Delivering the COVID-19 vaccine  Delivery of the COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for care homes residents and staff began last week. By local arrangement with Primary Care Networks, teams of GPs, practice nurses, community pharmacists, and other trained vaccinators are bringing the vaccine to care homes and administering it to residents and staff. Larger care homes with 50-70 beds will be prioritised at first, with around 2,900 care homes of this size in England. Over the coming weeks and months the rate of vaccination will increase as more doses become available and the programme continues to expand, with more vaccines being delivered directly to care homes. To ensure the teams can deliver the vaccine safely care homes will need a suitable space and setup for all activities, including: - Enabling privacy for clinical assessment, seeking consent, and managing circumstances where people lack mental capacity.
- Preparation of vaccines close to where residents will be vaccinated to minimise risk of deterioration when transported following reconstitution/drawn up.
- Supporting patient flow around the care home to enable social distancing for residents and minimising delay between vaccinations.
- Agreed arrangements for 15 minutes post-vaccination observation.
Homes will also need to ensure a COVID-safe environment when residents are moving round the home for vaccination. The teams administering the vaccine will have a range of measures in place to keep staff and residents safe from COVID-19. They will be wearing the necessary protective equipment and there will be regular cleaning and disinfecting in between vaccinations. Paying normal wages when self-isolating DHSC has written to local authorities and care providers to remind them that care workers should receive normal wages if they need to self-isolate. Payments for self-isolating staff is set out in the Winter Plan and additional guidance can be found for the Infection Control Fund here. Changes to visiting in tier 4 areas Visits to homes in tier 4 can only now take place outside, with arrangements such as substantial screens or visiting pods. In all tiers, care homes that are facing an outbreak will not be able to host visits, apart from for end of life Explaining visiting to care homes A new film with Dr Sarah Jarvis is aimed for visitors to explain how rapid coronavirus testing and PPE is being used for safe visiting in different tiers, except in the event of an outbreak. You can share the film on your website, social media or in your care home. Watch the film now. Animated guide for social care staff Health Education England with NHS England and NHS Improvement have produced a series of animations to help explain getting to and from work, test and trace, and what to wear aimed at social care staff. Download the animations. Samaritans and Hospice UK support over Christmas
This communication has been sent by the Care Quality Commission on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.
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