Coronavirus in Scotland: First care home residents given Covid-19 vaccine

The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine has begun in Scotland’s care homes.
Resident Annie Innes, 90, talks with a healthcare worker after receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Abercorn House Care Home in Hamilton.Resident Annie Innes, 90, talks with a healthcare worker after receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Abercorn House Care Home in Hamilton.
Resident Annie Innes, 90, talks with a healthcare worker after receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Abercorn House Care Home in Hamilton.

Annie Innes, 90, was one of several of elderly Scots to be given the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at Abercorn House Care Home in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.

The former carer, who has been at the home for six months, said she was relieved to have been offered the jab.

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She said: “It’s wonderful to get the vaccine before Christmas.

Resident Margaret Keating, 88, receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Abercorn House Care Home in Hamilton.Resident Margaret Keating, 88, receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Abercorn House Care Home in Hamilton.
Resident Margaret Keating, 88, receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Abercorn House Care Home in Hamilton.

“I hope it keeps me, my friends here and the staff safe and means we can get back to normal very soon.

“The nurses and the care home staff have been great with us and we are relieved to have been offered the vaccine.”

She was followed by 82-year-old Margaret Keating, a former bartender who has been living at Abercorn House for just over a year.

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NHS Lanarkshire is now planning to vaccinate 2,990 care home residents and 5,601 staff across 93 care homes.

It comes after thousands of healthcare workers set to become Covid-19 vaccinators were given their first doses last week.

Scotland has followed guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which advises older adults in care homes and those who care for them take first priority after vaccinators.

They will be followed by all those over 80 and frontline health and social care workers.

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In some more rural areas the priority list is less clearly defined, due to the logistics of delivering the vaccine- some care home residents have already been vaccinated in the Western Isles.

At the weekend, the Scottish Government announced a solution has been agreed to enable transportation of the vaccine from storage hubs to care homes.

It must initially be stored at minus 70C before being thawed out but it can now be “packed down” into smaller batches that can be taken to care homes with “minimal wastage”, as supplies allow.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman thanked all those involved in the vaccination programme.

She said: “It has been a challenge to get the Pfizer vaccine into care homes because of transport and storage requirements but I am delighted to see Mrs Innes become the first care home resident to receive her vaccine and I wish her many more years of good health.”

“Throughout the pandemic, our priority has been to save lives and keep people safe.

“Vaccines give us a vital additional layer of protection we haven’t had until now.

“As more vaccines become available over the coming months we will be able to continue to extend the rollout but initially we are focussing on residents in care homes for older adults and their carers, as we know that older adults in care homes are at the highest risk of severe disease and death from Covid.”

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Trudi Marshall, director of nursing at Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire, is managing the rollout of the vaccination programme to care homes in the NHS area.

Ms Marshall praised NHS and care home workers, adding: “We have a detailed vaccination plan in place which we are communicating to care homes.

“While this is a very quick moving and complex operation, we’re dedicated to ensuring they are prepared for our visits and resident and staff have consented to receiving the vaccination."

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