Health board say Oxford Covid-19 vaccine ‘critical’ for ramping up immunisation of care home residents and over 80s

North Wales’ health board has indicated that the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine will be crucial to ramping up the local vaccination programme.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine could be approved for use in the UK within days, however is currently awaiting approval with some reports that the green light could come as soon as later today or tomorrow.

It is seen as more manageable than others, requiring fridge temperatures, rather the current Pfizer vaccine which up to point of use requires -70C storage.

The details have emerged in a a vaccination update report seen by North.Wales which was shared to a range of authorities and politicians on Christmas Eve.

Within it Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board details how 40 trays of the Pzifer vaccine arrived in Wales on 7^th December, with an initial roll out of one tray per health board, with the first vaccinations taking place the following day.

The health board said approximately 680,000 vaccines would be administered to priority groups over the next three to four months. 

Discussing care homes, the report states:

“The nature of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine had, both nationally and locally, been deemed unsuitable for use in a care home setting, therefore the main thrust of delivery in the second week was to provide access to care home staff – part of the top priority group identified nationally.

“Llandudno Mass Vaccination Centre (MVC) delivered vaccines to around 1, 600 care home staff from across North Wales. 

“Staff from all six local authority areas attended Llandudno MVC with the available slots being booked within a couple of hours.

“We are also undertaking a pilot on behalf of Welsh Government of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine in a care home setting.

“This has demonstrated that although it is possible to deliver the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine to staff and residents in a care home setting, it requires significant resources in terms of planning and preparation, as well as a comparatively large workforce – 60 staff and residents were vaccinated using a resource that could vaccinate about 400 individuals in other settings. 

“This pilot has provided significant intelligence in relation to developing and delivering a programme to vaccinate the care home population.”

The report notes that to date only a relatively small number of care home residents and those over 80 years of age have been vaccinated.

But it explains this will significantly increase from the beginning of January, with the arrival of the Oxford vaccine seen as “critical”.

The health board said that the Welsh Government had provided details of when the Oxford vaccine will be made available, with an initial delivery expected in the first week of the New Year.

While the vaccines still has hurdles to clear with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency plans are being developed to take the vaccine into care homes.

The report continues: “We are confident that the North Wales COVID-19 vaccine programme will receive our proportion of the vaccines and will be able to administer it to match the future rate of supply. 

“Outline delivery schedules indicate sufficient supplies to vaccinate the entire priority groups. “

“Increased availability of vaccines are matched with our workforce plan and increased vaccination sites (both Mass Vaccination Centres and Local Vaccination Centres and mobile vaccination teams to cater for care homes and the housebound.)

“Welsh Government has now put the necessary means in place to formally involve GPs and GP practices in administering vaccines. 

“We are ready for the inclusion of GPs to supplement our delivery models, which reflect the scale and geography of North Wales.”

A four week view of who will be vaccinated and when was also provided:

• w/c 21^st December: Care home staff and BCUHB high risk staff
• w/c 28^th December: Care home staff
• w/c 4^th January: Care home residents and staff, over 80s, BCUHB, Primary Care, WAST and social care staff
• w/c 11^th January: Care home residents and staff, over 80s, BCUHB, Primary Care, WAST and social care staff

The vaccine roll out in Wales is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) group, which said the main aims should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems.

As the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is mainly based on age.

This priority list is as follows:

1. residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
2. all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
3. all those 75 years of age and over
4. all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
5. all those 65 years of age and over
6. all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
7. all those 60 years of age and over
8. all those 55 years of age and over
9. all those 50 years of age and over

It is estimated that taken together, these groups represent around 99% of preventable mortality from COVID-19.

Public Health Wales has a  frequently asked questions page about the vaccination programme here.

Top pic: A bottle of the vaccine in Wrexham earlier this month.