To receive a verbal update on the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccination
programme.
Minutes:
Dr Will Maimaris informed the Board that:
· The situation appeared to be more positive since Christmas 2021.
· Cases of coronavirus were still high in the borough, in the city and in England due to the Omicron variant (which was also now starting to fall).
· There were 800 cases per 100,000 people per week. There was also a decline in positive test results.
· There was still pressure on the health care system and it appeared that the peak of admissions had passed in early January 2022.
· There were 90 patients in Whittington with in eight Intensive Care.
· There were 128 in North Middlesex Hospital with four people in Intensive Care.
· Whilst there were a significant number of cases, there was not a significant number of deaths resulting from cases.
· Cases should be decreasing in the next four to six weeks.
· It was important to emphasise washing hands, social distancing and wearing of masks, despite the government’s relaxation of coronavirus regulations.
· Over 65% of eligible patients have had their booster vaccine. In the over 80s category, the figure rose to 80%.
· Considerable attempts were being made to engage with various communities.
· In relation to compulsory vaccination on health and care workers, the issue had become a national issue in terms of its implications. There was a lot of work going on locally to plan and mitigate for any risks.
In response to questions, the Board heard that:
· Rates of coronavirus in primary school children were high and there was an increase following the Christmas holidays. Rates were expected to decline.
· There was focus on the second dose of vaccinations being administered to secondary school children.
· It was appropriate to remove some of the restrictions as the impact of the severity of the coronavirus was lower. The coronavirus crisis had an impact on vulnerable people and it was somewhat important to return to normality as soon as possible as the NHS was strained in providing services and the coronavirus crisis was putting additional strain on health and care staff.
· In relation to 5 to 11-year-olds, there was good capacity to accommodate those in the age group on some NHS sites in Haringey and pharmacies were offering appointments explicitly for 5 to 11-year-olds. However, not all sites could do this. Some ‘at-risk’ 5-11 year olds were being vaccinated. Appointments could be made on the weekend and after school.
· Vaccinations for children under 12 amongst the wider community was most likely to take place in April 2022.
· The formal paediatric dose had not yet been received. This would occur starting from the end of the week to the beginning of the next week as invites should start to be sent to families from their GP. Alerting special schools would be a useful way to maximise the opportunity. It needed to be clear which children were eligible for which doses.
· A weekly bulletin was sent to all schools in Haringey. This had been done since March 2020. This contained a public health section.
· Work had been done with food poverty and extensive communication had been ongoing to ensure that information on council websites and other websites were fully up-to-date and this methodology could be followed further.
· There was a strategic group that had been coordinating on vaccines with schools. There were challenges regarding the categorisaton with those who were clinically vulnerable but the coordination that had been done was very good in relation with the Communications team to help update the website.
· Lateral flow tests were being made more available by the government and pharmacies were in greater supply of testing kits.
· It was not yet clear what the policy would be on testing on the wider community as the government was still reviewing its policies on testing and isolation.
· Many of the positive coronavirus tests had been received from lateral flow tests.
· There may be some pressures on individuals to be able to go into work and therefore may be inclined to report a negative test. More could be done to facilitate the testing process such as ensuring that the results of any tests be reported to the NHS.
The Chair felt that it was important to note the impact of coronavirus in various communities across Haringey.
RESOLVED:
That the update be noted.