The COVID vaccination programme continues to go from strength to strength, with figures released today showing that we have now delivered around 1.2m vaccines across our region.
This continues to be the highest cumulative number in the country, a phenomenal achievement. Thank you to everyone involved in the programme. There is further good news on the vaccine front as Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium is to open as our fifth large vaccination centre on Monday, adding even more capacity to help the NHS vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible.
You will no doubt have heard in the news over the last week reports of issues with supply with AstraZeneca. This is a fast-moving situation and we will be monitoring it closely to find out what this means for our own supply moving forward.
That said, we will continue to do all we can to meet our target to offer all adults over 50 their first vaccine dose by 15 April and as you can see we are coming from a very strong position having vaccinated so many of our population so far. Clearly we will be protecting supply to enable delivery of second doses.
Also lots in the news about the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine and our region’s directors of public health have released this statement to reassure the public that they consider the vaccine safe and effective for use.
You can read the statement in full here.
Shielding update for clinically vulnerable patients
Today the Department for Health and Social Care announced that clinically extremely vulnerable people in England will no longer need to shield from 1 April 2021.
This means that those on the shielded patient list can begin to follow the national restrictions alongside the rest of the population.
From today and over the next two weeks, people on the shielded patient list will receive an advice letter that sets out practical steps on how to reduce their risk of catching the virus. You can read the latest guidance in full here.
