Welcome to the latest edition of our COVID-19 vaccination Stakeholder Briefing.
Latest figures from the programme
The COVID-19 vaccination Autumn programme is continuing at pace within SSOT.
- 359,089 Autumn booster vaccinations and 6,699 primary vaccinations have been given within SSOT vaccination sites since September.
- Currently 577,759 registered patients within SSOT eligible for a COVID-19 autumn booster – 63.1% of these have received their vaccination.
- SSOT is performing very favourably against national and regional uptakes and is one of only 2 systems within the Midlands to be above the national average for all cohorts in the autumn booster programme.
‘Harder’ flu season means it’s more important than ever for children and adults to get protected
This winter could see a considerable increase in people being admitted to hospital with flu, with parents being urged to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible.
In November this year, 97 people with flu were admitted to Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford. In the same month last year it was seven.
There are particular concerns about more children needing protection as they are “super-spreaders”, picking up infections at school or nursery and spreading them at home, potentially to more vulnerable relatives.
Immunisation rates in our area are down almost 14 per cent with two-year-olds and 10 per cent with three-year-olds compared to last year.
This could cause issues with Christmas coming up – a time of year when we can often find four generations mixing in the same household and generally more mixing going on than we see at other times of year.
We really urge anyone who is eligible to get free protection against flu this winter with many pharmacies offering flu vaccinations for adults without having to book an appointment with your GP.
We are sharing materials with schools and early years settings and increasing social media messaging targeted at parents of young children. Please help us to get this message out to the communities that you are in touch with. There are a number of assets below that you can use.
Vaccinations offered at Community Lounges
Community Lounges bring communities, volunteers, charities, local businesses, and health and social care services together to offer a supportive and warm environment at the most local level.
Alongside representatives from mental health charities, housing charities, ‘Beat the Cold’ and Carelink, COVID-19 vaccinators will be on hand to talk to people about the vaccine and offer vital vaccination against serious illness this winter.
Since the COVID-19 vaccination programme began, NHS vaccinators have worked tirelessly to reach local people and to take the vaccine out into communities. Having COVID-19 vaccinations available at Community Lounges is another way we are working with our communities to get the vaccine to people who may not otherwise come forward.
We’re delighted to offer these community spaces to our local population. We’re providing a one-stop-shop for support and advice on keeping warm this winter, energy bills and budgeting alongside healthcare advice and COVID-19 vaccination.
Translated materials
COVID-19 autumn booster resources:
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-autumn-booster-resources
- Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional, Cantonese), Estonian, Farsi, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Panjabi,&
nbsp;Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Romany, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Yiddish and Yoruba. - An English large print version is available to order.
- A Braille version of this leaflet is available to order.
- British Sign Language (BSL) videos on COVID-19 vaccination are available to view or download.
- An audio version is available to download.
Winter flu:
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flu-vaccination-who-should-have-it-this-winter-and-why
- English, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional, Cantonese), Estonian, Farsi, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Panjabi, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Romany, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Yiddish and Yoruba.
- An English large print version is available to order.
- A Braille version of this leaflet is available to order.
All of the above available to order from https://www.healthpublications.gov.uk/Home.html or call 0300 123 1002