Agenda item

An update will be provided at the meeting on the epidemiology of COVID 19 in Northumberland, developments with the Council’s COVID 19 Outbreak Prevention and Control Plan, and Vaccination Programme.  Presentation by Liz Morgan, Interim Executive Director for Public Health and Community Services.

Members received updates on the epidemiology of COVID 19 and the Northumberland COVID 19 Outbreak Prevention and Control Plan and COVID Deaths and vaccination programme in Northumberland.  (Presentation filed with the signed minutes).

Gill O’Neill, Interim Deputy Director of Public Health gave a presentation to the Board and key points included:-

·            Seven day rolling rate for England was currently 469 per 100,000 and this was expected to increase as the Omicron variant took over.  Hopefully, measures being put in place would start to slow this increase. 

·            The South East and South West of England were showing the greatest increases and the North East tracking at the lower end at 388 per 100,000.

·            The County Council’s dashboard was showing the latest figures for Northumberland 378 per 100,000.  Rates had been declining but there was now a slight increase.  Within Northumberland’s wards, Prudhoe and Cramlington had the highest rates and Ponteland with the lowest rates.

·            Graph showing seven day average of cases in Northumberland from July 2020 and projected into January 2022.  The graph reflected the changes following removal of restrictions.

·            Graph showing data broken down into age bands - over 75s cases remained low and the highest rates were in the under 25s, mainly in primary school age children.

·            There was a good rate of testing and good offers and opportunities for testing in Northumberland.  Approximately 50% went to testing sites to pick up their PCR kits.

·            For asymptomatic testing there was a national testing programme for care homes and some supported accommodation.  In the community test kits could be collected from pharmacies or ordered online.  A national testing strategy was awaited along with details of funding after the winter period.

·            Northumberland’s Local Tracing Partnership was part of the Local 4 scheme and carried out tracing within the most disadvantaged postcodes within Northumberland.  Details of national strategy and funding after March 2022 were awaited.

·            Omicron (Variant of Concern) - All viruses mutated regularly and were classed as, of concern, if there was evidence of a change that could lead to causing more harm such as an increase in transmissibility or severity of illness.  The Government had announced that Plan B was coming into place and new temporary restrictions.

·            As of 7 December, 2021 there were over 400 confirmed cases of Omicron in England.  UKHSA was managing any confirmed or highly probable cases with a local Incident Management Team.  Confirmed cases were being asked to self-isolate.  Contacts were being asked to also self-isolate irrespective of their age or vaccination status.

·            The Health Protection Board should be maintained, and the Outbreak Management Plan updated. 

·            Key messages to the public remained guidance to be cautious, be considerable and be kind.

Liz Morgan, Executive Director of Public Health and Community Services added the most up to date information:-

·            A large number of changes had been announced yesterday

·            It was becoming very apparent that Omicron was now outcompeting the Delta variant and there was an increase in transmissibility and immune evasion. 

·            There were now 568 confirmed cases in England which was 131 up on the previous day.  However, it was known that the real number of infections was likely to be the thousands.  Cases were doubling every two to three days and the potential pressure on the NHS could become unsustainable very quickly.

·            The booster jab was very important and provided much higher protection against severe disease and transmission than just having the first two doses.  The newly announced prevention measures were needed to slow down transmission and allow time for more to receive the booster and so have the boosted immunity.

·            The newly announced changes were highlighted and included the requirement to wear facemasks in certain indoor settings, to work from home where possible and the introduction of Covid passports for entry to certain settings.

The following comments were made:-

·            A note of caution was sounded regarding the vaccination figures and it was stressed that some figures only included the eligible population rather than the whole population.  Therefore, only 67% of the whole population was vaccinated.  There was still a significant number who had not been vaccinated.  In Northumberland, the unvaccinated population of over 12s with no first dose was 32,000 and in over 18s, 22,000.

·            All housebound residents were able to be vaccinated at home.

·            The updated guidance for England had not yet been received about how the need for covid passports would be managed.

·            Regarding the availability of booster jabs to the 18-40s, a lot of changes were needed to systems including the national booking system to allow this to happen along with logistical planning.  Numbers now entitled to a booster jab was approximately 130,000 in Northumberland.

Rachel Mitcheson, Northumberland CCG, provided a presentation on the current vaccination programme and included the following:-

·            99.8 million doses had been administered in England since the start of the vaccination programme and 635,000 in Northumberland.  The bulk of these vaccinations had been delivered by primary care and this was additional work for practices.

·            The vaccination performance in Northumberland for 12+ was the highest in England for first and second doses and top ten for the booster.  89.1% had received the first dose, 82.9% the second dose and 43.5 the booster dose.

·            By age band, 10.4% more of Northumberland’s under 50s had received two doses than the national average, compared to 5% more over 50s.

·            The vaccination programme in children and young people had begun in September 2021 along and there had been a high uptake in these cohorts compared to the national average.  The most recent guidance had added second doses for 12-17 year olds.  Plans for early 2022 included using a hybrid approach to use in school clinics along with wider access to the national booking service for some PCNs and pharmacy sites.

·            The booster programme was using Pfizer and Moderna vaccine and should be delivered no sooner than six months after the second primary dose.  It could be administered alongside the flu vaccine.  A third primary dose was being offered to severely immunosuppressed patients at eight weeks post second dose.  128,257, third and booster doses had been delivered in Northumberland.

·            The programme was at its most complex point dealing with a combination of different priority cohorts, dosing intervals and points of delivery.  It had also just been expanded in response to the emerging Omicron variant. 

·            This model was very nationally controlled with a lot of responsibility for the local delivery.  There could be a disconnect between what was offered nationally to when it could be delivered locally, and slots opened up on the national booking site.  If a GP practice was not on the national booking system, the slots could only be opened up when they were able to offer the appoiintments and dependent on vaccine supply.

RESOLVED that the two presentations be received.