gave an update on the Covid-19 Vaccination Plan. She highlighted the following information:
a) Strong progress is being made with the Covid-19 vaccination programme. 48,000 people were vaccinated across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire in the previous week and pop-up vaccination sites are being set up in areas of lower uptake.
b) 95% of older adults in care homes have been vaccinated; 92% of over 80s have been vaccinated; 99% of 75-79 year olds have been vaccinated; and 89.8% of 70-75 year olds have been vaccinated so far.
c) In each cohort there is a small proportion of individuals not coming forward for vaccination and although partners are working hard to address this, it will require support from all sectors.
d) The roving and housebound service is in operation and has good support across the system. All housebound individuals should have received their vaccination but the service will continue to ensure that everyone is covered.
e) Council colleagues are proactively calling individuals who have been invited to receive a vaccination but not yet responded. GPs have also started contacting residents encouraging them to access the pop-up sites.
f) In the previous week, vaccination bookings opened to Cohorts 5 and 6. There are nearly 100,000 people in Cohort 6 across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire and therefore it will take several weeks to vaccinate this cohort.
During subsequent discussion the following points were raised:
g) National and local letters containing different information about booking a vaccination appointment can be confusing for people, particularly for those who do not speak or read English as a first language/ have lower rates of literacy. It was clarified that if someone receives a national letter, they can choose to attend that larger national site or go to their local site if that is more convenient.
h) Increasing numbers of people from Asian and Caribbean communities are coming forward for vaccination, which is positive. However, the lower uptake by some communities is disappointing. Work is taking place to reach specific communities through, for example, contact with Nottingham Women’s Network, One Nottingham Faith Leaders Network, Community Cohesion Team, Kurdish Women’s Group. The Team is looking at developing ‘easy read’ and ‘how you can help’ leaflets and creating a video with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic councillors. Pop-up vaccination sites, such as the one currently operating from a mosque, will be crucial to reaching these communities. This work is being led by the Inequalities Group who are using intelligence to make recommendations for new and different approaches.
Lucy Lee, Head of Customer Services Nottingham City Council, spoke about the role of the Council’s Customer Hub in supporting the vaccination programme. She highlighted the following information:
i) The Customer Hub has called all those aged over 80 years and housebound individuals, and is now in the process of calling those aged 70-79 years. The Hub is making approximately 600 calls per day.
j) Generally the response from individuals has been very positive and the Hub has booked over 80 vaccination appointments and organised 15 transport journeys for individuals who had not/ were unable to do it themselves. Only 1% have declined support.
k) The Hub is also taking feedback from those who have attended vaccination clinics.
Sarah Carter commented that the Customer Hub had been crucial to supporting the Covid-19 vaccination programme.