NCF survey finds 95 per cent of care home residents vaccinated

The not-for-profit social care provider membership association said 48 care organisations that operate a combined 749 care homes for older adults in England took part in the survey.

Of the care homes operated 715 had received whole home vaccination, representing 95 per cent vaccine take up.

The NCF however said the story for staff showed there is still some way to go before the full cohort of staff in these homes have received Covid vaccinations.

Across all care homes responding to the survey, 27 per cent of care homes reported that 70 per cent or more of staff had been vaccinated.

For those staff who had not been vaccinated, reasons given include unavailability when whole home vaccination was taking place due to shift patterns, inability to have the vaccine due to medical reasons, inability to get alternative local appointment for vaccination, lack of supply of vaccine for staff, and a need to wait for 28 days if tested positive with Covid.

“The NHS England target to vaccinate all residents and staff by 24 January has been missed and the clock is now ticking on the stated government objective of getting all those in groups 1 to 4 vaccinated by 15 February,” said NCF executive director Vic Rayner.

“The experience of care home staff to date would suggest there is much work to be done to make this a reality, particularly when going forward, almost all vaccinations will take place in the community and care home staff who should be vaccinated first, run the very real risk of being lost in the rush,” she added.

In a related development, the Welsh government has missed its target to vaccinate 70 per cent of over-80s and those in care homes by 25 January.

Figures published on 26 January showed 96,830 of over-80s in Wales -  52.8 per cent - received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The Public Health Wales data also revealed 67.6 per cent of care home residents and 74.6 per cent of care home staff have received their first dose.