(First Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine) – ROUGHLY 150 people across the borough will be given the Pfizer vaccine this week, as part of a nationwide roll-out.
Cllr Charles Margetts, executive member for health at the borough council revealed the first dosage was given yesterday to care home staff across Wokingham.
The fast roll-out meant staff were transported to Oxford for the jab, but plans are in place for Wokingham Community Hospital to take over the process soon.
Cllr Margetts said he was pleased to see the vaccination programme begin, calling it the “beginning of the end” for coronavirus.
“Our priority is to first work through care home staff, then the over 80s.” he said. “After that, those on the shielding list and who are eligible for the flu jab will be vaccinated by their GPs.”
The general population will then be given the First Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Wokingham Community Hospital — which will act as a community hub.
“At the speed this is coming through, we’re looking at the new year for the general public,” Cllr Margetts said. “Our message is sit tight, because you will be contacted as soon as possible. It’s a case of logistics ensuring the right people get it at the right time.”
He reiterated the need for mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing to keep the virus at bay, and reduce community transmission in the interim, and suggested it could be spring when a notable difference in covid-spread is documented.
Across the borough, transmission figures are at 132 cases per 100,000 people, with the total number of cases at 2,390 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Cllr Margetts said that care home figures are impacting the overview of the borough.
Last month, Shinfield View Care Home suffered the largest care home outbreak, and cases are still being managed there.
This week, Cllr Margetts said there are two more care homes with outbreaks. The two homes have recorded between 40 and 50 cases of Covid-19 between them.
“We’re still investigating what happened in Shinfield View,” Cllr Margetts added. “There is no logical answer as to why that happened and Public Health England are looking into it. It could be a range of factors, from the layout of the building, to ventilation systems or even staff rotas.”
But he said there was also good news for the 52 care homes in the borough.
The council will be trialling lateral flow covid tests, which provide a quick result, to help families visit their relatives before Christmas. This will be announced shortly.
And as the national tier structure review enters the picture, Cllr Margetts said there is little indication anything will change in Wokingham.
Revisited next Wednesday, the borough is likely to remain in tier two for the foreseeable.
