Agenda item

The Chairman welcomed everyone present to the meeting and introduced Rosa Waddingham, Chief Nurse and David Ainsworth, Mid Notts Locality Director from the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).  The guests were in attendance to deliver a presentational update to Members regarding implementation of the vaccination programme.

 

David Ainsworth and Rosa Waddington briefly explained their role within the CCG and their responsibilities for ensuring delivery of the Covid-19 vaccination within Nottinghamshire whilst bringing all elements of the programme together.  They took the opportunity to thanks Ashfield District Council and the Chief Executive, Theresa Hodgkinson for all the support they had received with delivery of the programme thus far and were of the belief that the Council had been absolutely instrumental in ensuring take up within Ashfield.

 

Phase 1 and 2 Programme Reflections

To endeavour to give the Panel some background to the current position, phases 1 and 2 of the programme had been reviewed by the Mid Notts Health Oversight Group, supported by Ashfield partners, and the following reflections had been established:

 

·       Positive engagement with community and religious leaders particularly Gypsy, Roma and traveller communities and acknowledgement of the sterling work undertake by certain community leaders (leafleting, busting myths and encouraging vaccinations)

 

·       Substantial support from wider partners, community champions and local volunteers

 

·       The need for venues and pop-up clinics to be trusted places, particularly for deprived communities

 

·       Ability for the mobile clinic/vaccination bus to be flexible with its timetable and visit areas with low take up in a short planning window

 

·       The need for direct engagement and bespoke appointments for particularly vulnerable cohorts i.e. protected time for learning disabilities

 

·       Acknowledgement of support from local employers i.e. vaccination activity seen at Amazon.

 

Over 87,600 Ashfield residents had now received their two vaccination doses and this achievement had been very much due to the following:

 

·       Making every contact count from maternity focus across pharmacy, to health visitors, midwives and all other health care professionals

 

·       The use of targeted vaccination materials including ‘EasyRead’ invitation letters for Learning Disabilities and autism and a focused local approach for dementia sufferers

 

·       Excellent partnership working with all health, social care, local government, police and wider partnerships broadcasting a consistent vaccination message

 

·       Practice-based clinics at local surgeries for those who could not travel and needed a familiar setting

 

·       A continuous level of community safety support with a consistent approach to anti-vaccination activity and ongoing support from police colleagues.

 

Vaccination Take Up Rates

Members received information regarding take up for Ashfield residents in all areas of the District and it was acknowledged that walk-in centres were now encouraging younger adults to receive their vaccinations.  The take up within Ashfield had been pleasing overall and over 90% of the over 50s and the vulnerable were now vaccinated.

 

It was noted however that vaccination rates were lower (and under 70%) in the following wards and all assistance to increase these rates would continue to be appreciated:

 

Greenwood and Summit

Abbey Hill

Leamington

Sutton Central and New Cross.

 

Booster Programme

Members were shown maps which highlighted current vaccination sites for the booster programme and planned sites to be operational by the end of October 2021.  The booster programme had adopted a slightly different approach with more use of local pharmacies and GP surgeries within designated areas to ensure ease of access and a more local footprint.

 

Booster Programme Take Up Rates

Eligible residents were already being invited to access their booster jabs and to date around 44-46% had been vaccinated across the four areas of Ashfield.  The data however only included those registered with a  Nottingham and Nottinghamshire GP practice.

 

Eligible citizens (182 days after their second dose) were currently categorised as follows:

 

·       Those living in residential care homes for older adults

 

·       All adults aged 50 years or over

 

·       Frontline health and social care workers

 

·       All those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19

 

·       Adult carers, aged 16 to 49 years

 

·       Adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals.

 

Next Steps

To conclude and to continue with Phase 3 of the programme, a task and finish group had been established with oversight from the Mid Notts Health Inequalities Group to further develop the vaccination bus schedule and to particularly focus on the ten key inequality areas:

 

·       Race and ethnicity

·       Inequalities by geography and deprivation

·       Age

·       Clinically extremely vulnerable

·       Maternity

·       LD and autism

·       Homeless, refugees and asylum seekers

·       Dementia

·       Severe mental illness

·       Vaccine hesitancy and other barriers.

 

Following on from the presentation, Panel Members discussed the update and asked the following questions:

 

