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12
Nov 2020
North Yorkshire 'will be prepared' for covid vaccine
Health bosses in North Yorkshire have said they will be prepared to rollout a coronavirus vaccine in December, if it is available.
Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, which buys medicines for the county, said it was working with national officials to make sure plans are in place to offer the vaccine.
It comes as preliminary results of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine showed that it was 90% effective after being tested on 43,500 people.
Ms Bloor told a press briefing yesterday of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, a partnership of agencies that tackle emergencies, there was “significant work” to do on the safety of the vaccine but the CCG would be ready for a rollout next month.
Read more:
- Harrogate district covid rate soars past 300 people per 100,000
- Covid patients in Harrogate hospital nearly double in a week
She said:
'Don't contact your GP'
Ms Bloor urged patients not to contact GP practices about the vaccine as it is not available. She said once it is, the CCG will be "very clear about the process".
The government has said that any vaccine will be offered to the public in phases.
The first phase will include people living and working in care homes, those over the age of 80, then over 75, over 70, over 65 and then over 60.
It will then be offered to adults with health conditions that put them at risk, before it is given to those over the age of 55 and then 50.
The vaccine is given in two doses, three weeks apart.
'Cautiously optimistic'
Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, welcomed the preliminary results of the Pfizer vaccine.
Dr Sargeant said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the results but added there needed to be “long-term behavioural change” to overcome the virus.
He said:
Meanwhile, a further 75 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across the Harrogate district according to Public Health England figures today.
It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic up to 3,178.
The seven-day rolling average rate of covid infections for the district has risen above 300 people per 100,000 for the first time.
The rate, which was 160 just over a fortnight ago, is now 307, which is above the England average of 254.
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