Four South London hospital trusts getting ready to roll out Covid-19 vaccinations programme for residents

Four major South London hospital trusts are preparing to give residents vaccinations in the coming days.

Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital, King’s College Hospital, St George’s Hospital and Croydon Health Services NHS Trusts are among the 50 hospital hubs nationally recruiting staff and drawing up schedules to offer the German-made injections to immunise residents against Covid-19.

The NHS will begin vaccinating patients against coronavirus from this week at the start of the biggest immunisation programme in history.
People aged 80 and over as well as care home workers will be first to receive the jab, along with NHS workers who are at higher risk.
NHS staff are working through the weekend to prepare for the launch of the programme with the first vaccinations happening from Tuesday.
Patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient, and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay, will be among the first to receive the life-saving jab.
Hospitals will also begin inviting over 80s in for a jab and work with care home providers to book their staff in to vaccination clinics.
Any appointments not used for these groups will be used for healthcare workers who are at highest risk of serious illness from covid. All those vaccinated will need a booster jab 21 days later.
GPs and other primary care staff are also being put on standby to start delivering the jab. A small number of GP-led primary care networks will begin doing so during the following week (week beginning 14 December) with more practices in more parts of the country joining in on a phased basis during December and in the coming months.
Vaccination centres treating large numbers of patients in sporting venues and conference centres will subsequently stand up when further supplies of vaccine come on stream.

Jacqueline Totterdell, Chief Executive at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are excited to be supporting the Covid-19 vaccination programme, and I would like to thank St George’s staff, who have worked around the clock to ensure we are ready to run clinics this week.”

As of 3 December 2020, there are 19 Covid-19 positive patients being cared for in intensive care at St George’s.

A further 56 Covid-19 positive patients are being cared for on the wards.

Sadly 329 patients have died and tested positive for Covid-19 at the hospital since March 2020.

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust chief executive Matthew Kershaw said: “This is a pivotal moment for the country and for us in Croydon, as one of the first Hospital Hubs to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We’re delighted to be playing our part, vaccinating the most vulnerable people in our communities and ensuring the safety of our patients, our local people and our health and care professionals who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic.”

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “Despite the huge complexities, hospitals will kickstart the first phase of the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history from Tuesday.  The first tranche of vaccine deliveries will be landing at hospitals by Monday in readiness.
“The NHS has a strong record of delivering large scale vaccination programmes – from the flu jab, HPV vaccine and lifesaving MMR jabs – hardworking staff will once again rise to the challenge to protect the most vulnerable people from this awful disease.”
The life-saving vaccine is typically delivered by a simple injection in the shoulder but there is a complex and difficult logistical challenge to deliver from the manufacturers Pfizer to patients.
It needs to be stored at -70C before being thawed out and can only be moved four times within that cold chain before being used.
NHS staff have been working over the weekend to prepare the sites and accept deliveries.  Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This coming week will be an historic moment as we begin vaccination against COVID-19.
“We are prioritising the most vulnerable first and over-80s, care home staff and NHS colleagues will all be among the first to receive the vaccines.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure we can overcome significant challenges to vaccinate care home residents as soon as possible too.
“I urge everybody to play their part to suppress this virus and follow the local restrictions to protect the NHS while they carry out this crucial work.”