NHS shingles vaccine will be offered to almost one million more people

via NHS England

Almost a million more people (900,000) will become eligible for a shingles vaccination from September. Anyone who is severely immunosuppressed and over 50 will be able to get two doses of the Shingrix vaccine – currently the vaccine is only available to those over 70.

From 1 September 2023, those turning 65 and 70 will also be able to get the vaccine after their birthday, in addition to those already aged 70-80. Patients will be contacted by their GP practice when they become eligible. Eligibility will then be expanded to include those 60 and up by September 2028.

Full detail: NHS shingles vaccine will be offered to almost one million more people

See also: Shingles vaccine extended to vulnerable over-50s | BBC News

Maximising uptake of antenatal vaccinations during the autumn COVID-19 booster and flu vaccine programmes

NHS England – Document first published: 13 October 2022, Page updated: 13 October 2022

This letter sets out the essential role of maternity and vaccination services in advising pregnant women of their eligibility for vaccination against COVID-19, flu and pertussis, and facilitating easy access to these vaccines.

Full letter: Maximising uptake of antenatal vaccinations during the autumn COVID-19 booster and flu vaccine programmes

Health and Social Care Secretary accepts JCVI advice on autumn booster programme

All people aged 50 and over will be eligible for autumn COVID-19 booster and flu vaccine | Department of Health and Social Care

The Health and Social Care Secretary has accepted the independent advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer an autumn COVID-19 booster to people aged 50 and over, residents and staff in care homes for older adults, frontline health and social care workers, unpaid carers, individuals aged 5 to 49 in clinical risk groups and household contacts of those who are immunosuppressed.

The programme is expected to start in early autumn. Details of how the programme will be delivered including how people will be invited for vaccination will be set out nearer the start of the programme.

Full detail: Health and Social Care Secretary accepts JCVI advice on autumn booster programme

See also:

• Covid continues to disrupt: what is the plan to deal with it? | BMJ
• Covid booster will be offered to all over 50s this autumn | BBC News
• Covid boosters: who could be eligible for autumn jabs in UK? | The Guardian

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme in England

House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts

This report calls for efforts to be redoubled to reach those not vaccinated or fully vaccinated as it warns that nearly three million adults in England are unvaccinated against Covid-19. It finds that comparatively low vaccination rates persist in many vulnerable groups and has even dropped further for some. It calls for NHS England and UKHSA to urgently evaluate which methods are most effective for increasing uptake, including fresh approaches to tackle the persistent low uptake observed in some ethnic groups.

Full report: The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme in England

Press release: Redouble efforts on unvaccinated to reduce risks of Covid deaths, warn MPs

COVID-19 vaccination enhanced service specification for autumn/winter 2022 for general practice

Enhanced service specification for general practices: phase 5, and other documents relating to phase 5 of the COVID-19 vaccination programme | NHS England

The majority of the service specifications for phase 5 remain the same as in the previous phase, although there are some changes and alignments between the two contracts. Both community pharmacy and general practice must:

• have the ability to administer any adult vaccine type to ensure resilience across the network;
• ensure that delivery of COVID-19 vaccinations will not negatively affect their ongoing delivery of other services, recognising current pressures on general practitioners and pharmacy contractors;
• record COVID-19 vaccinations on the day that they are administered due to the clinical risks associated with data latency;
• agree with their Commissioner their role in the System to respond to a Surge where an increase in capacity is required both in terms of increased volume and/or timeframe.

Full detail: COVID-19 vaccination enhanced service specification for autumn/winter 2022 for general practice

See also: Cover letter accompanying the publication of the enhanced service specification for general practice

Global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination

The Lancet Infectious Diseases| DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00320-6

The first COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial setting was administered on Dec 8, 2020. To ensure global vaccine equity, vaccine targets were set by the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility and WHO. However, due to vaccine shortfalls, these targets were not achieved by the end of 2021. We aimed to quantify the global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination programmes.

This paper finds that COVID-19 vaccination has substantially altered the course of the pandemic, saving tens of millions of lives globally. However, inadequate access to vaccines in low-income countries has limited the impact in these settings, reinforcing the need for global vaccine equity and coverage.