Question/Comment:	Response from Rosa Waddingham and David Ainsworth:
The vaccination bus should have been at Hucknall last week but the bus broke down.  Has this issue now been sorted? (Councillor Dave Shaw)	We have been experiencing some technical hitches with the bus but are working with the provider to sort these.  I will send over the bus schedule to you as soon as possible (Rosa)
Congratulations on the vaccination programme thus far.  I have volunteered at the Ashfield Health Village since the start of the programme and it has worked extremely well.   Can you tell me anything about the school vaccination programme and parental consent? (Councillor Dale Grounds)	We are currently still delivering the vaccinations in schools for a few more weeks and then we will start moving into clinics with bookable and walk-in slots.  Then run a mop-up mini programme as required.  Delivery provision will of course increase if needed.   At the moment parental consent is for 12-16 year-olds and we are seeking this as required.  Parents are also welcoming the chance to talk more about the vaccine.  17 years-olds and above do not require parental consent (Rosa)
The level of ward information regarding the vaccine uptake is great but do you have any ideas as to why the four wards mentioned earlier are lagging behind in the vaccination uptake and how could the Council assist with tackling this issue? (Scrutiny Research Officer)	Yes, the level of detail we can access is amazing and going forward it will be invaluable.  The difficulties in getting residents to take up their vaccines can be for a variety of reasons with some people having a mistrust of authority (Council, Police), some leading complex and chaotic lives which includes substance dependency, domestic violence and housing issues etc.   The Council has been a real community champion so far so all we ask is that they continue to work with us, giving reassurance and support where it is needed (with a target-based approach). (David)
There are some concerns that the vaccination buses are not always able to vaccinate 16-17 year olds and this might be hampering delivery of the programme. (Councillor Dave Shaw)	Specialist staff do have to be available when 16-17 year-olds are vaccinated and this cannot always be accommodated on the mobile bus programme.  Due to safeguarding elements, it is also not anticipated that 12-16 year-olds vaccinations will be available on the bus programme at this present time.  To offset this and maximise accessibility there will be an increase of sites elsewhere for younger people to obtain their vaccinations.   It is however, the CCG’s ongoing aspiration to eventually have all vaccinations at all sites. (Rosa)
There are a lot of conspiracy theorists on social media at the moment as to why 12 year-olds and over need vaccinations in the first place and why so many parents are resistant to it. (Councillor Dave Shaw)	The programme is in its infancy at the moment and no second doses have been administered as yet.  Healthcare professionals are working with the schools to deliver the programme and obtain the necessary parental consent for the pupils.  Uptake for example at Ashfield School has been around 50% so far.  The conspiracy theories are a problem and are preventing young people from being protected against the virus.    However, the CCG’s communications strategy is robust and targeted work has been undertaken to reassure parents and children alike.   It is intended that a mop up programme will be initiated further down the line to allow hesitant parents and children to come into trusted places to discuss their issues further. (Rosa)
How has working in partnership with Community Leaders helped? (Chairman)	Community leaders are often seen as trusted sources and can access local residents through a variety of mediums (social media, churches, local radio etc.).  They can allay fears and bust myths surrounding the vaccination programme by repeating their message regularly.   Councillors have also done a great job proactively reinforcing the message as they work within their wards and communities. (David)
Could the CCG target younger people through social media campaigns on the popular Tik-Tok and Instagram sites?  (Councillor Dale Grounds)	Yes, definitely but not though the use of adverts as young people do not like them and don’t engage!  We need to respect the influencers on these sites and work with them to get the messages across.  They are more trusted sources and could lead the way. (Rosa)
Young people are often dubious of hearsay and fake news and want to see verified statistics to reassure them.  It seems to be the case that many young people think lots of people are dying in hospital as a result of having the vaccine and anti-vaxxers are manipulating the data somewhat to reinforce that? (Councillor Caroline Wilkinson)	Yes, it is possible that statistics can be manipulated to deliver a skewed message.  Statistics will show that people have died in hospital, but it doesn’t mean that it’s always because of Covid and it is often due to many other issues.    It does reinforce the fact that it is important to widely circulate the correct message and utilise the most effective mediums for delivering to the desired audience.

 

(During the discussion, Councillor Kevin Rostance left the meeting at 7.42pm).

 

On conclusion of the presentation and ensuing discussion, the Service Manager, Scrutiny and Democratic Services and the Chairman thanked Rosa and David for their attendance at the meeting and for the update received in relation to the vaccination programme.  In turn David and Rosa felt the meeting had been extremely insightful for both parties and would be more than happy to join another meeting in the future. 

 

Members then considered some potential recommendations for presentation to Cabinet as a result of the information they had received.

 

RESOLVED

that the following recommendations be presented to Cabinet in December 23021 for consideration:

 

a)    to continue to prioritise partnership working with the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group to develop a schedule and identify suitable locations for the vaccination bus;

 

b)    to undertake a co-ordinated and targeted engagement approach using all communication methods available to the Council designed to reduce vaccine hesitancy; this should include debunking misinformation, sharing updates on the vaccination programme, and continuing to advertise the vaccination bus;

 

c)    to undertake a wider communications exercise to share relevant case studies relating to COVID-19 vaccinations and booster jabs;

 

d)    to explore any extra measures that could be implemented to support people with mental health and learning difficulties that may prevent them from accessing the COVID-19 vaccination;

 

e)    to recognise the challenges in vaccination uptake present in Greenwood and Summit, Abbey Hill, Leamington, and Sutton Central and New Cross wards and consider how the Council can use its position to improve take-up in these areas;

 

f)      as a result of e) above, if approved, Councillors representing the above wards be consulted and engaged in any activities to target vaccination uptake.