Chamber and committees

As of 22 March 2021:

• 33,409 first dose vaccinations of all care home residents have now been completed, exceeding the initial target for all care home residents. This is a cumulative count of all residents since the vaccination programme began and may include some residents who have since died.
• 26,354 current care home residents in older adult care homes have received their first dose vaccination (96%) and 22,359 current care home residents in older adult homes have received 2 doses (82%).

There are individuals in care homes who have not received the vaccine for valid medical reasons, or where consent to receive the vaccination has not been received. Other reasons for some individuals in care homes not receiving a vaccination yet may include:

• clinical guidance sets out that where someone has tested positive, vaccination should be scheduled for four weeks later;
• If a care home has only one case of COVID-19 infection in a resident or staff member, other residents and care home staff may be offered vaccination as long as they have not been close contacts of the positive case. If a care home has more than one case in an ongoing outbreak or incident, residents who are symptomatic, positive or close contacts who are self-isolating would not be eligible for vaccination; and
• Care homes should undertake a risk assessment on whether or not the outbreak or incident cases are segregated sufficiently for other residents and care home staff to be offered vaccination. It may be safer to schedule the vaccinations once the outbreak or incident is over – this would be 14 after the last positive test or symptoms, and following a further risk assessment.