Full paper: Global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination: a mathematical modelling study

Location, location, location: a discrete choice experiment to inform COVID-19 vaccination programme delivery in the UK

BMC Public Health volume 22, Article number: 431 | March 2022

Large-scale vaccination is fundamental to combatting COVID-19. In March 2021, the UK’s vaccination programme had delivered vaccines to large proportions of older and more vulnerable population groups; however, there was concern that uptake would be lower among young people. This research was designed to elicit the preferences of 18–29-year-olds regarding key delivery characteristics and assess the influence of these on intentions to get vaccinated, to inform planning for this cohort.

The results indicated that the existing configuration of the UK’s vaccination programme was well-placed to deliver vaccines to 18–29-year-olds; however, some adjustments might enhance acceptance. Local pharmacies were not preferred; long travel times were a disincentive but close proximity (0–15 min from one’s premises) was not necessary; and either the ‘NHS’ or ‘Your GP’ would serve as adequate invitation sources. This research informed COVID-19 policy in the UK, and contributes to a wider body of Discrete Choice Experiment evidence on citizens’ preferences, requirements and predicted behaviours regarding COVID-19.

Full paper: Location, location, location: a discrete choice experiment to inform COVID-19 vaccination programme delivery in the UK

Addressing vaccine hesitancy in different ethnic communities

NHS Confederation | Addressing vaccine hesitancy in different ethnic communities

In 2020, COVID-19 vaccination data for Cheshire and Merseyside showed a lot of vaccine hesitancy, especially among ethnic minority groups.

Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership used insight gained from a four-stage programme to understand the impact that COVID 19 was having on ethnic minority communities, and work with the different communities to understand the causes of the hesitancy. This programme of work, which entailed partnership working between multiple agencies as well as with the various communities, led to a significant increase in vaccine uptake in just four months.

Key benefits and outcomes

• Increased vaccination uptake in ethnic minority communities from 0.66 per cent in February 2021 to 38.35 per cent in May 2021.
• Valuable insight gained into how COVID-19-related messages are perceived and acted on by different communities, which has been shared nationally.
• Working closely with different partners helped to quickly build trust.
• The campaign successfully influenced a long-standing cultural shift in NHS communication and engagement with ethnic minority groups.

Takeaway tips

• The campaign’s strong and authentic public health messaging made it easier to utilise the skills of a variety of people across teams and communities to reach the right people.
• Using each teams’ knowledge and expertise within their own areas and communities really helped to reach the intended audience and enable the huge behavioural shift.
• The campaign’s use of real people from within hesitant communities to deliver the vaccine messages was important in engendering trust. It wouldn’t have been as effective if celebrities or politicians were brought in to do the work.
• Instead of expecting people to go to health centres to get their vaccine, the vaccine was delivered in more accessible places, where the communities lived and worked.

The full details of the case study are available from NHS Confederation

GPs need extra staff and capacity to deliver accelerated booster programme, say leaders

BMJ | 2021; 375: n2982

General practice will require extra staff and capacity to offer covid-19 booster vaccines to everyone over the age of 18 by the end of January, primary care leaders have warned.

The acceleration of the booster programme was announced after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation updated its adviceto halve the recommended gap between second doses and boosters to three months. In England alone, this means almost 14 million more adults will now be eligible for a booster.

Full detail: GPs need extra staff and capacity to deliver accelerated booster programme, say leaders

GP staff have faced threats and abuse during vaccination programme, poll finds

Over half (52%) of GP practice staff have received threats of physical abuse while working on the covid-19 vaccination programme, a survey has found | BMJ | 2021; 373: n1665

The poll of 222 GP practice staff by the Medical Protection Society (MPS) also found that over half (53%) of staff said that their surgery or vaccination centre had been defaced by anti-vaccination material. The survey included GPs, nurses, and practice managers at surgeries in the UK.

Two thirds of survey respondents (60%) said that abuse and complaints relating to the covid-19 vaccination programme had impacted on their own or their team’s mental wellbeing. A further 71% said that the increased workload resulting from the programme has affected wellbeing.

Full detail: GP staff have faced threats and abuse during vaccination programme, poll finds